Thread is made from a wide variety of materials.

Following table lists common materials, a

general description and what they are supposed to be good for. If your machine will sew with the
thread, any thread can used for just about any purpose. This is very useful for someone who is
trying to learn sewing.
A tape measure or measuring tape is a flexible ruler. It consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic,
fiber glass, or metal strip with linear-measurement markings. It is a common measuring tool. Its
design allows for a measure of great length to be easily carried in pocket or toolkit and permits
one to measure around curves or corners. Today it is ubiquitous, even appearing in miniature
form as a keychain fob, or novelty item. Surveyors use tape measures in lengths of over 100 m
(300+ ft).

A thimble is a small hard pitted cup worn for protection on the finger that pushes the needle in
sewing. Usually, thimbles with a closed top are used by dressmakers but special thimbles with an
opening at the end are used by tailors as this allows them to manipulate the cloth more easily.
Finger guards differ from tailors thimbles in that they often have a top but are open on one side.
Some finger guards are little more that a finger shield attached to a ring to maintain the guard in
place. The Old English word mel, the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English ma,
the ancestor of our word thumb.
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A yardstick is a straightedge used to physically measure lengths of up to a yard (0.9144 metres
or three feet) high. Yardsticks are flat wooden boards with markings at regular intervals.

A French curve is a template made out of metal, wood or plastic composed of many different
curves. It is used in manual drafting to draw smooth curves of varying radii. The shapes are
segments of the Euler spiral or clothoid curve.

A tracing wheel is an instrument with multiple teeth on a wheel attached to a handle. The teeth
can be either serrated or smooth. It is used to transfer markings from patterns onto fabric with or
without tracing paper, this sewing tool also makes slotted perforations. Such markings might
include pleats, darts, buttonholes, notches or placement lines for appliques or pockets.


Scissors are hand-operated shearing instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted
so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the
pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard,
metal foil, thin plastic, cloth, rope, and wire. Scissors can also be used to cut hair. Hair cutting
scissors have a specific blade angle ideal for cutting hair. Using the incorrect scissors to cut hair
will result in increased damage and or split ends by breaking the hair. Food scissors, also known
as kitchen scissors, are for cutting and trimming foods such as meats. Hair cutting scissors and
shears are functionally equivalent, but the larger implements tend to be called shears.

A pincushion (or pin cushion) is a small cushion, typically 35 cm across, which is used in
sewing to store pins or needles with their heads protruding so as to take hold of them easily,
collect them, and keep them organized.

A seam ripper is a small tool used for unpicking stitches.
The most common form consists of a handle, shaft and head. The head is usually forked with one
side of the fork flattening out and becoming a blade and the other side forming a small point. In
some designs the blade side then tapers back to a point to allow easier insertion in tight stitching.

A needle is generally a thin, cylindrial object, often with a sharp point on the end.

A ruler, sometimes called a rule or line gauge, is an instrument used in geometry, technical
drawing, printing as well as engineering and building to measure distances or to rule straight
lines. The ruler is a straightedge which may also contain calibrated lines to measure distances.
[

The Tailors chalk is a chalk-like material used for marking alterations on fabric in tailoring and
dressmaking. The marks are brushed or washed off the material when no longer needed.
A rotary cutter is a tool generally used by quilters to cut fabric. It consists of a handle with a
circular blade that rotates, thus the tool's name. Rotary cutter blades are very sharp, can be
resharpened, and are available in different sizes: usually smaller blades are used to cut small
curves, while larger blades are used to cut to straight lines and broad curves. Several layers of
fabric can be cut simultaneously with a sharp (fresh) blade, making it easier to cut out patchwork
pieces of the same shape and size than with scissors. Quilters use rotary cutters with specially
designed templates and rulers made of approximately 1/8-inch thick clear or color-tinted plastic.

A sewing gauge is a ruler, typically 6 inches long, used for measuring short spaces. It is used to
mark hems for alterations.

The L-square ruler is an "L" shaped instrument that can be made of wood, plastic, aluminum,
or phenolic resin, and has two edges perpendicular to each other, used as a guide for the glass
cutter when making 90 angle cuts to the edge of a sheet of glass.

Pinking shears are scissors, the blades of which are sawtoothed instead of straight. They leave a
zigzag pattern instead of a straight edge.
Pinking shears have a utilitarian function for cutting woven cloth. Cloth edges that are unfinished
will easily fray, the weave becoming undone and threads pulling out easily. The sawtooth pattern
does not prevent the fraying but limits the length of the frayed thread and thus minimizes
damage.