Great Gift Items Under $20 for the Sewer

If you are lucky enough to have a sewing fan on your gift list, you are going to have fun shopping with them in mind. There are a wide variety of items, notions, and patterns to choose from.

Thread
Every sewer needs thread and can never have enough. Buy some spools of thread to bring a smile to your sewer's face. Basic colors are black, white, tan, red, dark green, and navy. These colors are always handy to have on hand.

Thread is sold in single skins (for very small, one time projects), small spools, and large spools. The threads come in different thicknesses, with the most thick being the most expensive. The thicker the thread, the more sturdy it is. For instance, if your gift sewer has a lot of blue jean repair to do, you would need to buy a heavy-duty thread.

Coats & Clark are one of the more popular manufacturers of thread. They have been around for ages. Plus, with different other manufacturers of thread around, the average spool retails for $2-4. Try buying 2-3 spools of thread. Buy one lightweight, one medium weight, and one heavy-duty weight.

Needles
Needles are another necessity for sewers, obviously. Needles come in different sizes and shapes. The basic sizes of hand needles are usually sold in an assortment package. Or, you can buy one size in a package. I would recommend buying an assortment package to be safe. A good sewer will use all sizes of needles.

Needles are not priced based on sizes. Hand needles retail at about $3-5.

Sewing machine needles are another form of needle your gift recipient would welcome. The only thing is, you'll have to somehow find out the needle size their machine takes. Once you have that information, though, it is easy to buy sewing machine needles. They retail for around $5.

Singer is a popular manufacturer of quality needles. You can buy them online at their website, also. Visit www.singer.com for more information.

Pins & Pin Cushion
Pins have a way of disappearing that sewers will never understand. Therefore, they constantly need replaced. Pins are not expensive. They are sold in containers for easy storage. A small container of pins retails for about $2.

Singer is a high quality manufacturer of pins. Check them out online at www.singer.com.

What good are pins without a pin cushion? A pin cushion is a necessity to the sewer. It is used for pins, safety pins, and needles. In fact, you cannot go wrong if you were to buy your sewer a pin cushion. A fun red tomato pin cushion is manufactured by Fons & Porter. It retails at $8. $8 is the average price for a pin cushion, it seems.

They come in various sizes, shapes, and colors. Most come with a needle sharpener attached in some form. Needle sharpeners are necessary to prevent the needle from snagging material. They also make for the needle to go through material easier.

Pin cushions, of course, are retailed at different prices depending on the model. On average, they retail for $4-8.

Storage Case
Every sewer accumulates items, notions, patterns, and material after awhile. They need someplace to store all of this. This is where a storage case comes in handy. These also come in various sizes, shapes, and materials.

The most convenient to carry around is a plastic rectangular box shaped. They also happen to be the most economical. They usually come with a removable, compartmentalized tray. This helps with the organization of items. The bottom portion can be used for larger items, while the removable tray holds thread spools, thimbles, and pin cushion.

This plastic sewing storage case retails for around $10. It is sold at Wal-Mart and other department stores. It is also sold at fabric stores, of course.

Bobbins
The ever-trusty bobbin. It is an absolute necessity for the sewing machine. For lack of better terminology, the bobbin is a thread-containing item that completes the machine stitch. The sewing machine needle is the upper stitch portion; the bobbin is the lower (underside) stitch. Bobbins come in only one size, so you can't go wrong when buying them!

Bobbins retail at around $5 for four metal ones. Boye Metal makes some quality ones. Give your sewer friend a container of bobbins and watch the smile come to their face!

There you have it. This article just touches upon the wide variety of items you can give to your sewing friend.

Each item mentioned above is sold at Wal-Mart and other department stores. They also are sold at fabric and crafts stores. Most are sold online at www.joannfabrics.com.