User Blog:
Clare's Crafting: How to get started with Tailoring

This is all about how to go about making your own kit, from the basic to the complicated. Some things that seem complicated aren't, while other things that look simple can turn out to be almost impossible.

The basic items:

Basic sewing kit. Before you start anything, there are certain things you need to get together. First, you need pins, needles and decent cotton or polyester thread. You can get these from anywhere. Black thread and white thread are essentials, but don't get coloured thread until you know what cloth you'll be working with.

Somewhere to lay out. Even if it's your mother's dining room table or the floor of your bedroom, you need somewhere to lay out bits of cloth so that you can lay things out. Ideally you want a space several feet long and a few feet wide, raised to about table height, but most people manage just fine without a perfect surface.

A pen. Preferably something that'll show up against what you're marking. A biro will wash out, but you can't really see it against black. If you're determined to wear black, see 'tailor's chalk' in the next section.

A haberdashery. You're always going to need a place to get the odds and ends that you can't find at the supermarket. Whether it be bias tape, bits of ribbon, a cloak clasp or patterns for new kit, these places stock useful stuff. They also stock stuff you'll never actually use even if they look really handy/nifty/pretty at the time. You have been warned.

Scissors. Big sharp ones. Ordinary domestic/kitchen scissors will do the job perfectly, but if you can set aside a pair for working with cloth it's all to the good.

Items it's nice to have:

A sewing machine (and the knowledge to use it). Sewing machines aren't necessary, but they do take hours off any project.

A rotary cutter and cutting mat. These things save more hours, and handache as well. They reduce cutting out of fabric to short minutes rather than long hours, once you have the hang of them.

Pinking shears. These special scissors leave an edge shaped like little triangles, and they're incredibly useful. Cloth cut with these things doesn't fray much if at all, which means they're a cheat.