Here's what's in mine: Thread, black, white, navy and red (red's for basting); good sturdy pair of fabric scissors; an awl and waxed linen thread; quilting thread in white, black and navy; a seam ripper, straight pins, hand sewing and heavyier needles, safety pins, a small cake of beeswax, and an assortment of buttons.

Any additions that would be useful?

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), October 06, 1998

Answers

A treadle sewing machine.

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), October 06, 1998.

Nylon dental floss.

-- Larry P. (diddlewit@yahoo.com), October 06, 1998.

...a couple of bolts of denim...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), October 06, 1998.

Maybe a carpet needle, you know, the curved needle to go along with the dental floss in case you have to stitch up a wound. I have also heard of using un ravelled duct tape as a tough and available emergency thread for repairs. Bill in South Carolina

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), October 06, 1998.

Velcro -- Seamstress Extraordinaire, that I am!

Instead of planning to spend serious time sewing, which I don't really do, and, after all, I'll be busy baking bread, gardening, raising goats, chickens, and three children (not in priority order) and running the business (?)... I'm "stockpiling" clothing, bought at off-season prices, for my kids for their next few suizes up, especially things like sneakers, socks, T-shirts, and sweatpants.

Thank goodness my little girl will be out of diapers and done with bottles by then! I'm watching like a hawk to see if any of them show signs of interest in learning to sew. "Yeah, RIGHT, Mom!"

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@ptd.net), October 06, 1998.

Good idea Bill. Duct tape. Lots of duct tape. 8<)

So sew me for not liking to cook! I can't sew either. (If it can't be mended with an iron-on patch, it goes to dry cleaners to get fixed, or gets worn as "working trousers" for painting/yard work.)

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 06, 1998.

.... Complete set of (7 I think) Curved needles including Leather and Matress needles (cost about a buck 3.19)

. . . an item called a leather palm which is made out of wood (go figure) which is used for the leather needle

. . . pr of medical pliers called a "needle driver" (looks like a pair of Kelly forceps of the type fishermen use but has a deep groove longitudinally in the jaws

. . . Chouinard sewing kit from my neighborhood back packing store

. . . sewing machine needles (with or with out the machine but the treadle sounds REALLY GOOD!)

-- Chuck a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), October 07, 1998.

How about some patterns? And my scissors came with a sharpener...

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), October 07, 1998.