Kitting tools for portable hand applique

Sometimes I do handwork in my sewing room, sometimes in the living room, and sometimes out and about with my appliqué friends. Hand appliqué is generally pretty portable, but if you have a lot of thread colors, you might not want to drag them all around the house or further afield.

To make thread a little more portable, I wind the silk thread I use for appliqué onto machine bobbins so I can fit a whole bunch of colors into a single grab-and-go box, along with other essential tools. (If you’re interested in any of the specific tools and supplies, I’ve gathered a list of my favorites on Amazon.)

That bedraggled tomato isn’t the most exciting pincushion in the world, but it fits nicely in my travel box and has emery in the strawberry for cleaning needles that start to get tarnished. As to why I’m hanging onto those bent needles on the magnetic strip, all I can figure is I wasn’t bothered to get up and dispose of them properly.

For traveling even more compactly, I sometimes use a smaller bobbin box, paring down the essentials even further.

Generally I don’t need marking tools in this box, because I use it after I’ve already marked and basted a block up—though it’s handy to have a mini bottle of basting glue for making quick changes. The folding scissors are just right for snipping threads and making occasional clips into the appliqué seam allowances.

Since I’m not using the silk-thread bobbins in my sewing machine, I label them with reinforcement rings from the office-supply store to keep track of the color numbers. Keep in mind that when you wind thread onto a bobbin, it’s backwards, so instead of threading the leading end, thread the tail end into your needle for hand-sewing.

How do you kit up your appliqué supplies?