Over the past week I’ve had a few of my student’s parents ask me for Christmas gift ideas for their new sewists. First, let me say that it makes my heart so happy that my students are loving sewing so much!! One of my favorite parts of this job is watching my students, young (and also a little bit older 🙂 ) get excited about sewing. I love that they are wanting to expand their sewing boxes!
After texting some ideas and links to a few people, I finally got smart and decided to write a blog post sharing some great ideas for those who love to sew! It will be so much easier to send this link rather than answering everyone individually. First and foremost, if you/the person you are shopping for is just starting out in sewing, make sure to check out my general sewing supply list first. Every seamstress needs these basic tools for sewing! Once they have the basics, there is still a ton more they can add to their sewing collection; tools to make things a little bit more fun…and easier 🙂
Stores, like Joann Fabrics and Hobby Lobby, have a lot of what I am going to post, but for convenience I will post links here so you can see what they look like and do a price comparison. Let’s face it, sometimes it’s easier shopping online! I will be completely upfront with you and let you know that I am an Amazon affiliate, which means that any purchases that happen through my links gives me a small commission fee. Don’t let that sway you though, do what works best for you! I will say that Hobby Lobby has really cute sewing room decor and other little trinkets, like magnets, clipboards, notepads, etc. I may have asked Santa for a few of those things 😉
Gift Ideas For Sewists
My husband put these adorable, vintage-looking snippers in my stocking last year and I absolutely love them. I love them not only because they are cute, but because they are efficient! The end seems sharper and pointier than my regular snippers, so they do a great job snipping! (Especially for embroidery and applique!) I brought them out in class a couple of weeks ago and my students all loved them!
I highly recommend sewing clips! These are great to use in place of pins when using delicate fabrics and also knit fabrics (although you can use them with any kind of fabric). If you have any plans to sew knits in the future, you’ll want these clips. They even come in a cute tin!
Another thing that is great for delicate fabrics, knits (or really any fabric) are pattern weights. I like using weights to hold my patterns down on my fabric, especially when cutting out knit fabrics and when I have to print my own patterns (since the pattern is on regular paper rather than tissue paper). It’s a lot easier than pinning. You can get cute, vintage looking weights, or just plain, generic weights.
Something else that might be a fun gift for beginning sewers are fat quarters. Fat quarters are small blocks of cotton fabric that are used for quilting and other small projects. We’ve used fat quarters in some of my sewing classes. We’ve used them for quilted pillow covers, pot holders, bookmarks, coasters, ornaments.…the list goes on! It’s always fun to have fabric to practice on! There are soooo many to choose from, both in store and online. Here are a few that caught my eye.
Along with fabric scraps/fat quarter bundles, batting is good to have on hand. Especially if you plan to make some of the projects on my tutorials page 🙂
Pinking shears are a fun tool to have in your sewing room! They give clean, pretty finishes to seams and prevents fraying!
A rotary mat makes a sewist’s life so much easier!! I actually prefer cutting my patterns out on a rotary mat with a rotary cutter rather than with scissors. It’s soooo much easier and a lot quicker! Especially when you are cutting strips or blocks of fabric. You can use a coupon at Joann’s, because it is a pricier item. But this bundle is a pretty good deal. It comes with the mat, the cutter and extra blades, and also the ruler which you will need for cutting strips and straight edges.
There are a few fun tutorials that call for zippers. I buy mine in bulk on Amazon because they are WAY cheaper than buying them in the store. I think zippers are always fun to have on hand for sewing gifts (like zippered pouches).
Here are some miscellaneous trinkets and decor that I thought were super cute! Some would make good stocking stuffers (hint hint if my husband is reading this, ha ha!)
I hope you’ve enjoyed some of these fun Christmas gift ideas! I only recommend things that I like and feel are useful! Most of these tools are things that I use in my everyday sewing. The more you sew, the more you’ll find you need these things!
What are some of your favorite sewing must-have items? Let me know in the comments!
