When you are undertaking any kind of dressmaking, quilting or sewing project, accuracy is the key to getting it right in many instances. Everything from the width of the fabric to the length of the fabric, from body measurements to zip size need to be measured and if just one thing is incorrect, the whole project could go awry! Not something you want when you have spent a lot of time cutting and sewing. To ensure that all your measurements are accurate, one of the most important Haberdashery items you can have in your sewing box is a tape measure. Many of our customers are still working in imperial measurements instead of the standard metric system and this can sometimes cause confusion when measuring accurately. This means that it very important that before you start any form of measuring you decide if you are going to work in inches or centimetres. As Haberdashery manufacturers are aware that some people are still working in feet and inches rather than metres and centimetres, you will find that the majority of tape measures have imperial measurements on one side of the tape and metric measurements on the other. On most patterns, you will find that one side of the pattern has imperial sizes and the other has metric sizes which is particularly useful if you haven't moved on to metric. We usually find that whatever you were taught in school stays with you and that is the type of measurement you use! I myself, do not do a lot of sewing but make jewellery instead and one of my favourite tools is a Haberdashery item, my retractable spring tape measure. It is bright orange so I can usually spot it, in amongst the beads, fabric and other tools in my workshop. It is also a small size which means that it can fit in my pocket and can be taken to craft fairs or when I am out and about and need to do any type of measuring. It has a tape that measures up to 60 inches or 150cm which is more than enough for me and would be for most dressmakers or sewers. At £1.99 this is a great value for money Haberdashery item. If you are looking for a more sturdy tape on your measuring tape we also sell a prym press stud tape measure online. This has coloured decimetre zones which means that each 10 centimetre section is in a different colour and will stand out when you are measuring.