Tools of the Trade
A few weeks back my “good scissors” (I use that term loosely) stopped working. I think maybe I tried to cut through a pin, thus causing a sticking spot on the blade. In an oh-so-bright moment I thought I could sharpen them up on the same sharpener I use for my knife blade. Hmm, really bad idea, it made them worse.
A combination of cheapness and lazyness prevented me from purchasing new scissors right away, instead I pulled out my plastic red handled scissors that came in my very first sewing kit when I was about 12. Amazingly they still worked well, and it’s been a long time since I was 12. Between the red handled ancient scissors and my equally cheap rotary cutter I managed to get by.
Yesterday while I was at JoAnn’s I noticed that all of their scissors were 40% off- that helped curb my cheapness and I bought a new pair of scissors. I stayed away from the orange plastic Kane scissors this time and started looking at their Gingher line. They look sturdy, sounded foreign and were on sale- that was enough for me. I really liked the sturdy looking metal handled ones, but they would have been about $5 more and well…cheapness is me, so I went with the plastic handles, telling myself they will feel more comfortable.
Now if you were to ask me to recommend a pair of scissors to you, I would tell you hands down my favorites are Wiss. Talk about strong-last-the-rest-of-your-life-all-you’ll-ever-need-in-a-blade scissors. I have 2 pairs of Wiss scissors and I love them.
My mom found the pinking sheers at a garage sale years ago and gave them to me as she already had a pair. The thread clipper used to be hers as well. The thread clipper is awesome, everyone needs one! The blades can lay flat up against your fabric and trim those loose threads down to the seam!
What about you, what kind of scissors do you use?
September 19th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I really like gingher scissors. But a pair of mine got left outside and rusted (I think they were used on boat rope!!!) so, also because of my cheapness, I purchased a pair of Fiscars. They are 8″ with grey handle and they work very nice. They were half the price of the ginghers (even on sale). Never heard of the WISS, You and your mom find some of the greatest thrift store finds. Makes me jealous and anxious to get to my local thrift stores to rummage through all of the things there!
September 20th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Oh yes, I have Wiss pinking shears too in that same box! And I splurged on good fabric scissors a few years ago - can’t think of the brand but they have a red heart on them. Very heavy duty!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Those are the same ones (WISS) that I had all thru design school, and when I was working as a costume designer. They are indeed awesome, and durable scissors, the only downside is that they gave me a pain in the wrist, and I had to down grade to cheapy ones.