Christmas day, after the morning festivities, we went to my uncle’s house. We play a game there every year and my uncle always manages to find fantastic prizes for all of us to win. This year, he went beyond. I won the big prize, and upon opening my present, I realized I had gotten a 3D printer. I had no idea what I’d use it for, but I was excited.
I opened it almost immediately when I got home and got it all set up. Then, I started searching for things to print. I started with a Benchy, of course, but I wanted to try it all. While browsing designs, I realized I could print sewing tools with it! And so started my journey of combining two unlikely hobbies.
Where to Find a 3D Printer
You don’t need a 3D printer to be able to print these designs, but you do need access to one. If you don’t have one yet and want to try out some 3D designs to enhance your sewing, check out local libraries or makers spaces. Both may have 3D printers you can try out, often for a minimal fee, to see how they work and to print the items you want.
If you are interested in purchasing one, consider your needs to find the right model. I’m working with the AnyCubic Kobra 2 Neo, which has a printing space of about 8” square. It’s perfect for printing smaller items, but if you’re a “go big or go home” kind of person, you may want something a little bigger.
Choosing Your First Project
Most likely, you’ll want to start with a Benchy. This is a cute little boat that comes with most 3D printers already ready to go. Why start with it? Well, it’s a benchmark print. It doesn’t take long to print (around half an hour for mine) and you can check out how the filament looks, make sure the settings on your printer are correct, and get ready for larger projects. From there, you can choose from tons of sewing-related files or create your own.
Pincushion and Clip Holder
Clips tend to disappear. They simply jump off your table and run when you aren’t looking. We’ve all experienced it. Keep them close and ready to use with a pincushion and clip holder. This one took around an hour and a half to print. Once printed, you can use an existing pincushion that fits or make your own to fit in it, then fill it up with your needles and clips!
Measuring Tape Holder
I can’t count how many times I’ve lost my measuring tape. In fact, I’ve stolen borrowed my daughter’s at the moment until I find mine again. But, when she gets it back, she’ll have a fantastic measuring tape holder to put it in so she can find it easily! This prints both pieces together and takes about an hour.
Making Hems Easy
As much as I love Ellie and Mac clothes, hems seem to be my nemesis. I can’t tell you how many Sweetie Pie dresses I have, and not a single one is hemmed. This hemming tool helps make rolled hems incredibly easy to sew. Use a little bit of double-sided tape to attach it to the sewing machine, add in your fabric, and as it pulls through it’ll create the hem to make it even easier to sew.
Keep the Needles Handy
It’s best to change your needles frequently, but if you’re like me, you tend to forget about it until your machine starts acting up. Keep your needles in view and you’ll remember to change them more often! Use a little bit of double-sided tape to attach this directly to your sewing machine. There are files for Organ and Schmetz needles, but they may fit other types, too. With a printing time of around 15 minutes, you can make one for every machine!
Strong Crab of Holding
I’ll be honest, I use my seam ripper a lot for necklines. Seems I always do something funky and have to redo it, like cutting the fabric in the non-stretchy direction instead of stretchy. However, with this little cutie, the Strong Crab of Holding, my seam ripper is always ready to use! He’s a cutie who only takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes to print.
Get the Elastic Through
You’ve got all your fabric cut and you’re ready to sew the Store and Go Crossbody bag. You get to the final steps, ready to guide the cord through the casing, and realize you don’t have a safety pin handy. That’s ok. Print this little elastic threader guide (which comes in multiple sizes), and use it to pull the cord through easily! With a print time of only 6 minutes, you’ll be done with the bag and ready to go.
Needle Helper Tool
I’m not even that old yet, but I can’t see where the needle goes! It’s hard to hold it and push it into place while seeing what you’re doing to make sure it’s all right, but that’s where the needle tool comes into play. With just 13 minutes to print, you can easily hold onto your needles in the tiny areas and get them installed fast. No more excuses for not changing your needles!
What Will You Print?
Along with all of these fun ideas, you can print new feet that fit your sewing machine, replacement parts for plastic parts on your machine, templates for the patterns you use the most, and a lot more! If you learn to design your own 3D prints, the sky is the limit. There are even patterns for you to print a working sewing machine…
So what are you going to print first?
(Written by: Kimberly Dwyer)
