Every evil plan needs SUPPLIES

I’ve had folks reach out to me for intel on supplies and although I do not have an amazing state secret to share about how I procure all my sweaters, I do have some worthy business suppliers and recommendations for other things that go into my art, such as machines, thread, needles, etc… None of these are affiliate links, so I receive nothing if you purchase anything from any of these links. I don't mind - just trying to be helpful. If you do find info here at all useful, please show me some social media love and follow my social media pages.🙂🙏 I'm on Facebook and Instagram, Bluesky and Tiktok or you can be part of my Pinterest community (lots of pins about sewing tips on my sewing board!). I rely on word-of-mouth, so your social media support costs you nothing to provide and means SO much to me. 💓 I do not post often, I'm usually more busy making things, so don't worry... I won't clutter up your feed at all.😇

2025 update: With the price of things going up (and it is kinda doing that everywhere) and old suppliers going out of business😢 I'm going to add some additional thread, notions and fabric suppliers I've found. If it's one I've ordered from before, I'll put a ✅ next to the name.

Coat pattern:
There's no "pattern" - it's a general tutorial by Katwise which covers just the basics. My patchwork sweatercoats are my own interpretation of her tutorial, which you can get her tutorial HERE. If you want to try to make a coat that looks like mine do, know that there is a LOT more that goes into my coats which is way above and beyond what she covers in her tutorial. I cover some of that information here in my blog posts, but not all. You'll also need specialty machines like mine as well. 😇

(I'm joking but also serious 👇😂)

Patchwork spiral skirt pattern:
Nope, I adore you, but I do not have a tutorial at this point in time. Most of what goes into my skirts are adjustments made on-the-fly as I'm making them, depending on what size denim jeans I can get. After I've made a few more of these I may have a tutorial in the future, but there isn't one right now. I want to have at least a little bit of a head start on the copycats out there.🥺🙏

Machines:

Needle-felting machine:
This is THE machine I use more than any other - my needle-felting machine. You can't make coats that look like my best work without it, because the needle-felting changes the structure of the material and makes it behave differently - and needle-felted wool/cashmere provide enough structure to support the embroidery and sequin work. I like the Babylock Embellisher EMB-12 which VERY sadly has been discontinued. (Big cautionary tale about that further down.) Here’s the original product page:

https://babylock.com/machines/specialty/embellisher-1 

I've also had a Simplicity 12-needle model (also discontinued) and the Babylock machine works way better. Janome made a needle-felting machine as well, the FM-725 model, but I'm not sure if they ever made a model with more than 5 needles. 

If you want this machine but can't find a used one anywhere, please join me in asking Babylock to bring these back into existence. You can contact them on this page HERE. I am actually very hopeful that if enough folks ask, they'll make these again, perhaps even with some improvements (it really needs a longer power cord/foot pedal). I also replaced the light bulb on mine with a brighter, LED light bulb that doesn't heat up.

If you're thinking "haha 🤣.... what 🤔...?" and wondering what the heck I'm talking about, don't miss my post about felting. That's right HERE. 

Overlock/Serger:

My absolute favorite overlock (aka serger) is the Juki MO-6814D. I got mine from Ralph's Industrial Sewing up in Denver:  https://www.powersew.com/

I have both this industrial model as well as several home sergers, so I can write lovely prose about the differences between the two, and that should be a whole separate blog post (note to self: write future blog post extolling the differences between home/industrial overlock machines.. UPDATE - blog post written! It's right HERE). Love the Juki the best! 

Regular sewing machine:

I have a Babylock Destiny, which I use for on-the-fly non-hooped embroidery stitches that a regular sewing machine won't do. Warning, this thing will destroy your wallet. 💀😭 I was only able to afford mine when my late grandmother left me a bit of money, so it's named Emily, after her, in gratitude. She loved to sew, and I felt it was a good way to honor our mutual love of sewing and to feel connected to her. They've upgraded and changed the models (Babylock is famous for doing that), so you can probably get a used Destiny for a lot less than I paid for mine.

