Sewing essentials list-help please!

[Molehillmountain]

Friend's dh has asked for help on what to buy for Christmas for someone who is crafty but new to sewing. What would you suggest? I've said various scissors, pins, needles, pinking shears. She has tape measure already.

rotary cutter and cutting board?

Good plan! I don't have a cutting board and I want one!

quick-unpick (stitch ripper) - especially if she is a beginner!
tailor's chalk or similar (I just got given a pink marker that fades on air contact after a certain time - pretty cool!)
nice sewing box?

Buttons - you can get mixed bags on Ebay.
Pin cushion
Thread
Tailor's chalk is a good idea (I always need more!)
Zips - the market near us does them for 30p so it's easy to get a few as a stocking filler lives in hope of dh doing this

Fill up a sewing box (not too small a one) with threads, some elastic, safety pins, buttons.

Don't get a ready-made sewing kit (even Cath Kidston!) as the contents are invariably rubbish - terrible scissors that don't cut and rough cheap thread.

Depends if it's dress amking type sewing.
I would second the stitch unpicker. A few threads in the most commonly used coulours. Black, white, red and possibly orange if she plans to take up jeans. Elastic, pop studs, wonderweb, chalk, needles, good quality pins.

Rotary cutter
Healing mat

Sewing machine needles
Scissors
Good threads

What about a pack of lovely fat quarters?

Oh this is a good thread!

My brand new sewing machine just arrived and I'm a total newbie so it's great to read about what's needed!

One thing I did which turned out to be a great idea was to buy a bundle of 100 reels of thread on ebay - definitely go for branded, mine are Coats but Gutterman are also good. Having collected fabric and fat quarters in all sorts of patterns and colours, it means that whenever I take it into my head to sew something on the spur of the moment, I invariably have thread that matches closely enough, sometimes perfectly. I can't remember how much I paid but it was certainly cheaper than buying the reels individually.

Ribbons, lace, buttons, felt, bondaweb, needles, thimbles, embroidery floss....

I'm getting a sewing machine for Xmas so also watching with interest!
On my wish list is a seam gauge, and pins with glass heads so they don't melt when you iron over them.

Where is the best place to buy fat quarters?

Wombat but you're clearly an expert, you know terms like "seam gauge"

Ha! No Poppy I'm a complete beginner. I know those are things I need because I got a good book called 'me and my sewing machine' from Amazon in preparation! It looks like a good book, there are some 'easy' projects in the back but they look extremely difficult to me!

Is that book any good? I need something seriously basic - like step by step: "this is how you thread the reel in the machine needle".

Mum is coming to visit in a couple of months and she's a genius with all these things, but I have a brand new machine and am itching to start!

Tiredofzombies is absolutely right.

Sewing machine newbies need cotton fabric and lots of real branded ploy cotton thread.

It's hopeless trying to learn how to set the tension and wind bobbins etc, with slippy fabric and thread that stretches, breaks or snags.

Good quality fat quarters, good thread, proper friskard or Wilkinson Saw scissors big and small and a seam ripper.

And if she has DCs babysitting for peaceful practice.

Sword not saw

poppy I'm not entirely convinced of its usefulness tbh. I am a total novice and though it was clearly worded with step by step pics and instructions on how to do even the simplest things, I was still a bit . It is pretty, however..
I havent tried to use the machine yet but I think YouTube will be my friend, at least that's how I learned to knit and I'm quite good now..

The sewing machine should come with its own instructions for threading up - they are all slightly different.

How about an issue of Sew Hip magazine - that always has a few simple projects.

I have also signed up to a thing called "Sewing it up" from Allfreesewing.com, which sends me emails full of little projects every day -lots of those would be great for beginners.

If you are a beginner I highly recommend contacting some of your local sewing ships and finding about about beginners classes. I got one on groupon it was about 3 hours and you could even take your own machine. It covered threading right through to sewing things, pressing sems, etc. I'd already done a couple of little things but it really has given me loads a tips and confidence.

Tacking thread

Thanks for the tips! A free beginners sewing workshop came free when I bought my machine from my local independent shop so I will be taking my machine along to that :)

And the sewing it up newsletter looks great, this is just the kind of thing I need!

I have added tacking thread to the list :)

As an avid sewing nut, one of the most useful things I have is a needle workers beeswax thingy - it's a small disc of beeswax held in a container with grooves. I run my thread through the groove and then iron it, which stops the thread snagging when hand sewing and gives it added strength.

can anyone here give advice about cutting boards? do the cardboard ones cut it (pardon the pun) or should I go for the other kind - non slip? and if so what size??

TIA