10 Gift Ideas for someone who sews!

Hi guys!

Once again, I am sorry for not blogging recently; it has been over a month. It's not that I don't want to blog, but more so that I don't have any photos taken of anything I've made or any DIY tutorials, since I don't have my sewing machine here with me at uni. I want this blog to have more tutorials, rather than posts about things I've made since I don't use commercially bought patterns, therefore I can't review any companies or patterns like most bloggers do.

I do have an extensive list of blog posts that I want to upload when I go back home for Christmas, which include a variety of DIY tutorials and Christmas decorations. But I though even though I don't have any projects to show off, what better time to give some gift ideas for someone who sews! So lets begin!

1. Machine Sewing Needles 
Especially for those that are new to sewing or are on a tight budget, one of the items that we sometimes don't invest much attention to are our machine sewing needles. Trust me when I say this but needles can make or break a project.....literally. I've used my far share of blunt needles in my sewing projects which has inevitably lead to me furiously unpicking stitches, wondering why did I put myself through this??? So why not invest your beloved sewer with a stash of needles. Some top makes include Organ Needles, Schmetz, Singer, Janome. Most of these can be bought of eBay, Amazon, John Lewis. They also come in a range of different sizes; I would recommend to get packs with different sizes, maybe ball point needles as well (used for knit or jersey fabrics). An extensive list of needles can be found on the following link:
http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/sewing-machine-needle-guide/


2. Fabric
Your average person can't have neither too many clothes, too many shoes, too many tools... well the same goes for a sewer. It is definitely a misconception that we can have too much fabric. Definitely for beginner sewers, their stash might be quite small and are scared to add to their collection. But fear not; even for a beginner sewer, having a larger collection of fabric might actually motivate them to keep sewing! I usually get mine from markets such as Walthamstow, however for those buying fabric there are numerous eBay sellers out there which sell fabric.

3. Extra Machine Feet
One of the many delights about sewing, is there are so many tools and notions that are required so you can spend spend spend! Even though your beloved sewer might have a sewing machine, they might not actually have many machine feet. These machine feets are quite unique depending on what you are sewing such as a zipper foot, button hole foot, bias binding foot. Of course this requires you to figure out the brand of sewing machine they have. You could also ask them which feet they already have to make your life a bit easier.





4. Good quality thread
Good machine needles and good quality thread go hand in hand; the ying to the yang. Again poor quality thread can make or break a project, and again your beloved sewer might feel the burn in the pocket investing in good quality thread, if they are already investing in fabric and other notions. A very good make of machine threads is Gutermann.





5. Tailors Ham and Sleeve Roll

Tailors Ham and Sleeve is one of those objects that a sewer probably mentions in their sewing sessions like "ohhhhhh I wish I had a tailors hem..... it would've been so much easier if I had a sleeve roll". It might be an indirect message to you, but if you are lucky enough to have things made by a sewer such as shirts or tops, then a sleeve roll could actually benefit you as well! It makes pressing sleeves so much easier and can prevent unsightly creases in clothing.




6. Bias binding/ selection of notions
It is always good for a sewer to stack up on sewing notions such as bias binding, zippers, buttons, elastic etc. They never know when something might break or something runs out in their stash. These can be bought on eBay (I'm not sponsered by them; I just find it's cheaper and easy to buy things off)





7. Project Bag
A nice project bag to put unfinished projects is always handy and would be quite a sentimental gift to buy. You could even try making one yourself for your beloved sewer. Who knows, they might just make you something!



8. Sewing Magazines

Sewing magazines are something that I've always wanted. It's such a great way to past time on the bus or train, or just give ideas for future projects. And they also come with free patterns inside, so what more can you ask for. There are a range of magazines out there. One which I've had my eye on since they first came out with the magazines are the Seamwork magazines.  What I love about the magazine, is a lot of the patterns are very contemporary, fashionable and there are also many reviews about the patterns out there.


9. Embroidery Sewing Patches
This slightly comes under the same category as sewing notions, but these can be a bit more sentimental. The embroidery patches can be a range of items such as flowers, lettering, smiley faces, dogs, pretty much anything. So why not buy them a gift that they will also remember you by?





10. Dress Form
Dress forms...... one of the items that is every sewer's dream. Certainly is my dream. Not only does it help with fitting garments, but can also up the sewer's skills and motivate them to try out new techniques.  It is more expensive than the above gifts but maybe you could pair up with someone and invest together. But it is definitely a gift that will be worth the money. I remember for one of my textile classes during GCSE I had to make a bodice for a dress, and my mum was helping me pin the bodice pieces onto me, and I'm pretty sure I got pricked by about 100 pins......



I hope these gift ideas give you some inspiration on what to get your beloved sewer! Take care! xxx