Time Saving Tips from the Sewing Room

I am a novice at sewing but I do happen to have some tips that can save on clean up, keeping things close at hand and organized. I am sure that many are things you already know but there just might be one or two that even you did not even think about.

Suction cup: Attach one to the side of your sewing machine to hold a small pair of scissors handy when you are sewing.

Pen Cap: Take the top of a pen and turn it upside down, taping it to the side of the sewing machine to hold a seam ripper so it is always handy should you make a mistake while sewing. I can never seem to find mine when I need it.

Basting Gun: Use a basting gun to keep already cut pieces of a project together, just lay the pieces one on top of the other then use the correct size tag to hold them together with one click. A basting gun tag can also be used as a temporary way to attach a button.

Lint Brush: When cutting out fabric keep a lint brush near by. Running a lint brush across the area will pick up the small scraps and thread refuse.

Medicine Bottles: Empty medicine bottles can be reused to hold thread, used sewing needles or small items in your sewing basket. Punch a hole in the center of the top and place a spool of thread inside the bottle and slide the thread string through the hole for you to get easily while you are hand sewing. With the same idea of a hole in the top replace the cap on the bottle and use this for holding broken needles or pins so you won't get pricked by them when thrown into a garbage can.

Plastic Sleeve that holds baseball or business cards: One of these sleeves can hold several swatches of fabric so that you can keep a catalog of your fabrics when you shop or are trying to create a color palette.

Clean your iron: Cleaning the bottom of your iron can seem daunting but it is easier than you think. If you have a Teflon bottom iron turn it on warm and iron a fabric sheet. It should clean the bottom nicely. Another way you can clean the bottom of other types of irons is to take a brown paper grocery bag, sprinkle salt across the bag and using a warm iron, simply iron across the salt. Be careful to not what type of covering is on the bottom of your iron as you do not want to ruin it.