A Beginner’s Guide to Selecting the Best Sewing Kit + 5 Excellent Examples
Last week we looked at some beautiful ideas for the perfect sewing box, and this week, we’re going to talk about what to put in your sewing box. This post will focus on the best beginner sewing kit that will set you up for success.
You can use this as a guide for deciding what to purchase, whether you will buy “a la carte” or a ready-made kit. With the information in today’s post, you can feel confident you’ll have what you need to start your sewing journey.
What Should I Buy as a Beginner Sewing?
This is probably the biggest question I see when people are looking into sewing for the first. Let’s be honest; all the sewing notions and tools can be extremely overwhelming, especially if you have no experience with sewing.
Before we check out any sewing kit options, let’s review some items you will need that probably won’t come in a basic sewing kit.
- Sewing Machine: This may be a given, but finding a good-quality sewing machine for a beginner can be tricky sometimes. Here is a post where I go over the best options and what to look for when you are looking for your first sewing machine.
- Thread: Many sewing kits come with a small amount of thread, but it is rarely a good-quality thread option. The type of thread you need will depend on the sewing you are doing, so do your research and don’t just use the cheapest option.
- Fabric: Once you’ve figured out what type of sewing you want, you can purchase fabric to tackle your first projects. I recommend choosing one or two simple beginner projects first and purchasing enough fabric for those projects before you invest money into more fabric.
- Missing necessities: Not all sewing kits are created equal, and there is a list of items everyone should have for sewing, regardless of the type of sewing you plan to do. If the sewing kit you choose doesn’t have one of these items, you may need to purchase it “a la carte.”
What Should Be In My Sewing Kit?
What you keep in your sewing kit will depend on what sewing techniques you enjoy and what kind of things you like to sew. A quilter’s sewing kit will look quite different from a tailor’s.
However, there are several items that you will find in any sewing kit. Let’s name a few, shall we?
- Scissors: There are over 50 types, believe it or not. But, regardless of what you are sewing, you will need some kind of scissors.
- Needles: Needles have different thicknesses and lengths, but if you don’t have a specific need, it’s probably a good idea to have a few multi-purpose needles in your tool kit.
- Pins: Straight, curved, safety, tailor’s pins, etc. There are many types of pins, each with a specific job. Every sewing kit should have a few safety and straight pins to hold fabrics together.
- Measuring Tape: Measuring is necessary for every sewing area, and a measuring tape is essential.
- Seam Ripper: The seam ripper sometimes gets a bad rap, but they’re a handy little tool. I know we’d all love to be perfect sewists all the time, but we’ll inevitably need to rip a few seams here and there.
- Marking Tools: There are several types of marking tools on the market. You can use water-soluble ink pens, chalk pencils, hera markers, or heat-soluble pens. It may take some trial and error to figure out your favorite tool.
5 Great Options for the Best Beginner Sewing Kit
Now, I want to show you five options to help you pick the best sewing kit for your needs. We’ll discuss what each kit offers, and I’ll also point out any items that the kit is “missing.”
Here is a sewing kit from a trusted and well-known company, Singer. The kit comes in a cute square-shaped plastic sewing box with plenty of compartments for all your small sewing tools and notions.
The kit contains 40+ spools of quality polyester thread, needles, pins, scissors, seam ripper, pin cushion, and many other notions to get you started. The only thing missing is some marking tool, which you will need to purchase separately. All in all, this is an excellent choice for a beginner sewing kit.
This option is a beautiful wooden sewing box that has a fun sewing tool design on the lid. Inside, you will find the following: pin cushion, thimble, small spools of thread, snips (small scissors), seam ripper, a few needles, pins, measuring tape, and a needle threader.
If you don’t plan on doing a lot of sewing or only want a basic sewing kit, I recommend a kit like this one. The box itself is cute and compact and holds the bare necessities for simple mending. I didn’t see any marking tools in the list of contents, so keep that in mind when making your selection.
Unlike the last option, this sewing kit is meant for those who genuinely want to dive into sewing for a legit hobby. This kit includes several extras that will be helpful such as a rotary cutter, cutting mat, cutting knife, ruler, and quilting clips.
If you want to dabble in quilting, I recommend this sewing kit or #5. The extras in this kit will help immensely if you are a beginner quilter. However, this kit does not include a seam ripper or marking tool. Those will need to be purchased separately, but both items are inexpensive and easy to find.
Here is an adorable sewing basket that includes a small sewing kit. This is another kit from Singer, so you can be confident that the items inside are good quality.
The kit is minimal, but if you want a traditional sewing basket like this one, you can always add it to your tools. The tools and notions included in this kit are small scissors, a small amount of polyester thread, a mini pin cushion, needles, a needle threader, measuring tape, pins, and a mini seam ripper. This is an excellent choice if you need a small travel sewing kit.
I have saved the best for last. The EverSewn Ultimate Sewing Starter Kit is my choice for the best beginner sewing kit, and I’ll tell you why. This kit was designed specifically for beginners and includes everything you need to start.
This starter kit includes scissors, a seam ripper, marking tools, a rotary cutter, a cutting mat, a ruler, measuring tape, pins, clips, a magnetic pin cushion, and a sewing gauge. All of the items in this kit are high-quality items from EverSewn. This is a great kit for beginner quilters or hobby sewists and is the kit I would recommend to any friends or family that want to get into sewing.
I hope you enjoyed checking out these sewing kits, and I’ve taken away some of the mystique surrounding beginner sewing kit questions. Remember to do your research before you start throwing money at any kind of sewing tools or notions. There are many options out there, and I hope this post will help you choose what you need.
