Five Sewing Gadgets to Put on your Christmas List

I keep an Amazon wish list called “Nikki’s Christmas Wishes” and it’s sole purpose is to make Christmas shopping easier for my husband, ha! It’s not that he doesn’t love to give me gifts, he just doesn’t have any ideas when it’s actually time to go Christmas shopping! So I help him out with a list. My husband and I only do stockings for each other, no big ticket items on Christmas, so that our money can go to other gifts, so I try to keep to smaller things on my wish list.

Over the years, I’ve collected some pretty useful sewing gadgets, so I want to share with you five things to put on your own wish list this Christmas! Some of these I’ve received as gifts in the past and a few are items on my list currently. Let me know what you would add!

FastTurn

My mom gifted me a FastTurn turning tool in my first year or two of marriage and it’s still going strong these many years later. This is is SO handy. It will turn your fabric tubes of all sizes right side out, no fiddly safety pins required. Major time saver! It’s made super well, obviously, since mine is still in use after 17 plus years of use, and not one piece has broken. This is a must have gadget for any sewer!

Seam Roller

This Clover Roll & Press is on my Christmas list this year. This inexpensive little gadget will save me from having to go to the ironing board after every little seam, but should do a little better of a job than finger pressing. Also, for fabrics that don’t take to ironing very well, this should help press those seams open without damaging my fabric.

Expanding Button Gauge

This gadget was in my stocking after I put it on my wish list a few years ago and I’ve used the heck out of it! It’s an expandable ruler that helps you measure spacing accurately. See this post for how I use it to make perfectly spaced buttons and button holes.

Tailor’s Ham

This is on my list this year too. I had a tailor’s ham at one point, but it’s one of the random things that inexplicably got lost in a move. It’s too useful to go without though, so I’d like a replacement. A tailor’s ham is a pressing tool that can help you iron shaped pieces like sleeve heads. BUT, it’s also handy for pinning pockets onto shirts. Since the shirt will often have a bust dart, pinning a pocket onto in the flat doesn’t make sense. Placing the shirt onto your tailor’s ham gives it the curve that it would have when being worn, so it makes pocket placement easier.

Spring Loaded Hole Punches

I’ve had these punches since my scrapbooking days, so probably for 15 or more years. I don’t think mine were marketed as sewing tools where I bought them, but they are actually spring loaded eyelet setters. They do set eyelets, however, I use them in my sewing room very often for much more than that! These come with three sizes in one package and they’re great for punching holes for animal eyes, snaps or grommets. I use them to punch extra holes in leather belts or purse straps too. You simply place the cutting end on the spot you want a hole, pull up on the other end and let go. Super easy! I keep a tiny self healing mat around just for use with these handy little gadgets.

That’s all for now, although I did sneak a dress form onto my list just in case my husband feels like going big, haha! I’ve never had a dress form before, but I often think to myself how it would make so many things easier!

Please tell us which sewing gadgets you couldn’t live without! I’m always looking for more handy tools for the sewing room :)

Cheers!