May Martin’s Sewing Bible: 40 years of tips and tricks

22. (#litres_trial_promo) Fabric glue

23. (#litres_trial_promo) Tape and binding makers. These are handy gadgets and come in different sizes; the fabric is threaded through and the edges are rolled under to form bias or straight binding.

24. (#litres_trial_promo) Beeswax – before doing any hand sewing, run the thread through the wax; this will prevent it from tangling and will make it stronger.

25. (#litres_trial_promo) Rotary cutter – this is a specialist cutter with a rotary blade that can cut through several layers of fabric at once. Use only with its special mat and ruler. Very useful for cutting parallel trims, bias strips, pieces for patchwork and much more.

26. (#litres_trial_promo) Cutting mat

27. (#litres_trial_promo) Chisel and block to cut buttonholes

28. (#litres_trial_promo) Hole reinforcements

29. (#litres_trial_promo) Weights

Essential Tools 2

Useful Additions to your Kit

The following items, while not essential, can come in very handy for different projects:

Bodkin –for pulling elastic through a casing.

Bridal and lace pins – finer pins for using with delicate fabrics and projects such as wedding dresses.

Sewing gauge – great for spacing buttons and buttonholes without measuring.

Flexible curve ruler – very useful for marking curves (such as for the Man’s Apron (#litres_trial_promo)).

Rotary cutter – especially useful for quilting, but great for cutting any straight edge with the aid of a ruler and cutting mat.

Craft hole punch – for making holes in leather and card.

Bias binding and tape maker – these come in different sizes and are really useful for making straight or bias tape (#litres_trial_promo).

Beeswax – waxing thread prevents tangling.

Fabric eraser – for rubbing out marks on cloth.

Sewing Machine

It goes without say that, for most sewing projects, a sewing machine is vital, and I’ve devoted a whole section to it – see here (#u28c3b6a7-4726-5576-8a7f-357bc557c6a1).

Overlocker

An overlocker is a much more specialised piece of equipment, but it creates a really professional finish to garments – see here (#litres_trial_promo) for further details.

Iron & Ironing Board

An iron and ironing board are needed at every stage of a sewing project, so it’s a good idea to set them up in a convenient location before you start. The ironing board comes in handy as an extra work surface, too. Put two ironing boards together with a board on the top and you have an adjustable-height work surface!

Other useful pressing aids are:

A seam roll – this is a padded tube, great for pressing seams inside sleeves and trouser. The roll holds the seam edges away when pressing so the indents don’t occur. For a bargain alternative, go to your local fabric shop and pick up a tube from the middle of a roll of fabric. Wrap it in a thin towel – and hey presto, you have a seam roll! The longer length of this tube is excellent for pressing long seams such as the table runner (#litres_trial_promo). You could even use a tube of cardboard from inside a roll of kitchen paper or plastic food wrap.

Sleeve boards – a sleeve board is like a mini ironing board on legs – it stands on your ironing board and is great for pressing tubes such as sleeves and trouser seams. They are also useful when pressing children’s clothes, which have small, fiddly seams and shaping.

Brown paper, printer paper, sugar paper – cut into strips and position under your seam allowances to prevent them from imprinting on the right side of the garment.

Tailor’s ham – really useful for pressing darts, panels and shaping, as they mimic the contour of the body.

Needleboard: These are boards with rows of needles that stand up and position themselves in the pile of the fabric, preventing flattening of the pile. They are great for pressing fabrics with a pile. For an effective alternative, place a spare piece of the fabric pile side up on the ironing board, then put your garment pile side down on top and press.

Pressing cloth – a pressing cloth is a fine piece of muslin that you lay on top of your fabric. When dry, it protects the fabric while you iron; when dampened, it aids pressing and shrinking.

Pressing mat – a portable padded mat that can be placed to protect and pad any work surface so that you can press anywhere.

Tailor’s Dummy

While not essential, tailor’s dummies are a great tool for working on and fitting a garment – particularly for checking the back view or if you’re making an item of clothing for someone else. I had my first tailor’s dummy 40 years ago. A friend of my mum’s gave her to me and I called her Gladys. She travelled with us from house to house until eventually she rusted and fell apart. A couple of years ago, I decided to replace her; I assembled the new mannequin in my studio and started to customise her to my shape. As I worked, I chatted to her. My husband could hear me talking and asked if I had a visitor!

Tailor’s dummies come in different sizes and are adjustable. When choosing one to buy, it’s best to go for a model that is either exactly your size or slightly smaller as you can add layers, as I’ll explain here. My weight fluctuates and it is marvellous to be able to peel off a layer from my dummy when I lose a few pounds!

Customising a Tailor’s Dummy

Tailor’s dummies are made up of expandable sections with adjustment wheels that can be operated to increase or decrease the gaps between the sections and hence the overall size. Dummies come classically proportioned, too, so may need some adjustment – mine certainly did! For the best results, it’s a good idea to customise the dummy to fit you exactly. As well as adjusting the individual sections of the dummy, I use padding to create a more lifelike outline.

1. (#ulink_5f3f13c0-3b47-5ec3-bcfa-7f0916b75ceb) First take your measurements – chest, waist and hips – then adjust the wheels on the expandable sections until they are as near as possible to your size.

2. (#ulink_5f3f13c0-3b47-5ec3-bcfa-7f0916b75ceb) Find a bra that fits you really well and pad the cups. Put the bra on the dummy and check that the bust is in the right place. Measure from your shoulder to the bust point, then loosen or tighten the straps on the bra to match.

3. (#ulink_5f3f13c0-3b47-5ec3-bcfa-7f0916b75ceb) Gradually bind the body of the dummy with 70g (2oz) wadding, adding those extra layers of flesh that determine the shape of our bodies. Measure at every stage as you do this, stopping when the dummy matches your measurements. This is a really flexible way of changing the shape of your dummy and you can add more in one area if required.

4. (#ulink_5f3f13c0-3b47-5ec3-bcfa-7f0916b75ceb) Now take some stockinette – the stretchy tubular cotton fabric you use to cover foam for upholstery projects – and cut a 1.5m (1⅝yd) length. Unscrew the neck of your dummy, put the stockinette tube over the top of the dummy and pull it down over the body. Tuck the stockinette into the neck and tighten the neck screw. Pull the fabric right down and tie under the body of the dummy.

Stockinette is quite flimsy, however, so I bought a close-fitting cheap T-shirt and put this on as the top layer. I then tried one of my dresses on the dummy to check for fit. Perfect! (And no, she hasn’t got a name yet!)

The Raw Materials

Fabric for Craft or Home-Furnishing Projects

For my craft projects you’ll see I’ve mostly used cotton, for its weight and texture as well as its wide colour range, but you can use any fabric you like, within reason, as long as you sew together fabrics of a similar weight where more than one is needed. Cotton is also ideal for making curtains, blinds or other home furnishings, especially if you’re just starting out. My students buy whatever catches their eye and whatever they think will best fit their overall colour scheme. The main thing to bear in mind is pattern matching, which I explain in detail in the section on making curtains (#litres_trial_promo).

Choosing Fabric for your Dressmaking Project

My students frequently ask my advice when it comes to selecting fabric for a dressmaking project, so here are a few pointers to help you make your choice.

First purchase your pattern and look at the back of the envelope (#ulink_e96c3f24-4280-59e5-b8e9-713d70d5ab11) for fabric recommendations and quantities. Decide whether your garment is going to be worn in the winter or the summer – this will determine the weight of the fabric and the sort of colours to go for.