Looking for great sewing tools that won’t break the bank? Then this list will be very useful. I’ve listed over 10 budget friendly sewing tools that do a great job. Everything from the best tracing pens to some interesting options that can replace the seam ripper. The list is compiled from the livestream I did on YouTube and if you want more detail s and hear even more tips I highly recommend that you watch the video too.
A list of great and budget friendly sewing tools
The list contains Amazon Affiliate Links.
Tracing pens and tools
These tracing pens draw sharp lines that are easy to remove, super important when we are marking on fabrics!
Tailor’s awl
Use an awl for marking darts, buttonholes, pleats, and to feed the upper layer of a fabric when topstitching on a sewing machine. I know it can be a bit intimidating to punch a hole in your precious fabrics, but if we get over that fear we will be rewarded with a really quick way to to mark all sorts of things. This is also a tool that is common in the sewing industry, and why not nick a trick or two from them!
Four ways to use a tailor’s awl for sewing
Buttonhole cutter
Will making opening buttonholes so much nicer and easier compared to using a seam ripper. I bought mine earliers this year and now I’m hooked as they cut the very nice buttonholes without a lot of annoying threads.
Seam rippers
A sharp good quality traditional seam ripper is a must-have, but in the chat we also got some interesting suggestions that with pracitise will work better hand be more kind to the fabric than a regular seam ripper.
Razor Sharp Surgical Seam Rippers
Regular razor blade (!)
Seam gauge
Also called Sømometer, Saummass, Zoommaatje, Seam gauge, Pfiffkus. It has many different names in Europe, but the purpose is the same – making the dreary process of adding seam allowances to patterns a little easier. It’s a simple but pretty ingenious tool. As you can see in the picture, every corner has fixed width, ranging from 1 cm (~ 6/8 inches) to 6 cm (~ 2- 3/8 inches).
Sewing tweezers
Great for removing and pulling threads, inserting machine needles and threads plus much more
Pattern weights
A budget-friendly option is to use thick metal washers as pattern weights.
Note that the links above are Amazon Affiliate Links.
So that was my big list of sewing tools from our livechat about budget-friendly sewing tools. Hope you found the list useful, and as I said, watch the video to get a lot more sewing tooltips and ideas on how to use the tools. Thank you to everyone who contributed!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, meaning that a commission is earned from qualifying purchases.
4 Comments
Marnie
October 4, 2018 at 12:50 pmI wish I could get hold of a metric seam gauge. The Dritz one is in imperial and, although the metric scale has been our official measurement system since 1971, I can’t find a metric one to buy in the UK,
Marnie
October 4, 2018 at 12:55 pmI also meant to say that your tool selection is spot on…although I don’t get on so well with the blade seam ripper. I do like to use all the others on your list, however. 😀
Barbara
July 16, 2019 at 9:46 pmGood list. I never thought of using an awl to mark patterns.
I also like “That Purple Thang” for miscellaneous times I need to hold bits in place at the start of a seam, push seams open for ironing, etc.
I use regular #11 scalpel blades with a standard holder for most ripping. No plastic to toss when the blades get dull, which they do pretty quickly in my experience. I bought 100 blades for about $10 on amazon.
Boronia Halstead
November 14, 2019 at 11:41 pmBest money saver was to make sure that serger machine and threads are protected from dust, especially in a dry climate like Australia. My sewing machine repair man told me about the perils of old and/or dusty overlocker thread and how it gums up tension and leads to grief. Have cut down service costs dramatically as a result.