A Notion For A Notion: Pins

I'm so excited because I've managed to get Jaime David, sewist extraordinaire and sometimes teacher at bon bon to do a weekly sewing tip for us! So, without further ado....

Have you ever noticed that there are about as many sewing pin options as there are Baskin Robbin's ice cream flavors? Well maybe not, but the more you sew the more refined your palette will become and you may even start to notice that you prefer one flavor to another. For me, this is not a matter of chocolate vs. vanilla, but more like rocky road vs. mint choclate chip. I am not going to pretend that I have tried every flavor of pin, but I will share a few I like.


First off, my stand by: IBC Red Glass Head 1-3/8" .50mm
These are great and I use them for just about everything I sew. The glass head can be hit with a hot iron and not melt. Just FYI- those cheapies are often plastic and will melt. Second, the length is just right, not too short or long, so pinning precision is easy to achieve. .5o mm is a fine pin, so it glides through nearly any fabric with ease. Lastly, I like the red...they are easy to spy in my carpet, but more importantly they match my Bernina.


Next up: Clover Patchwork Pins 2507
These extra fine pins, .40mm, smoothly glide through delicate fabrics and won't leave a large hole or distort the fiber. Again, glass head and iron safe. They are so pretty too, yellow and blue. These are pins that I don't share, as they are a little spendy.




Newest addition to my favorites: Clover Flower Head Pin 2510
I recently purchased these because, I never really thought that I needed the flower head pins before. They are NOT iron safe, but here's the kick. You can lay your ruler over top of them and rotary cut without the ruler sliding all over the place. This is a very good thing.


I have a thing for Clover brand. They deliver a nice quality prouduct. I like that the plastics aren't nobby and the metal is smooth. I have a tendency to like my pins like I like my mens...fine, but there are times for a heavy duty pin. Also, pins have a life span. If they're bent...throw them out. If you got them from your grandmother and she used them for thirty years, they're probably dull...again throw them out. I like to spoil myself when I sew, and having a nice quality pin is like the cherry on top of a sundae. So go ahead and indulge yourself a little and report back, tell me what you think.