I bought them a few years ago from Amazon - the sewing industry were charging a premium for them at the time. But I use them for binding and also when I match seams with the glue stick. They slide off easily. And I agree - you don't need a whole lot of them, but I got the box of 50 because 1.) they were much cheaper and 2.) sometimes they run and hide from me. (They always show back up - but I believe that is because they know there are more to replace them.)