Sewing basic kit

[FiveGoMadInDorset]

So my mother gave me a sewing machine for my birthday and now need a basic but good kit to start sewing. I used to sew a lot but haven't made anything of significance since I made a ball dress for a friend at college 20 years ago and getting back into it but things have moved on since my day (and I am not even that old!!) so apart from pins, decent scissors and a tape measure what else are the must haves to get going again.

I've only recently started sewing again after a 15yr break!

Atm, I'm finding my vanishing fabric pen really useful. & tailors chalk (although I don't seem to use these as much now I have the pen).

Metre ruler? French curves if you want to draft your own patterns?

I'm only just building my kit up again, that's what I'm making most use of lately

Plenty of bobbins that fit your machine.
A good light or near a window.
A normal set of needles for tacking through to weaving threads. Darning/ tapestry needle.
A pincushion. Or a shallow sundae dish. A magnet

I'm sure someone on a thread not long back mentioned a magnet on a stick to save having to bend to retrieve pins

I haven't needed mine yet --will probably drop pins all over tomorrow now

Although I mentioned a magnet, there is nothing more annoying than finding all of your pins and scissors magnetised. So it is a double-edged sword!

Small sharp scissors and a stitch ripper. Needle threader if you don't have one on your machine if your eyes are as rubbish as mine

Scissors, bobbins, a good supply of basic thread colours, loads of pins, tailors chalk, I bought a tailors dummy as well (love it but don't use it as much as I'd hopped yet), that cardboard thing you can put down to cut out patterns (it has all the measurements on it, cheap, v helpful, especially if you're cutting from floor/table top/ bed!), I also have a little rubber mat that was for hot pans originally, I find it helpful as a place for putting down things quickly that like to roll like bobbins and pins. I also have my machine up against a window add I think natural light is so much easier to sew by. I've taken over two old small bookcases as well for storing in a visible way my fabrics and patterns and whatnot.

YY to the "plenty of bobbins", and I'll add: extra packs of sewing machine needles - nothing worse than having one break and no replacement in the middle of a project! And then you have to drop everything and get another pack (or wait for mail order).

I also break seam pickers a lot, so tend to buy several at a time.

Yes! A gazillion bobbins...as I'm discovering the more sewing I do (and the more I misplace with the thread I'm currently using on them )