I do love a good multi-purpose tool, even if it’s not actually designed for what I use it for.  Locking haemostats (also known as locking forceps) fall into the category of definitely not designed for sewing, but very useful nonetheless!

And what, pray tell, can you use these for?  Well, amongst other thing, I use them for:

• Turning things through, especially if they’re quite small and tight, like tubes or little coin purses
• Poking out corners, as they have a nice blunt tip
• Removing stray thread from vintage sewing machines, because they can grip the thread and leave you 2 hands to try and wiggle things around to free it
• Pulling needles through thick seams, because they grip the needle really well
• Hold the ends of curved things together while doing the last few stitches, as they won’t slip like pins can
• And many other random odd things where I might otherwise use tweezers

As you can see they have wee teeth that make them good at gripping, but be careful as they can mark leather or faux leather if used directly on them (you could put a wee bit of batting in between)

You can also see by the bit up at the handle that they will lock at different thicknesses, so they can grip something as fine as a piece of thread, or as thick as several layers of fabric:

And what will a pair of these set you back?  Brace yourselves, it’s a whole… £2 – £3 odd from eBay, depending on the size you buy – mine are 5″ long end to end, with around a 1″ opening at the clamping end, and they are straight (curved ones are also available if you feel the need to get into more awkward places with them)