DECEMBER 2024 CAUTIONARY TALE/UPDATE ABOUT BABYLOCK:

In the fall of 2024, my felting machine, Mr. Stabby, wore out his "90 degree pin", a teeny tiny little part that renders him basically broken. Babylock only sells their parts/machines through a dealer network but my old dealer who sold me my machines went out of business. The new dealer took 50+ days to tell me they could not get parts and I could pick up my sad, humiliated, broken machine. I had told the dealer verbally that I sell at craft fairs, they latched onto that and Babylock used this as an excuse not to honor a 10-year parts warranty.. and once they declared it's not under warranty they would not sell me the parts either. 😐

Apparently the Embellisher was not popular and the sewing community did not use it much and me, I used it too much, so Babylock decided I did not deserve any support in getting the part to fix my machine. For those in the sewing community that say Babylock does not warranty commercial use I get that and I hear you... but this is a case where because they declared it not covered under their 10-year parts guarantee they will not even sell you the parts to fix it and that is the heart of the issue. They say they are "for the love of sewing" but were woefully unprepared and unsupportive for someone to fully use the machine and that does not sit right with me. 

More on that fiasco here: https://www.persephonelove.com/blogs/news/felting-what-the-heck-is-this-evil-magic

All that said, that leads me to shout out some gratitude to the absolutely amazing group of industrial sewing machine mechanics on Facebook, who eagerly jumped on my query to try to help me. I love and appreciate the industrial machine world, because they do not police what you do with your machine and simply focus on keeping it running, as it should be. 😇

Industrial Machine Mechanics and Repair Shops:

There is an absolutely FANTASTIC map of sewing machine mechanics world-wide which is constantly growing and evolving, thanks to Robert Collier of Collier Equipment. That map is right here and it has detailed entries with contact location. You can get in touch with Robert via his website or their Facebook page. I cannot say enough good things about Robert. I have yet to purchase from him directly as he's several states away, but he is never hesitant about trying to help in every way he can.

Thread and Notions:

My Katwise-inspired coats use a LOT of thread, so I prefer to buy in 6,000 yard Tex-40 spools (Tex-40 is a stronger and thicker thread than Tex-27, which is what you'll find in big-box stores like Joann's). I'm not going to list prices since those seem like they are always changing, so you'll have to check that out for yourself but I hope some links will save you some time. Again, if it's someone I've ordered from in the past, it gets a ✅. I always recommend perusing the site and if it looks like something you want, it's always best to just start by ordering a color card. Color cards being available are always a good sign, IMHO. Again none of these are official "endorsements" and I don't do any sort of affiliate links so I'm not steering you one way or the other.

✅Venus thread: https://vti.saha.com/
Venus thread has the best range of colors. If you want to get from them, be sure and get a color card. I think it's around $15.00 and well worth it. The staff at Saha (the manufacturer) are SO wonderful and friendly to talk to! I'm not sure but I *think* you have to be registered in your state as business to buy from them, but you can just call and ask. I'm an introvert and if I can reach out, you can do it too, pinky swear! 

😢California Thread Supply: https://www.calthread.com/
2024 update: This was a great supplier of mine, but they are going out of business.  I'm really hoping this is not going to become a trend because ordering thread by less than the truckload is getting harder and harder as time goes by.. 🙁

Gold Star Tool: https://www.goldstartool.com/notions/
I was really happy when I realized GoldStar Tool has notions. No idea why I didn't bother to check but they may become a new favorite supplier. The only thing I'm a bit sad about is it looks like their 6000 yard thread cones are Tex 27 and I really like the thicker premium Tex 40. Nothing wrong with Tex 27... it generally holds up just fine. It's just a preference thing for me. I signed up for their newsletter and the minute physical copies of their thread color charts are back, I'm snagging one. 

