What's in your sewing bag?

I thought it would be fun to share with each other what's in our sewing bags. You all know by now that I am not lucky enough to have a sewing studio so every time I sew I have to drag my machine from one area, my sewing bag from another and my fabric from a third area. So a sewing bag with all of my goodies is a must! My sewing bag saves me from looking and gathering all of my sewing supplies each time I want to sew.

I bought this super cute bag from TJ MAXX for a mere $7... What a steal! It is originally a K&C scrap booking caddy, but it makes the best sewing bag for me. It has lots of little pockets to keep everything organized and in their own separate areas.


I find myself grabbing for a stapler once in awhile to staple fabric together when pins just aren't working for me or to keep all my fabrics together and organized in a certain order. Or occasionally I will staple paper to my fabric while working with pattern pieces. I also like using clothes pins to keep my larger projects together, especially when working with pieces that need to be kept in a certain order. I also keep some business cards and a tape roller in my bag. I use the tape roller a lot when putting paper pattern pieces together or packaging my etsy orders.

This pocket holds my snap making supplies. I have tried a few different snap makers and this one is by far my favorite. It is from Snap Source. It is super easy to work with and my snaps always come out perfectly lined up and very secure. You don't have to worry about a snap falling off with this little machine. I ended up purchasing the stone after I accidentally made some marks into my butcher block counter top while hammering the snaps on. So if you purchase one of these make sure you use a cutting mat underneath your snap maker depending on the type of work surface you have. I prefer to use the stone because it takes up less work space and that way I don't have to drag out my huge cutting mat each time I attach snaps. So whatever works best for you. The hammer works great too and has hidden screw drivers inside of the handle. The screw drivers work great for fixing mistakes.

Of course we all need our pencils and marking pens. I love to use the Mark B Gone pens from Walmart. They are the cheapest ones I have found and leave a nice wide mark and erase completely with just a little mist from my spray bottle.

Which leads me to my spray bottle, something I could never sew without. Spraying my fabric with water gets the wrinkles out better and faster then the sprayer on my iron. Plus I find it makes my creases much cleaner and neater. Like I said before I use my spray bottle for erasing my pen marks on fabric too. Another item I could not sew without is my lint roller. I use a lint roller to get rid of all those loose strings and left over lint before turning anything right side out. I get so irritated when making something and see little fuzzies or loose strings on the inside in between the layers. It just a little quirk I have. Its hard to see in the picture but I also keep a wooden skewer for turning things right side out. It works great to push those little edges out straight. And lastly I always have baby wipes. Not only to obsessively clean off my work spot but I also try to keep my machine lint free. I had to send my machine to the shop one time and spend $80 all due to excessive lint, so lesson learned there. And those of you that work with minky fabric know how much lint is involved. Sometimes I'm making 30 bibs at a time and the lint gets everywhere. So baby wipes are a great way to keep the lint to a minimum.

The inside of my bag is perfect for storing all of the larger items that need to be kept organized in their own separate containers. You can see that I use one of those plastic containers for storing all of my snaps and I use a few canning jars for storing smaller items as well. Of course I have to mention my sweet little pin cushion. I think we all know how much pins are a must. I just LOVE this little beauty! I purchased it from Namolio on etsy. It is so pretty and works well. At first I thought it was too small but I haven't run out of pins yet during a sewing project.

So what's in those canning jars? One of the canning jars hold my labels and the other holds odds and ends like my button making tools, some needles, pins, and other small objects. I also use one of those plastic containers for storing all of my snaps. Each compartment holds a different piece needed for making snaps. My bag isn't always this neat but I try to keep it organized for storing unfinished projects.

And of course I could not sew without my tape measures, scissors, rotary cutter or seam ripper. I also like to keep a bone in there for making creases and to help with turning things right side out. And lastly a little bottle of Fray Check. I mostly use fray check when making my key fobs or quick projects that I don't want to finish the edges on, but don't want them to fray.

So what's in your sewing bag? Do any of you use a sewing bag or are you all lucky enough to have a sewing studio? What's your favorite sewing goodie? Anything unusual that you use while sewing? Link up in the comments below, let's all share what's in our sewing bag!