How to Choose a Good Pair of Sewing Scissors

A good pair of sewing scissors is a pleasure to use. A bad pair of sewing scissors is miserable and ineffective. Scissors are fundamental to sewing, so take the time to get the good kind.

1. Plan to buy sewing scissors as an investment. If you take good care of them, good scissors will last a long time, so it's best to make the investment up front rather than going through many pairs of poor scissors.
   
   
   • If money is tight, save up for a while and watch for sales and discounts on good scissors. You can select your scissors for quality and still pay a reasonable price.
2. Go to a fabric or quilting store to buy your sewing scissors, not a drugstore or office supply place. Ask the opinion of the proprietors. People who run such stores often do a great deal of sewing themselves and in any case spend a lot of time cutting fabric.
   
   
3. Look for recommendations from others who do a lot of sewing. If you don't know anybody who sews personally, ask them, and ask if you can try their favorite scissors. Also look on forums online.
   
   
4. Ask to hold the scissors and, if possible, try them out on a scrap of fabric. Make sure they are comfortable in your hand and you have good control. Does the weight and heft feel right for what you are doing and the size of your hands?
   
   
5. Consider how you will be using the scissors. If you do a lot of cutting from patterns on a table or mat, you may prefer to have handles that are offset from center so that the the bottom can be fairly flat against the surface. Do you cut heavy fabrics or fine details?
   
   
6. Protect your sewing scissors. Never use them to cut paper, except for the thin tissue that sewing patterns are made from. Keep them in your sewing kit, away from children who might try to use them for craft projects. Use a permanent marker to write on the sides "fabric only" so that you and your family can easily tell the difference. Have separate scissors available for cutting paper.
   
   

• Once you have one basic pair of good scissors, you can get additional scissors, cutting wheels, and other equipment gradually, as you find you need them.
• Scissors can be sharpened. If you know how to use a whetstone, you can do it yourself. Otherwise, ask the manufacturer if they will sharpen scissors or ask knife sharpeners in your area if they can do it. Not all will.
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   Left and right handed scissors.
  Get left-handed scissors if you are left-handed. It is worth the extra effort to find them.
• Consider having a couple of different pairs of scissors for different tasks. Embroidery scissors and tailor's shears perform different tasks well.
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   Pinking shears.
  Pinking shears are an additional item you may want in your sewing kit once you have a good pair of straight scissors. They cut a zigzag edge to help prevent fraying. Choose them with the same care you would use to choose scissors. If anything, they may need to be more precise because they must mesh together cleanly to cut.

• Scissors, especially good, sharp fabric scissors, can cut you as well as cut fabric. Use appropriate caution.
• Don't use good fabric scissors to cut paper or anything besides fabric. Paper dulls scissors very quickly.