Scissors! ... stalling for time ...

The picture above brought back memories of my father using my mother's best fabric scissors to clean his finger nails and my mother yelling at him. Haven't we all, at some time, had to tell someone NOT to use a pair of scissors? Good scissors can be expensive and can make such a difference.  Trying to cut fabric with bad/dull scissors is hard and wastes a lot of time!

So, I am blogging about scissors today, because it is a great topic AND I haven't had time yet to fix that red dress my son brought me from India.  Hope to have it done by Monday. Read Wednesday's post to the bottom for explanation.

THIS is my scissors collection. I own 32 pairs of scissors and most of them come with  some kind of a story.

I keep them all in my "sharp" drawer, a term my older son made up when he cleaned and re-organized my kitchen drawer when he was 14. He thought it would be safer to have only one drawer you had to be careful putting your hand in.

I used most of these, too. As I work on a project and my table and workroom get messier and messier, instead of looking for a lost pair of scissors, I just dive into this drawer and pull yet another pair.  Then, when the project is finished, I usually have at least 10 or 12 pairs of scissors to put away.

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Actually, taking all the scissors out of this sharp drawer is going to give me a chance to clean and edit! This group of scissors is going to get stored or given away, probably stored. You never know, right? I've taught kid sewing classes where I was required to bring all the tools for all the kids, including scissors. So, this is why I have all these cheap scissors. 

If I subtract these 13 from my total of 32, that makes 19 scissors I actually use and love.

Here are 4 unglamorous, but useful pairs.  My two pair of paper scissors (2 because I'm constantly misplacing one or the other) and my spring loaded Fiskar's clippers and my nail scissors that I use for my nails!

These are my work horses.  While I own multiple pairs of all metal Gingher's and Wiss scissors.  I find these lightweight scissors work so well, mostly because I can sharpen them anytime with the sharpener shown here. The best, most expensive scissors are useless if they are dull.

Plus ... how can you resist a pair of scissors with sculls on it?

These are Gingher appliqué scissors, very useful for trimming around appliqués safely without cutting into the fabric below.  And they have such a wonderful sharp point. I use them to finish cutting out a hole, if my grommet die cutting tool leaves a part uncut (kind of like a hanging chad!) and any other time I need to cut out something tiny and precise.

This pair of cushioned handled Wiss scissors I bought during my time in the New York costume shops.  We were making all the women's white wool tailored suits for the first Broadway production of "Working".  Being the first hand (asst. to the draper), after the patterns were made and adjusted, I was the one who had to cut them all out and my hand was getting VERY sore, so the padded handles saved me.

Later, when I had a little more money, I bought these extra large Wiss tailor's scissors.  I think they cost $25 in the late 70's.  Hmmm, I wonder what they cost now?  just a minute ... Google break ... OK, they list for $56 but at WAWAK you can buy a pair for $36.

They will cut through anything.  I use these often for upholstery fabric or when making a corset and I have to cut through 2 layers of coutil and 2 layers of satin and 2 layers of lace all at once. (trimming a seam back to apply the bone tape)

These three used to be my most used scissors, before I fell in love with the lightweight ones I can sharpen my self.  They are Ginghers at the top and two pair of Wiss. Once I moved out of New York, I found it much harder to find someone who could sharpen my scissors without ruining them.  And scissors can be ruined with a bad sharpening job.

You know ... next time I go to New York ... I should bring up all my dull heavy duty scissors and get them sharpened by an expert.

This pair is very, very special. 


I showed up for my very first day in a New York costume carrying no tools.  Up until then, I had always worked in a college shop that provided everything.  But, in the professional shops, everyone is expected to bring all their tools: scissors, needles, rulers, etc. Also, thimbles ... but that's a whole other story ... future blog.

Anyway, a kind lady loaned me some scissors for the day and when I got off the subway after work, I walked into the local fabric store, AND YES every neighborhood in New York had little shops for home sewers in the '70s, and bought these scissors.  They seemed so expensive at the time!

Now this pair is a new acquisition in my collection.  THESE are THE scissors my father used to clean his nails with! They were given to my mother as a gift from the cast of a community theater production of "The Doctor in Spite of Himself" in 1958.

See! It says so on the blades.  I was 5 at the time and remember how special these scissors were to her.

I own two pair of pinking shears, one zig-zag pair and a scallop pair given to me by a toy inventor I used to make lots of samples for.  She wanted the hems of doll dress and things to have cut scalloped edges and sent me these.  

When I was a kid, we used pinking shears to cut out our clothes.  Then the seams were instantly finished.  Pinking a seam is still a great way to finish cottons and other light weight fabrics.  We didn't have sergers then.  And sometimes a serged seam isn't necessarily the best choice.  The line of serging stitches can show through the fabric after it is pressed, not attractive.

Now both these pairs of scissors are REALLY dull and will barely cut.  No Way will I let an unknown scissor sharpened touch these.  I really am going to bring scissors to New York for sharpening!!

This pair, alas, is still new in it's box.  It was given to me as a thank-you gift for helping someone make a wedding dress.  She thought she was doing something so special by getting me a "TRUE LEFT HANDED" pair of scissors.  And I am left handed ... remember this blog?  BUT, when I learned to cut, there were only right handed scissors around and after years and years of cutting with my right hand, I don't have the strength or coordination to cut with my left hand!

But, I loved her thoughtfulness.

What are your favorite scissors?  Do any scissors you own have a story attached?  If I get enough responses I will do a whole second blog with your stories. If you have photos, write me on my Contact page and after I answer you back, you can send images into my email account.

And I hope to have that red dress all fixed to show you on Monday.  Have a great weekend!