8 Great Tools and Notions for Sewing Jeans

Having great tools and notions when sewing jeans is essential for a great result and a friction-free sewing experience. Here are eight of my favourite things that I rely heavily on for my jeans making.

Pliers

Pliers aren’t necessary for making jeans but can be handy when you need to trim or remove bits from metal hardware. Nose pliers (pictured above) are perfect for removing surplus zipper teeth when shortening a zipper. Cutting pliers (pictured below) can be used for shortening nails that are too long when attaching rivets and buttons.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, meaning that a commission is earned from qualifying purchases.

Get

Irwin Nose Pliers

Irwin Cutting Pliers (Amazon affiliate links)

Use

How to sew a jeans waistband (shows how to shorten a zipper)

Hammer & Rubber Mallet

Having a hammer is super useful when making jeans. Use it for attaching rivets and buttons and hammering down bulky seams to make topstitching easier. A rubber mallet is also a useful tool to have for sewing eans, especially for gently but firmly flattening bulky areas where several bulky seams intersect.

Use

Button and buttonholes jeans tutorial

Attaching rivets on jeans

Get

Rubber Mallet by Connex

Rubber Mallet by Tekton (Amazon affiliate links)

Interfacing

Use fusible interfacing to stabilise the waistband and jeans fly area. Best suited for denim making are light to mid-weight non-woven or knit fusibles. There is no need for thick interfacing because denim fabric has enough stability by itself. For waistbands on very stretchy jeans, chose a knit fusible interfacing.

Use

Guide to stretchy fusible interfacing

Tutorial for sewing jeans waistbands

Get

Vliseline H609

Awls

A sharp tool used for marking, piercing holes for rivets and creating the round opening on keyhole buttonholes. Use the smaller tailor’s awl for markings and the larger awl for piercing holes.

Use

Attaching jeans rivets

Four ways to use an awl for sewing

Get

Tailor’s awl from Clover

Tailor’s awl from Sew-Mate

Hardware (large) awl (Amazon affiliate links)

Hump Jumper

This is a fantastic little tool that keeps the presser foot horizontal when sewing over bulky layers and edges. It prevents skipped stitches and helps with even feeding, which is an issue when you are sewing thick seams on denim. Also called jean-a-ma-jig, height-compensation tool or bulky seam aid.

Use

Tips for perfect topstitching (video)

Get

Hump-Jumper/Button tool

Jean-A-Ma-Jig (Amazon affiliate links)

Bernina Height Compensation Tool (has three levels)

Jeans/Extra Strong Thread

Thick durable thread used for topstitching denim  Heavy buttonhole thread can also be used for topstitching jeans. The higher the Tex number, the heavier the thread is, with heavy thread for domestic sewing machines usually being in the Tex 60 to 80 (Dtex 600 to 800) range.

I’m a big fan of the Gütermann brand, they both have a Denim thread and an Extra Strong thread that both works great for stitching denim and comes in several different colours. But there are other great brands too, it’s just that I’m most familiar with Gütermann.

Use

8 tips for sewing topstitching

Get

Gütermann Denim

Gütermann Extra Strong

Jeans and Topstitching needles

Jeans/Denim needles

Reinforced needles designed to sew through thick fabrics without breaking. Come in many sizes. A good range to have in the sewing kit is 90/14, 100/16 and 110/18, depending on the denim used.

Get

Schmetz Jeans Needles

Organ Jeans Needles (Amazon affiliate links)

Denim Twin-Needle

A double-needle designed to be used when sewing denim and other thick fabrics. Can be used for topstitching and sewing belt loops on a sewing machine.

Schmetz Jeans Twin Needle (Size 4.0/100)

Topstitching Needles

Topstitch needles have an extra-large eye with room for thick threads, making them a good choice for topstitching denim. Use size 90/14 or 100/16 depending on the thickness of the fabric.

My favourite needles are the  Schmetz Topstitching needles (Amazon affiliate link), that comes in several sizes. They have an extra-large eye and goes through thick seams so nicely.

Now, this list is of course far from complete, and in my book Sewing Jeans: The Complete Step-By-Step Guide I have an entire chapter dedicated to tools and notions for sewing jeans.

Want to see even more of favourite tools and notions for sewing jeans and learn how to use them? Then check this video out!

I’ve also done a blog post about fantastic sewing tools for $10 or less.