DIY Emergency Costume Sewing Kit

Every dancer should have an Emergency Costume Sewing Kit in their bag. Even if you can't sew well, chances are you will be at a performance with other dancers who can help you out in an emergency as long as you have the supplies on hand. This kit uses a few items from around the house and is easy to assemble.

Supplies

• Empty pill bottle
• Thread
• 2 needles
• Safety pins
• Hooks and Bars
• Seam ripper
• Paper clips or bread wrapper clip
• Scrap of paper

Wrap about a yard of thread around the paper clip or bread wrapper clip. Most of my sewing emergencies involve hooks coming loose so I use upholstery thread.

Fold the scrap of paper into a long rectangle. Fold the paper in half and poke holes through it with the needles.

 Flatten out the paper. This will keep your needles organized and easy to find.

Fill the pill bottle with the needles, thread, hooks and bars, safety pins, and seam ripper. DIY Emergency Costume Sewing Kit done! Toss it in your bag and you're good to go.

I had to remove the cap of the seam ripper so it would fit in the bottle. I stored it face down so I don't get stabbed in the finger when I remove it. I chose the seam ripper over a pair of mini scissors because it serves double duty of cutting thread and ripping out those loose and broken hooks and bars for repairs.

Times to use your sewing kit

• The obvious - repairing loose and broken hooks on bras and belts
• Cutting off broken fringe or stray threads
• Use the thread to tie together broken necklaces and bracelets as a last minute fix to get you through a performance.
• Store beads, sequins, and jewelry that break during a performance for later repairs.
• Safety pins - enough said
• Make a fish hook and line with the paper clip and thread to pull rings, keys, etc. out of sinks, vents, and other tight spots. (Hey, you never know.)

 Good Luck and have fun!
~N