✅Wawak: www.wawak.com
Wawak's thread color range is a bit meh, but they are very quick to ship. They also have a good zipper collection. When I don't have a reclaimed zipper, I just get them from Wawak. The #5 jacket zippers are all good quality YKK-brand.

✅The Thread Exchange: https://www.thethreadexchange.com/
Don't bother buying invisible thread in tiny store-bought spools. It tangles up and is SUCH a pain. I buy mine from The Thread Exchange on large industrial size cones. They'll last you forever, and are a lot less prone to twisting/tangling. They also have grab bags of rayon and polyester embroidery thread so if you're into embroidery, it's a great way to build up your stash of less-expensive thread to play around with. They've got needles too. 

ThreadArt: These guys have a pretty good selection of a lot of different types of threads. I found embroidery thread in the large cones, as well as serger thread too: https://www.threadart.com/

Superior Thread: These guys came highly recommended to me from other folks.I have not ordered from them yet, but their website is right here: https://www.superiorthreads.com/ With my other fave supplier, CTS thread closing up shop, I will probably order from Superior Thread soon. Looks like their serger threads are far more expensive than the common cones you can get at a place like Joann's, but prices are just increasing everywhere, it happens... and often you get better *quality*. I believe Joann's thread cones are Tex 27 and I like to go for the thicker Tex 40 thread and it just feels more durable to me and makes my seams more visible (something I that obviously want!)

Zipper Stop: I haven't ordered from them yet either but ZipperStop is another place to get thread (obviously zippers too) and other notions. Their website is right here: https://www.zipperstop.com/

Connecting Threads: I haven't ordered from these guys either but seems like they have quite a few things..  https://www.connectingthreads.com/

Galaxy Supply: These guys appear to focus on upholstery so I'm seeing heavier duty threads at their site - a good thing if you're looking for heavier-duty thread. https://galaxysupplyinc.com/collections/frontpage

Simthread: I found a good collection of embroidery thread on Simthread in the 5000 meter cones (aka "king size"). That's right here: https://www.simthreads.com/collections/embroidery-thread-single-colors-5000-meters Interestingly, it seems like they sell their overlock thread through Amazon. Weird, but okay. Not a fan of the Jeff Bezos Empire but here's what I found: https://www.amazon.com/Simthread-Purpose-Polyester-Overlock-Quilting/dp/B094QQ5XV4?th=1 

Sewingmachine.com: I wasn't too impressed with their supply of overlock thread, but these guys seemed to have a good stock of embroidery thread... https://sewingmachine.com/pages/embroidery-thread

Scissors:

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Kai scissors. ✅😍I have them in 11-inch and 12-inch and I will NEVER go back to regular store-bought scissors. I also don't trust rotary cutters as I nearly sliced my fingertip off with one. I'll spare you the gruesome photo. Bleh. Instead, look at these beautiful things. Are these not the most amazing scissors you've ever seen?? (Wawak sells these too:https://www.wawak.com/cutting-measuring/scissors-by-brand/kai-scissors/.)

Sequins/Beads:

C Cartwright's Sequins✅ are simply unmatched in colors, shapes, sizes. I have 230+ different colors, shapes and sizes of sequins and just when I think I have every color, they come up with something new. They ship from Arkansas and send things pretty quickly too.... like usually the next day! Are you into beading?? They just started carrying seed-beads as well. 

Pro-tip: If you know you are going to use a lot of one color, just get the 50-gram or 100-gram bags, but be aware that they are not always labeled... I re-bag mine and label them so I know which color is which when it's time to re-order. 😎

Fleece and other fabric:

Most of my fleece I have gotten from Joann's. I'm not proud. They are a big-box store, never paid their staff what they deserved, and leadership ran that business into the ground, so no link. I do have a few other places I've gotten fabric from and now that Joann's is going out of business, in the interest of the sewing community I will try to expand and update my links. This is a work in progress, so bear with me..... 🥺🙏

OMG did you see that awesome pink Leopard print fleece on Proper Patola??? 😍 👇

My animal print fleece, my favorite place to get that is Fabric Empire.✅

The teal paisley fleece on Beautiful Things is super pretty, isn't it? 👇

That teal paisley fleece you see, that came from SYFabrics.com. (Although I think I got the last of it)

The "Northern Lights fleece" here on Superhero was another really pretty pattern too. I've made several coats with this and as of 2025 I still have a bit left, so I will probably make some more... 

