Pillow covers

May I suggest pinking shears? ;-D

Yay, I can hardly wait to see pics.

Pinking shears would be perfect except I don't have any. I realize that that is close to being a sewing heretic but between a lot of snow as in a couple of feet worth and wanting to finish the covers I went ahead and serged. Pinking shears are on the list of I wants, I need. Juno

:-O Shocked! Amazed! But you all know how I feel about pinking shears. ;->

May I suggest either

or NAYY, but I own three pairs of the Mundials and one pair of Wiss. I especially like the extra large 1/8" "teeth" of the Wiss, but the Mundials are also pretty deep. Don't bother with the 1/16" cheapies, you might as well use straight shears.

In my opinion, it's cheaper in the long run to buy extras when they are on sale, and not bother with having them sharpened after you hit a pin or otherwise destroy the edge. First, sharpening is EXPENSIVE, and second, my experience with having pinking shears sharpened by the local fabric store technician has not been stellar. Once pair came back in far worse shape then they went in. YMMV.

I am checking out WAWAk. I like that company,good prices,service and lots of sales. Reasonable shipping too. I have a pair of Mundial shears I like a lot, so that's where I'm thinking. I don't worry about sharpening. We have a place not to far from here That really understand sharpening.The are the manufacturers of xacto knife blades, do knives for the Culinary Institute chefs and students and tell you if the can't do something. It's the only place I'll buy knives and any other kitchen tools I need. Juno

When working the kind of cloth described I found pinking shears worthless. I don't own a serger but have been known to zigzag the edge of easy fray cloth.

I am aware many folks use pinking shears. But for me they have always been more trouble than aid. Am I using the pinking shears incorrectly?

I can't answer that for you. I have a terrible time trying to do a zigzag on an edge. My mom always used pinking shears. I don't ever remember her cutting out anything any other way. I like using the serger if I use serger thread to do an edge.I guess it really is a matter of what you're comfortable with. This particular fabric seems to fray just looking at it. Juno

Here's of couple of pictures of the pillows.I hope thee link works, I'm new to photobucket and not sure if I' usingi t correctly.I'm having trouble getting on the web page I usually use. Please let me know if the link works.

Juno

:When working the kind of cloth described I found pinking shears worthless. I :don't own a serger but have been known to zigzag the edge of easy fray cloth.

:I am aware many folks use pinking shears. But for me they have always been more :trouble than aid. Am I using the pinking shears incorrectly?

Some pinking shears are better than others (cutting a steeper, deeper pink), but I don't find they work well on many materials. STuff that's not going to unravel they work great, stuff that omes undone when you look at it needs to have the edges overlocked or zig-zaged.

There are two approaches to that.

One is to zig-zag first and cut later.

When I want to zig-zag a pre-existing edge, I put undiluted bottle starch into a drop-dispenser bottle and sort of crayon around the edge, and let it dry flat on a smooth counter. This makes the edge cardboard stiff, but I've never had to wash it out before using the finished product.

Beautiful! Great job, Juno!

I often pink AND serge. Pinked edges are stable for just that little bit longer before starting to shred/unravel, making matching seam allowance edges that more precise.

Before I had a serger, pinking was a very useful edge finish, and cutting out with pinking shears saved one additional step, plus the

1/8" deep "pinks" gave me a 1/2", 3/8" or 3/4" seam allowance, useful on many types of fabric. Since I bought my first serger I almost always serge the pinked edge off on any seam allowance which will be "exposed" I just think it's a more finished look. On lined garments I still leave the edges pinked unless the fabric really demands serging for stability.

As always, YMMV.

Thanks Beverly, I appreciate that. J

Thanks for the hint.I have come to the conclusion that starch is as important a tool in the sewing room as needles and thread.

Juno wrote: :> :I can't answer that for you. I have a terrible time trying to do a :zigzag on an edge. My mom always used pinking shears. I don't ever

an overedge foot can help. the little finger keeps the thread from pulling the edge in as the stich is locked. I've also zig-zagd before cutting.

I second that!! Really pretty!

Thanks Joan. I was a wreck making them. The fabric was very expensive and I didn't want to mess it up. I could never afford to replace it if I did. Juno

Nicely done!

Thank you for you kind words J

Le 15/02/2014 19:28, Juno a écrit :

They look terrific. Pat your self on your back.