Sewing On-the-Go

If you love typewriters and mechanical things it's natural to like multitools. When you have a screwdriver, can opener, scissors, tweezers and toothpick in one tool you are ready for anything the world can throw at you. I personally love Swiss Army Knives for their design and quality. I also love that there is a vibrant collecting community and an equally strong DIY modding ethic.

Absent in most SAKs is a sewing kit. I know there are some sewing-themed knives made, but without getting into the ins and outs of Victorinox and Wegner and the custom sewing knives made for Bernina, I thought I would try making my own sewing kit in a small SAK.

The first step was to define the problem. I wanted to have a Victorinox Classic SD (the smallest and cheapest SAK) with a full tool compliment including tweezers and toothpick and a place to store some thread, a needle and three buttons; two shirt and one sleeve placket. This, in my mind, was the bare minimum for the kit. Most sewing kits include scissors, but since the SD has a very nice set of scissors already.

From there I sat about thinking about the design. The tweezers and toothpick (T&T) would need to move to the same side. I designed a scale that allowed them both to nestle on one side. The other side of the SAK was free for the sewing kit. The scale itself would serve as a spool for the tread and the needle would held in place with an elastic band.

I got into TinkerCad and came up with these designs: 

A couple of 3D test prints, a little fine adjustment, and a final print:

This is deceptive. The smooth surface is a result of sanding and then spraying with flat black. Then I waxed the paint. It seems counterproductive, but it gives the paint a really nice feel. The elastic band holds it all together. Undo the band and then:

The needle and the thread is revealed. Remove the thread and the access to the buttons is revealed.

Now this little set is ready for all your fashion repair needs. The knife functions still work and overall it's thicker than the old SD, but I think that the thicker scales are more pleasant to use. I'll keep working on iterations. I don't like the idea of the needle not having a more secure storage place. Also, if I could eliminate the elastic band everything would be more secure.