Choosing scissors
Sunday, August 10th, 2014
The best in sewing starts with the right cut. Forget the dog, forget chocolate too, scissors are a girl’s best friend. Like the car mechanic who guards their ‘special tools’, like the painter who has a favourite brush, the accuracy and precision of your snips and snicks might just make the difference between perfection and making do. Did that sound a bit serious? Ok, sorry, this is supposed to be fun after all. But the fact remains that a few extra pounds spent on some proper sewing scissors will make all of this even more fun. It’s easy to think that all scissors are alike. Not true. Some have noticeably heavier top blades giving more power for cutting thick or multi-layered materials, others have tapered blades that follow the direction of your hand more closely, and those different shaped and sized finger holes aren’t there by accident. A bigger hole gives more cutting power, while a smaller one allows more accuracy.The terminology is simple. Scissors are a tool where the blades are shorter and both handle-holes are the same size. Shears have two sizes of hole and the blades are usually longer. Most sewers use the word scissors to describe both which can be a little confusing. Rotary cutters? We’ll come to them in a moment.
I would recommend at least two pairs. One with long blades for cutting fabric and another, smaller pair to trim and cut thread. What follows is a quick and simple guide to the common types of cutting tools available. Hope you find it useful.
Dressmaking shears
They look unusual because the shape allows these scissors to sit flat to the fabric, which means you can keep the fabric flatter as you cut it. Some types, known as soft-touch scissors operate by a spring rather than a hinge, meaning they need less pressure to make the cut. Perfect if you’re making a longer number.
Pinking shears
The exaggerated serrated edge makes pinking shears look a little weird, but for working with fabric, these are your new best friend. The zig-zag pattern they create prevents your fabric fraying. Pick a pair from a good manufacturer and look after them.
Rotary cutter
Rotary cutters are like pizza cutters for fabric. Sort of. They are perfect for cutting long pieces of fabric accurately. They do take a bit of practice on awkward shapes. If you fancy giving one a go you’ll need a cutting mat too unless you want to cut into your table/carpet etc. and probably a ruler to keep you on the straight and narrow. One downside is that the blades can’t be sharpened so will need replacing when they get blunt. Don’t worry though – it’ll be a long time before that happens. You can also get pinking rotary cutters which serrate the edge just like the shears of the same name.
Paper scissors
Don’t forget that you’ll also need a sharp and accurate, well-balanced pair of paper scissors too because if the pattern isn’t cut right, you’re on a loser from the off. Don’t use your fabric ones as you’ll blunt them quickly on paper – in fact it’s worth labelling them ‘for fabric only’ to keep you from being tempted into short cuts.
Embroidery scissors
These are small scissors that many sewers (me included) use for cutting threads – saves your fabric scissors for fabric only. I have a gold plated stork pair which I think are pretty cute – see pic.
How much to pay?
A good set of pinking shears will cost between £20 and £40, which seems expensive, but if you look after them, they’ll last for years. And you get what you pay for. High performance steel blades, contoured handles and proper build quality making cutting even wools and denims a pleasure with a good set of shears.
Dressmaking scissors are vary greatly in cost – typically, most sewers pay around £15-£25 but some well-known brands will be more expensive than this (some, like Ernest Wright, much more expensive). Soft touch scissors cost about the same as decent dressmaking scissors.
Buy the best you can afford and ones that feel ‘right’ in your hands.
Size matters
The bigger the blade, the more leverage you have and the easier it will be to cut through thick fabric or multiple layers. Most sewers compromise with shears of around nine inches.
Looking after them
Three things wreck scissors; dust (lint from the fabric), drying-out and being used to cut anything other than fabric. Keep yours away from the rest of the family, keep them in a holder, give them a wipe down on a regular basis and apply a drop of light machine oil to the blades’ screw every now and then, followed by a few imaginary snips to get it flowing and keep the mechanism lubricated. Don’t forget to wipe off the excess oil and make your first cut afterwards on some spare fabric that you can afford to get stained.
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