I see hers and raise Kate an AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Just discovered my best Marks 9" pinking shears have a nifty notch along the blade. I'm gonna KILL someone! The local Very Large Fabric Store has a sharpening expert, so I'll take them in today and hope for the best. And I just placed an order with Atlanta Thread & Supply for 5 yards of Hymo hair canvas interfacing, (could not find wide hair canvas locally) and added two pairs of Marks pinking shears to the order. I *must* *have* *good* *pinking* *shears*. ;-}

Beverly, trying to remember who borrowed my shears....

Reply to
BEI Design
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BEI Design wrote: (snip)

I *must* *have* *good* *pinking* *shears*. ;-}

Why? No, I'm serious, I hear so many people - on this board and elsewhere - being rude about pinking shears that I thought it was my little secret that I use them for various tasks. NOT cutting out, they simply are not sufficiently accurate, but things like grading seams or interfacing etc.

So, what do you use them for?

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Reply to
Olwyn.Mary

Cutting out!!! Seriously! I cannot *stand* working with fraying fabrics. My mother taught me to cut out patterns using pinking shears 60+ years ago, and I am as accurate as I would be using plain shears. Even if I intend to ultimately serge edges, I still cut out with pinking shears so that the pieces don't start fraying before I can serge them. The only fabrics I cut with plain shears are those too thick/tough to cut with pinking shears, such as heavy denim, or corduroy, or this cotton velvet for the jackets. And those I take *immediately* to the serger and serge around every piece. (Didn't serge the velvet though, I used my rotary cutter with a *pinking blade* for that.)

I also use them for grading seams.

I know I'm in the minority here. My pinking shears have a

1/8" deep "Vee" so I just sew with the edges on the 6/8" (3/4") guideline. It's as accurate as sewing a 5/8" seam, and I don't have to deal with flying bits of thread and fluff, with the added benefit of deeper, more durable seam allowances.

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

I like mine for those tasks, but would never f=dream of cutting out with them.

Weighing the fabric down and scaring the cat... ;)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

I have two pairs. The ancient Wiss pair, heavy as lead and seriously not sharp, have a bight of about 3/16" I suppose I could get them sharpened, but I'm not sure the cost would be worth it. Then there is my much newer pair, once recommended by someone on the old AOL sewing board. They are Fiskars, spring loaded, which means that I only have to press on them to cut, and as soon as I let go they spring open again. The bight on those seems to be marginally less than 1/8". I still don't trust myself to cut things out accurately with them. I don't have a serger, but with fabrics which tend to fray I either stay stitch them all around immediately after cutting, or, sometimes, zigzag them. Then, when the garment is completed, I can do a fancy seam finish if I think it is worth it. I don't care for serged edges on anything but very heavy fabrics, as I find that on lighter ones the serged line sometimes shows through to the outside after pressing - or even light ironing.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

Reply to
Olwyn.Mary

Shall we start a bail/attorney fund? I'm pretty sure there's gonna be some violence done afore this is all over. I know you love your pinking shears, and I know you USE them a ton too.

I don't mind admitting, I cringed and ducked a little when I read your post. And I had NOTHING to do with notching your pinking shears. I swear it wasn't me....pinky swear even!!

Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays

ROTFLOL!!! Yes, a legal defense fund does seem to be in order.

Sharon, you're safe, I know it wasn't you who used my good pinking shears to cut sandpaper. (At least that's what appears to have happened, tho' I KNOW *I* didn't do it.)

I took them to the Mill End Store yesterday, they will call me as soon as the shears are ready. In the meantime, I have a backup pair (which have a cracked plastic handle) I can get by with them for awhile.

Beverly, awaiting the UPS truck any day now....

Reply to
BEI Design

Your mother & mine, plus some of my aunts, must have gone to the same sewing/cutting school, LOL. Or maybe they all have the same allergies I have because I assure you, if there is any fuzz/pieces of thread flying around, I will promptly suffer an allergic reaction. The pinking shears I use most of the time now, are ones a cousin brought back from Russia, during WW2, for one of our aunts. They are 100% stainless steel, I think, and I've not had to get them sharpened in the 5-6 years I've used them. But like you, Beverly, I don't cut heavy fabrics with them, I cut single layer with one of the two pair of Wiss or the cheaper Fiskars, a daughter gave me. I suppose I should get a rotary cutter with pinking blades, that would help. Emily Emily

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Reply to
Emily Bengston

It's nice to know that I'm not the ONLY one who jealously guards my sewing equipment. An ex-beau once tried to use my good sewing shears and I wanted to beat him to a pulp! He just couldn't understand what was special about sewing (fabric) shears

On another NG I used to read, we had what we called the BDU - Body Disposal Unit ... "cos some folks just need killin". The group is a smoking cessation support group. You SERIOUSLY DO NOT want to piss off nicotine addicts in withdrawl!!!!!!

TammyM

Reply to
TammyM

My `Cloth Shears` i hide away , from everyone ,,after somebody tried to cut cardboard with it Brrrrrrrr, than i have some Use for all shears with a colored thread tied to the handles , which helps People `find it ` and use Only that for their noncloth cutting :>:>:>

my pinking shears are inherited and i use them inside curved [places] seams. they are kept out of look , for others as well !!!! mirjam

Reply to
mirjam

I often wonder if the "anti-pinking-shears folks" have given cutting out and then sewing an authentic test. I just find it so much easier to work with fabric which isn't making a heroic effort to disintegrate. I still have the

11" pinking shears my mother gave me when I was in high school. I can't use them any more, because of the arthritis in my hands, but the 9" Marks are a pleasure to use on almost everything. So now I'll have *three* pairs. Can you tell they are a vital part of my sewing equipment? ;-)

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

He was in serious need of some educating. Ask the next one how he would feel about his (pick one): chain saw - torque wrench - miter saw - floor jack - soldering iron - pipe wrench - bubble level - hammer - shotgun -etc. being abused?

BTDTGTTS! ;-)

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

I think we are just all different in our preferences. I don't find pinking sheers acurate enough, and the only fabric that disintegrates that fast is silk dupion, which evaporates all the faster for being pinked!

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Yup, I've tried it, and no, it wasn't any faster, and it was a whole lot less precise-- the curves weren't clean for me.

We must work on very different fabrics, because it's rare that I run into one that auto-ravels before I can get it sewn. I've got some tabby silk suiting that will wind up being either fused (the jacket front) or stay stitched to the paper (the rest of it) before sewing, but that's the worst fraying piece I remember in a long while.

Different fabric handling methods, perhaps? I leave mine pinned to paper and flat or very lightly folded until I'm ready to sew each piece. Especially for things cut months before sewing, that can make a difference.

Kay

Reply to
Kay Lancaster

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