Now that the rainy season is here, I’ve been spending more time at my sewing machine.  When I sew, it’s not like I spend half of a day at my sewing machine.  I sew in little spurts, like when the dishes are done and the kids are finishing a movie. I’ll hide out in the sewing room for 45 minutes and enjoy a little quiet time.  Quilts and home decor are my favorite things to sew. 

There are several tools in my sewing room that I couldn’t live without.

#1 on my list is my self healing cutting mat.  I bought my first mat about 15 years ago and just replaced it this year.  Most of the time, you’ll see these cutting mats in a bright green.  When I spotted this red one, it was love at first sight. I found it at my favorite quilt shop in Country Village (in Bothell).

Also essential, are a rotary cutter and a few different rulers.
(By the way, if you try to use these rulers to measure how much snow/ice you have in your backyard, they might break.  I’m not saying that I know that for sure, just a hunch.)  But, I will say that a new ruler is on my Christmas list.

The Gingher 8inch dressmaker’s shears are fabulous!  They are super-sharp and truly the best fabric scissors I have ever owned.  DO NOT let your kids cut paper with these!  They are for fabric only, and really too sharp for kids anyway.

Oh, the fabric!  You can just never have enough fabric!  Choose what you love.  I find that if I choose colors that I would wear, I’m usually really happy with the result.  I’ve just discovered Jelly Rolls and I think I’m in love.  There are so many fabrics, rolled together, all from the same line.  You just can’t go wrong with this!  I was thrilled when I found pattern books that go right along with Jelly Rolls.

Finally, you’ll need a place to set up your machine.  This is our den/sewing room.  When my hubby works from home, we push aside all of the sewing supplies, and it becomes his office.  When he packs up his laptop, my sewing space is back.  We purchased this table from IKEA when we moved into our house.  The chair was a garage sale find, painted and recovered.  The lighting is terrible in this space, so the floor lamp is very helpful.  My Mother-In-Law bought it for me a few years ago.  It’s from JoAnne Fabric, and made for sewing and crafting. 

My machine is an entry level embroidery/sewing machine.  I love that it has an embroidery option.  It’s not fancy enough to hook up to a computer and download images, but it has a lot of built in images.  As for the sewing features, it sews a straight line, and that’s really all I need.  It has some decorative stitches, but honestly, I don’t use them much. 

There you have it, Friends!  Those are my must have sewing tools.

Happy sewing!