Melitastitches4fun's Blog

Edward Scissorfish ran into a snag. Before I realized it, he had 7 belly scales on one side and 8 on the other. I slept on it for 2 nights and finally decided that Linda’s birthday gifts arrived to help me just when I needed them! The tiny little scissors, Rainbow Thread Cutters, helped me snip in the tiniest of spaces around the beads. And, the tweezers, Uncle Bill’s, helped me clean up the loose threads and pull off the beads. It took some work but am happy to say that Edward is once again symmetrical. Thanks again Linda!

Edward is ready for tomorrow, our second class with Cleo. A good number of my EGA Brandywine chapter members are working on this too.

I forget that I ordered the larger pair of scissors at seminar from Michele Roberts. So, when the package arrived, I had a double surprise!  The extra tiny pair and the beaded fob!  Beautiful.

I see  the word “ICE” on them. Thanks to google, I see that means Ice Tempered (not a brand name). Stainless steel is regular steel with chromium added to make the steel more rust resistant, thus “stainless” steel. The disadvantage of the high content of chromium in stainless steel is that the cutting edges dull quicker. To overcome this, the steel is subjected to very low temperatures (frozen or “ice tempered”), to optimize the steel structure for hardness.

Over the past couple of years, I have thought more about the scissors I use – there are good and bad ones. AND, there are the right ones for the job. There are plenty of varieties to choose from.

I love the large Fiskars Amplify Razoredge Fabric Shears (8″) scissors with the protective sheath. They are great for cutting canvases because the grip is comfortable, placing less strain on my hand & they are so sharp. Thanks to Marilyn for mentioning how good these are.

Below are other Fiskars: The larger one is the Amplify Razoredge Fabric Shears (6″) (protective sheath not shown), Folding Scissors (4″), and Thread Snip (4.5″). The Thread Snip is awkward to hold & use. I can’t get it close to the canvas because of the orange piece along the bottom. And, they don’t cut threads. Seriously, they are awful – in fact, I am tossing them away now. Normally, I donate stuff I don’t want but since these don’t cut, what’s the point. The other 2 work well. Thanks to an Amazon for the great deals.

Because the end curves up at the tip of these Gingher scissors, I feel more comfortable cutting threads close to the back of a piece. It too came with a fitted sheath made of a soft leather (not shown). They are sharp and I am reserving them for use with threads – never metallics. Thanks to Fireside Stitchery for keeping these near the checkout for me to find.

However, the tip is still kind of big on the Gingher for when I have to rip threads out. I mentioned that to Linda & the next thing you know this fold-in/retractable blade seam ripper (from Hoechstmass) shows up (bottom of the photo with a rectangular handle). Unfortunately, I have found out 3 times that it works really well. As with anything sharp, you just have to be careful not to nick nearby stitched areas or the canvas. Thanks again Linda!

I didn’t know until researching seams rippers for this blog entry but I already had one – the brown handle item is one that I have must have gotten from someone’s stash. It looks just like the Nifty Notions Surgical Seam Ripper (plastic cover not shown).

The Keepsake Thread Cutter Pendent is beautiful and has multiple openings with blades which actually work well. And, A.C. Moore has the combination flexible threader (great for really small eyes in needles) and single opener blade cutter. I’m not sure but I think I am thanking Patrick or Lori! I am sure Patrick gave me the beaded scissors fob.

These blade cutters work well on a plane especially for floss weight threads. I’ve also pre-cut thicker threads before flying to avoid needing scissors at all. More than likely, my next scissors will be blunt-tip scissors for the New Orleans seminar to see if they pass airport security. Or, I’ll check the bag with the pointed scissors. Seminar is a little over a month away!!

Foldable scissors are good for tucking into my purse (smaller than Fiskars) but aren’t really as comfortable to use or as sharp (maybe I need a new pair – they look a little bit beat up don’t they – I threw an even worse pair away). Thanks again A.C. Moore.

I found 2 Tamsco scissors (on the far left & right) and the one in the middle is Tool Tron. I doubt I used any of these & I don’t recall how I got them! But, they appear to be high-quality. One of them was probably for the scissors sheath that I designed for my ANG Main Line chapter using stitches diagrammed in 17th/18th century samplers (https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/category/ang-main-line-stitchers-chapter/scissors-sheath-band-sampler/).

The heart-shaped scissors (below on the right) from Red Hots Scissors by Kelmscott Designs were a perfect touch for my 2nd scissors sheath design that won 2nd place in origin design in 2012 (https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/ang-40s-philly-scissors-sheath-winner-of-ang-2nd-place-ribbon/) and was placed on the cover of NeedlePointers (https://melitastitches4fun.wordpress.com/category/melitas-designs/ang-40-scissors-sheath/). Many thanks to 123stitch.com where I found the scissors – they are still for sale there!

At the closing dinner, we were all given the  bird scissors (on the left) which cut well (using these for my metallics) & the sheath reminds me of the wonderful 40th Anniversary ANG Seminar in Philadelphia in 2012! I’ve seen these called stork, pelican, or crane scissors – not sure which bird is correct. Nothing identifies the manufacturer. Thanks ANG!