Simplicity 1544 AA
Simplicity 9388
3 categories of fibers
Natural (silk, wool, cotton, linen etc)
Man-made (Rayon, a 'natural' product but needing a lot more processes to convert it into fribres)
Synthetic (nylon, polyester, etc - all petro-chemical byproducts)
Synthetics don't crush or breathe
How to tell Synthetic or natural
A Tic-Tac box can be a good pin holder.
Silicone swimmer's ear plugs are good thread conditioner, at least for modern sewing.
A prescription bottle can be a good needle case, and maybe also hold a thread spool, leather thimble, plus conditioner.
Ziploc bags can be good sewing kits or project bags (2 gal size will hold an entire shirt
Leather for thimbles or bags can be harvested from a thrifted bomber jacket that was full of holes.
Fiskars makes really good small pointy scissors for just a couple of bucks, and they are plenty sharp especially when new.
A sheet of craft felt can be cut into 2"x3" squares and sewn together like a book, which is excellent as a pin/needle organizer and also as a pincushion.
There are also little disposable adhesive discs of thin tough plastic that you can stick to your finger as needed for protection, called Thimble-It. They might work for people who just hate thimbles.
Sewing machine bobbins can be a great way to bring along enough thread to work with, without taking up much space.
If I could carry only one spool of thread, it would be gray. Gray blends surprisingly well with almost any color or shade, and is good enough for an emergency repair. Often, you can't even see it because it is hidden in a seam. I've got lots of repaired clothing that I totally forgot were ever broken, until I'm washing it inside out and see the thread mismatch. But it's easy to see and replace if that is ever important to you.
Embroidery played a big role in organ transplants. Alexis Carrel, the French doctor on who first developed the ability to sew veins together went to the embroiderers and spent along time learning many of the different tiny stitches and practicing till he was able to do several hundred stitches on a small piece of cloth then he moved to working on animal tissue.
My spouse is an obstetrician/gynecologist, and when he was in residency, I taught him how to cross stitch. He does it more than I do now, and I have heard through various people (friends who have had him as their physician and told me of their own volition about being treated by him) that his surgical stitches are very neat.
(C₂H₄)ₙ
Polyethylene terephthalate, PET, microfiber
"...is a synthetic fabric that’s usually derived from petroleum"
"... polyester is a polymer primarily composed of compounds within the ester functional group. Most synthetic and some plant-based polyester fibers are made from ethylene, which is a constituent of petroleum that can also be derived from other sources. While some forms of polyester are biodegradable, most of them are not, and polyester production and use contribute to pollution around the world..."
Ethylene Polyester
PCDT Polyester
Martha’s Mob Cap? A Milliner’s Hand-Sewn Inquiry into Eighteenth-Century Caps ca.1770 to 1800