That fleece there came from YourFleece.com.

It is a challenge to find fleece that's more "artistic" and less like cartoons, but sometimes I have seen some good patterns over at PicoTextiles, too. 

More Fabric...

With Joann's going out of business, I'm on the hunt for materials and if you're also a sewist/fiber artist, there's never been a better time to support each other, so... Shamelessly stolen from one of my sewing groups...

Iron:

I forgot to mention my iron! What a sacrilege!! 😱 A good iron is one of THE most important tools. I like the Rowenta Steam Station (model DG8624) - it is a monster of an iron because it has a detachable tank. This means that:

• You have to refill the water WAY less often
• The iron itself is lighter, because the water tank is in the base

I got it on Amazon (ugh, not so proud of buying from the Bloated Bezos Empire😐) so I'm not going to post a direct link, but if you search under "Rowenta Steam Station", it should come right up. Yes, it was ~$200-300 but if you sew and iron as much as I do, it is like all good tools, worth the money. My iron derives joy from burning me, so of course her name is.... Burnadette.🤣 (Her predecessor was the earlier model and his name was "Burnie Sanders".) She is so important to me, she sits on her own circuit, because she pulls a whopping 1500 watts of electricity when on. Yes. I literally had a special dedicated electrical circuit installed just to support this iron. No regrets. It's still cheaper than accidentally blowing up the electricity and burning the house down. 😉 Safety first, always.😎 

Ironing table:

I find traditional ironing boards way too narrow and hard to work with, so I have a whole ironing table and I LOVE it!😎 The table itself sits on top of a door with adjustable-height legs bought from IKEA, and my ironing table rests on top. The table itself is a home-made piece of plywood with cotton battling stapled to it with heavy-duty staple-gun staples, and I covered the whole thing with this cover bought from Joann's...

The link to this at Joann's is right HERE.✅ Here's the packaging, the brand name is Sullivan's:

Honorable mention:

Shout out to Denver Design Incubator for their efforts to provide shared maker-space as well as instruction on the ins and outs of industrial machines and apparel construction. Even if you don't work in a "cut sew" operation, I think it's great to have an appreciation of how everyday clothes are made. If we didn't have apparel manufacturing and you didn't have sewing skills, you'd be walking around in your birthday suit! 😮 Here's their Facebook page and please show them some social media love too. They are a very worthy organization. 
https://www.facebook.com/DenverDesignIncubator/

Well, did I miss anything? If so send me a nag: persephone@persephonelove.com or reach out on social media. 

Again - I don't do "affiliate links", so there's no financial incentive for me to ever steer you one way or another. I prefer it that way. The suppliers and businesses above earned their shout-out just by having great service and great products or made it on this list because I saw something they had that I thought my fellow fiber artists might want or need. If you found valuable info here that was super helpful, you can always buy me a little one dollar bag 'o sparkles and it is greatly appreciated. 🥰 My virtual "tip jar" is here, although truth be told, if I've been helpful to you in any way, a shout-out or a follow on social media costs you nothing, and is even more valuable to me. You are free and welcome to tag/follow me! I'm on most of the more common social media platforms and you can find links to them all on my LinkTree.

Looking for more sewing tidbits?

• Read more about SERGERS..
• How to conquer the ZIPPER in a supercool way..
• What the heck is NEEDLE-FELTING?
• Read more about COAT MASTERY...

~XOXOXOXOXOX~