Category: Tools

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Tailor’s Chalk to mark your materials like a pro

The complexity of your work will gradually increase as you build up confidence and skills. When that time comes, you will need to temporarily mark your fabrics and no longer just marking seams and cut lines where no-one will see the permanent marker’s strokes.

I find that even on high-tech fabrics, the most versatile and reliable method to mark temporary guides and lines is chalk. I use a combination of a Tailor’s chalk pen and 4.5x3cm Tailor chalk rectangles in an assortment of colours to be able to always have contrasting markings on any colour fabric. On full set will probably last you forever if you are a casual builder like me.

You will want to precisely mark your webbing and draw lines and patterns on a lot of your materials to help with alignment, folds, assembly orders, and many other writings but also want to be able to easily wash it off when the build is complete.

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Good pattern and high-contrast Cutting Mat is a must

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Since I mentioned the rotary cutter being an absolute necessity in another post, it goes without saying that you will need a cutting mat. There are outrageously cheap ones out there, and then there are better ones. They will all let you cut what you need, but I have found that, over the years, the printed patterns and accuracy of the mat’s design matter for quick prototyping and for repetitive work.

I use the mat to measure webbing to length, to gauge dimensions by eye. I use it as a reference for straight 90° cuts, and so much more than just a self-healing cutting surface. So I would recommend a high contrast, clear pattern such as this black Elan A1 Cutting Mat with both a 1×1cm and 5×5cm grid (different line width) and a couple of useful angles and other markings that will just speed things up.

For making backpacks, anything smaller than A1 will make your work much slower, but you need to make sure this fits on your desk or table.

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You will be known as Edward Scissorhands

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You will absolutely need a rotary cutter, as well as some good quality shears. If you need to pick one, get the Prym 45mm Maxi rotary cutter. I have been using mine since 2017, and after 5 years of intense use, it still cuts everything I need.

Rotary cutters come in different sizes. I find that a 45mm diameter wheel is the right size for what I normally work with. It cuts strait, but can still cut small curved edges cleanly. If you want to do a lot of wavy cuts, you probably want to go for the 28mm rotary cutter instead.

As for shears, I really like my Victorinox Dressmaking Scissors which are holding their sharpness decently well, and have the perfect handles for my big hands. If you have relatively smaller hands, you might be happier with the Fiskars Dressmaking Scissors instead.

Additionally, if you can spare the money, a pair of small thread scissors will really pay off!

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You never have enough clips

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Whether you need to hold a piece of webbing in place, or just dry-assemble a couple of panels together to get a sense of the look and feel of your creation before stitching every into its final position, you will need small plastic clips. I have more than 100 of these, and I have ran out of clips more than once.

You don’t need anything too big, and clips 2 to 3 cm long are in my opinion the best compromise between strength and ease of use.

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No Need for Needles Bonenza

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If you are starting, the choice of needles is probably overwhelming at the beginning. The choice of needle should be based on the type of fabric and the thread you plan on using. I use a high quality polyester thread made in germany (Alterfil S100) and I mostly alternate between universal 80/12 and universal 100/16 needles from Schmetz. I only stock up on these which makes having enough spares for a project a certainty. You will need more 80s than 100s since they bend and/or break more easily.

If you only want to order a few needles to start with and find what’s working for you, an assorted needle set is always a good option so you get to build up your own experience but you will probably will end up with two or three sizes that will really work for you and for your work.

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The Singer 4423 will get you a very long way

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I would absolutely recommend the Singer 4423 if you are serious about learning the craft but you are looking for a small new machine. It’s other siblings simply offer more stitch types, none of which I would ever use for what I make. Simpler is better when it comes to fine machines.

I find it to be a good machine overall for its price, and it will get you a long way. It is my second brand-new machine which I bought in April 2019 and I still have it and use it regularly today. It can sew through a few layers of medium weight fabrics with ease. The feed is decent, and grabs well on medium and heavy fabrics alike. The feed dogs might be a tad too aggressive for very fine fabrics like 30D Nylon fabrics found in kites for example.

This machine has plastic gears inside, so might not be the most durable machine for heavy-duty work despite the name as the gears might get worn out over time, but so far mine is in great condition 3 and a half years later and rarely skips a beat.

One of my favourite features on this machine is the clear top-loading quick-swap bobbin window which allows you to always see the amount of threads remaining in the lower bobbin, and replace it in a heartbeat.

Maintenance is relatively easy and I had to reset the needle/bobbin timing a few times already (about once a year). Oiling the machine is really simple and quick, and I use fine machinery oil to keep the cogs, shafts, and bearings movings smoothly (100ml will last you forever).

Additionally, the fact that this particular sewing machine is well documented both from Singer itself and from other sources like Youtube makes it a great platform to learn on.

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