Pinking shears?

[dingledel]

I want to do a few sewing projects ( as opposed to my usual knitting, papercrafting, jewellery.....) and I was thinking of investing in a decent pair of pinking shears for fabric and felt as opposed to the cheap alternatives I have for my paper.

Any recommendations please? I don't want to pay a fortune but need a pair that will cut though material cleanly.

Thank you for any advice. x

If you have some rotary cutters from your other crafting, then I would suggest some pinking blades for them - a cheaper alternative and easier to use, I find, then my old heavy pinking shears.

I got a cheap Chinese made pair on eBay which were adequate but a bit uncomfortable to use. Then, at a car boot, I saw a pair of vintage ones in their original 1960s' box - think I paid a quid for them, if that. The difference between the vintage ones and modern ones is night and day - the vintage ones are light, well balanced, comfortable to use and were Made in Sheffield - so much, much better made and much sharper. I've often seen vintage pinking shears again, since I bought mine, at car boots - it's the sort of thing our grannies had in their sewing kit that people now throw out or turns up in house clearances so I'd recommend keep an eye out for a good vintage pair. You'd have to pay a fortune for a modern pair of a similar quality.

I have ordered myself a "vintage" pair from Ebay.....fingers crossed they will be ok.

Thank you.

Probably a silly question, but how do you sharpen pinking shears?

(I have a 1970s pair.)

I got mine for £7 from Ikea! They work perfectly well!

Wondering the same thing here banana!

My mum's just been given some brand new ones and she complained of them being heavy and clunky.

Speckledy no idea but my local sewing machine repair shop sharpens normal scissors, so if I wanted my pinking shears sharpening, I'd pop in and ask them if it's possible..?

Good plan - I'll try the sewing machine shop at next service.

Not sure how effective it is but they say to cut through tin foil to sharpen scissors so it should be the same for pinking shears....might be worth a try.

Mine arrived this morning but haven't tried them out yet. I need to sew the thermal linings into a curtain later so I can try them out then. Fingers crossed they are ok.

JoffreyBaratheon THANK YOU. My vintage ones off ebay cut through my curtain lining a treat. Not tried felt yet but really impressed.

Glad you're as pleased with your's dingle as I was with mine. A decent, contemporary pair of 'Made In Sheffield' scissors are works of art but expensive, so I think a good 'old' pair is an investment!

That is such a good idea Joffrey. A friend used my old (and brilliant) pair a couple of years ago and didn't return them. Time went on and I didn't see her very often, eventually I replaced them with a new pair, nothing too expensive, think they are Janome. They do not cut the whole length of the blade, they catch ⅓ from the end - I never got time to take them back, the joys of rural living. Drive 90 mins to return a pair of £16 pinking shears.

I have, thanks to this thread, just bought an old pair.

You can sharpen them by cutting very very fine emery paper or 00 grade cabinet paper, I have done that successfully in the past.

I was quite surprised how many "Vintage" Pinking Shears were for sale on ebay....it was still pretty hit and miss what they were going to cut like but so far, so good!!

Me too Dingle, and tailors shears (although I have got a couple of decent pairs of those).

I am pleased yours work - in view of my 'new' pair I really have nothing to lose.

I bought these, fingers crossed!

My ones are the exact same pair and I've loved them Was lucky to pay about a quid at a car boot. And think they came with some haberdashery stuff as well. I just picked up some random other stuff along with them and he charged me a quid for the lot, IIRC. My other car boot discovery is that unusued 'vintage' sewing needles - and machine needles - which come up for pennies or you can shove in with a pile of stuff at car boots etc, are so much sharper and better than any modern needles except for those Clover black and gold ones...

Its always gonna be a lottery though!

My 'old' pair weren't as old as these, they had orange enamelled handles. I am hoping that as they are hardly used they won't have been bodge sharpened.

this place will sharpen them properly.

My pinking shears are a success. They cut very well and are clearly virtually unused. I didn't expect them to be gold though . They are smaller than my much loved lost pair. Really pleased with them.

I will be using them later as I make a start on the Christmas Tree skirt that I have had the fabric for three years for!

I have never been to a car boot Joffrey - interesting point about needles. I always buy a matchbox sized box of Schmetz which fit all my machines and am very happy with them.

Ooh, I'll kep the details of that sharpening service, thank you

I looked at mine last night, they appear to be Swedish. I inherited them with a 1969 Viking Husqvarna sewing machine, they even came in their original box. They are lovely heavy things.

Keep.

Sorry.

Yes, Fantastic when I have bought Schmetz needles for my machines, am really pleased with them but more recently I've had a bit of luck getting 1960s/70s Singer machine needles, new/old stock so am supplied for a while, now. I know Schmetz are the ones recommended on the forums for people into vintage machines, so they must be good.

It's the hand sewing needles where you really find a difference - although my favourites are still those Clover Black Golds, which are an horrendous price, but seem much sharper than the modern needles I can find in my local shops...

I haven't got used to my new username Joffrey, didn't realise you were replying to me .

I have never had the black/golds. I don't do much handsewing other than a bit of crewelwork.

The Schmetz boxes work out at something like 23p a needle as I usually buy them when they are on offer, I change my needle fairly frequently and don't mind that at all.

I still haven't started on my Christmas Tree skirt, not sure what to do yet. I have got red velvet, green velvet, some saris and other Christmas cottons I could use for appliqué - just need to think about it a bit before I use my new pinking shears.

I have looked online for inspiration but am bamboozled by all of the options - currently think I am going to make a square with star appliqués and some binding made from the same fabric as the stars including binding the two edges where it joins, maybe with binding ribbony things to fasten it - any other simple ideas very welcome .

It will be quite an accomplishment after buying the fabric at least three years ago.

Go for it Fantastic - want to see pics when you're done!