501 Easy Look & Feel Good Tips. Cheryl Owen

buttons for example.

      Pins Dressmaking pins come in various thicknesses, household pins are the most versatile. Use lace or bridal pins on delicate fabrics as other pins may mark the surface. Coloured glass-headed pins show up well on a large expanse of fabric. Quilting pins are extra long to push through the layers of a quilt, they have colourful shapely ends so are easy to see. Curved basting pins are curved safety pins. They are used to secure fabric layers together, be careful that they do not leave noticeable holes in the fabric.

      Bodkin This needle-like tool has a large eye and blunt tip. Fasten a bodkin to a drawstring to draw it through a channel or to the end of a fabric tube to turn it right side out.

      Rouleau turner Also known as a tube turner, a rouleau turner can be used in place of a bodkin. A latch hook at one end is hooked onto the end of a drawstring or fabric tube to draw it through the enclosure.

      Bias binding maker Thread a bias or straight strip of fabric through this neat gadget, it will turn under the edges which you then press with an iron to make a binding. The bias binding maker comes in a range of widths.