My folks insisted that each of us kids (male and female) learned fundamental things like sewing, cleaning, cooking, repairs and mantenance, etc. etc. First buttons, then tears, even darning a sock (a lost art!). When my Dad started swiping Mom's Singer to custom-make items for our camping vacations, I thought nothing of it - made sense. When I graduated from college, one of the gifts my folks gave me was a completely restored old-fashioned Singer - it has an electric motor, but can drop right into a treadle table for non-electric use.

Remember: sewing machines are POWER tools, guys!

Practical hand-sewing is hard to get instruction on and I am NOT an expert. Most of what folks do by hand nowadays is decorative / hobby stuff and the practical stuff is dominated by sewing machines.

A sewing awl is handy for certain repairs, but not essential. Most field repairs can be handled with fairly large needles and robust thread. A small needle-nose pliers or Wave does wonders for helping with tough fabrics. There is a confusing array of needles, and few fabric stores carry the whole gamut, but there are basics like commonly available sharps and the little blister packs of heavy and curved needles for hand repairs.

A glover's needle is handy for lots of things - I fixed a broken watch band for a team member last week with a glover's needle, a little heavy nylon thread, and a bit of heat-shrink tubing (to cover the stiches to keep from chaffing the wrist). Took just a few moments while we chatted about the next feeding cycle.

Gadgets that help thread the eye can be pretty small and simple and are worth including in the kit for those of us whose arms are getting shorter and probably need to use the kits when our brains and bodies are tired. Again, stick to larger needles and thread for a field repair kit - ugly is OK most of the time and little needles/thread break too easily and are harder to use.

Practice with remnants while you're watching the news or some other brainless activity and in pretty short order you'll know what works and doesn't work for your anticipated needs.

HTH,

Tom