Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Pins!


It may seem a little weird to get very excited about straight pins, but we sewers know that there are pins, and then there are pins.  My favorite used to be Iris Pins, but the last batch I bought simply weren't as good as they used to be, and this seems to be the consensus.  So I've tried various brands and types.  Clover Quilting Pins aren't bad, but I knew I hadn't tried everything out there.

When I was in Portland last April with the Fiberly Group, we went to Josephine's Dry Goods, a lovely store.  She had Insect Pins in Size 2, which I like so far.  I wanted to try some more, and decided to see what other brands and types were available. 

I ended up purchasing Size 000 pins, to see just how much difference there was in sizes.  These are much finer than the Size 2, and bend more easily, although not as easily as you might guess, given how fine they are.  I like the little gold ball heads on the black pins, and have been happy to use these.

The photo above is of various sewing pins in my collection, and the 2 insect pins.  They are the black ones, and the smaller one on the right is the Size 000.  The pin on the far right is  your average every day pin.

4 comments:

patsijean said...

I have the quilting pins and the glass head pins, which I prefer for most applications and the benefit that they can stand the heat of the iron. Have not used the regular pins in ages, don't know why. I think I found them hard on my weak nails, but it has been so long....

theresa said...

Once I discovered the super fine pins, ordinary pins were just too thick. I like the long quilting pins for very heavy fabric, but for anything else, use the superfine, either the plain ones or the white glass headed ones. And no, it is not weird to get excited about pins.

Theresa in Tucson

Summer said...

Nice collection. I love the pins I have, super long with heads in really cute metallic/frosted colors that I got at wm.

Jen S. said...

Hi Liana,

Somehow I have misplaced my good tin of Iris pins, so I ended up buying some Japanese pins from Susan Khalje's website. I do have some quilting pins,but I like them for heavier weight fabrics. What brand is the Size 000 pin?

Thanks for your help with pins!!