We love scissors
We use them for patternmaking, samplemaking, and garment construction. For cutting cloth or paper, hacking yardage off a roll, creating style lines, trimming a tiny seam, or snipping that stray thread that shows up just as the dress goes out the door, scissors come in many forms. We've selected a few standouts for you to get to know.
The Workhorse
Razor sharp and heavy duty, these 9 inch Kai Professional shears are the go-to tool for most cloth cutting in the workroom. The squishy handles make them especially comfortable for prolonged use.
For silks and slippery fabrics
These microserrated Gingher shears grip fabric in the tiny teeth of their ultrasharp blades. The most slippery silk charmeuse respects their steely control. Nothing escapes.
To control ravels
Heavy as lead, these classic Marks pinking shears create that pretty zigzag edge that eliminates annoying ravels. Another less well known function they serve is to create an edge that is soft and never shows through to the right side of the fabric.
Embroidery scissors
Tiny and fierce, these delicate looking Kai embroidery scissors are used to snip thread. They are so precise that they can cut stray threads right at the surface of the garment without making a nick.
Lightweight and all purpose
For fast action when cutting a length of cloth from that 20 lb. roll teetering on the edge of a table, we grab these Fiskars shears. We love them so much we're on a second pair. The originals, pictured on the right, were purchased in 1974. They still work great, but were retired after 40 years out of respect for their age and accomplishments. Think of them as the Secretariat of scissors.
Paper Scissors
Because cloth scissors are never to be used to cut paper (or pry the lid off a paint can), we keep a separate pair of Dahle paper scissors for flat pattern making. For team-building purposes they are stored, not with the other cutting instruments, but with the drafting tools.