Simple Tools

What tools (other than the necessary ones) do you love? I set out to choose one from each of sewing, crochet, and embroidery, but couldn't get down to just a single sewing tool. Here is my selection:



The tan flower-shaped item is a bit of rubber for pulling needles. This one was sold as an embroidery aid, but you could make your own by cutting down a jar opener. It's the pulling counterpart to the push of a thimble, giving you better grip on a needle so you don't have to pinch as hard, and therefore don't get as much hand fatigue.

The light blue item is a stuffing tool. My crochet is mostly amigurumi, small stuffed items, and pushing fiberfill into thin features or through small openings can be difficult. The forked end is not large, but it's enough to catch the fiberfill a lot more effectively than, say, the back end of a crochet hook. You can buy stuffing tools, but this one is a large plastic yarn needle with the end of the eye clipped off and the resulting tines sanded smooth. I just discovered it could probably be used as a ribbon rose making tool as well.

The stuffing tool is leaning on a seam ripper, which clearly has seen a lot of battle. I included this because in addition to undoing stitching, I use the seam ripper to cut slits in fabric where the length of the slit is crucial, such as in buttonholes. You can put the point down through one end and back up through the other before doing any of the slicing, so you can't accidentally cut too far (and you're assisted in not going off course, too).

Finally, I included a seam gauge. When I make alterations I use this as my memory for non-round measurements, and if I have to iron a small turn-up on some fabric I use it to measure, turn, and hold the fabric down in one move. The iron can go right over it!



What tools would you choose?