Whether it's knitting, crocheting, sewing or any other "making" these are the tools I most regularly need and reach for. When I'm crafting in my "mom's chair" they are next to me in a small bag that I can easily pick and carry wherever I want to work.
I didn't know there was a name for it until I read this New York Times article: It Took 800 Hours to Make This Chanel Dress. The word is pochette, a small envelope shaped bag/purse. Designers in the fashion world each have their own pochette to hold their tools. Karl Lagerfeld’s pochette was specific to couture sewing but mine has a few additional items suited for knitting, crocheting, and general crafting.
Here are the items in my pochette:
- Black and white thread. When I'm working on a particular project I'll have the color of thread for that item, but for basting and many things that need just a few stitches, black or white thread will suffice.
- Seam ripper. I have three seam rippers. One is next to the sewing maching, one is next to the serger and one is next to me. I use my seam rippers a lot.
- Pins. Most of the time when I'm sewing I use satin pins, but when I need a quick pin or two I like pins with heads.
- Sissors. I use scissors on a lot of different materials (paper, plastic, yarn, thread, fabric) and this little pair has risen to the task of cutting almost everything and has become my favorite.
- Crochet hook. Other than actually crocheting with it, I use a crochet hook to pick up dropped knit stitches and any time I need to a hook to grab something. I've found the size B hook to be the best suited for most tasks.
- Ruler. I'm always having to measure things and this 6" ruler is my favorite. It's transparent so I can see what's under what I'm measuring. The width of the ruler is 1/2" and the height of the ruler is 1/4", two of the most frequent measurements I use. I've worn the markings off two of these rulers from using it so frequently.
- Tape measure. Because lots of stuff I need to measure is more than 6"!
- Chibi. I have no clue why it's called a Chibi. It's just a case to store tapestry/yarn needles.
- Needle case This is a crocheted needle holder that also holds extra safety pins and stitch markers. I frequently make this for gifts and the pattern for it can be found here.
