Pinking Shears and Why You Should Own a Pair

If you sew, you probably have heard of pinking shears.  If you sew, you may or may not own a pair.  If you sew, you should own a pair.  Why?  Read on....

First, a little history.  The first patent for pinking shears was give to Louise Austin of Whatcom, Washington in 1893.  In 1952, Benjamin Luscalzo of Chicago, Illinoise received a patent for his improvements on the tool.  

Ok, so why should you own a pair?   Aside from making that pretty sawtooth edged design, they actually have an important function.  They stop fabric from fraying, sort of.  The fabric actually still does fray, but the fraying is significantly minimized because the edges are so short, the fraying does not work it's way into the main fabric.  Pinking shears are the original serger.  

Another great use for pinking shears is to trim seams.  It makes the seam look much nicer and reduces bulk.  This works really well for heavy fabrics like wool, felt or fleece.  When making projects with these types of fabrics, these scissors become invaluable.

And finally, another use is to quickly trim seams that require notching (think circles, curves, etc.).  Pinking shears save you a ton of time if you need to notch corners, or rounds to get the project to turn correctly.  Instead of notching every 1/4" or 1/2", simply trim the seam allowance with these guys.  Done!

So, have I convinced you that you need a pair?  Good.  But, before you go out and purchase, you should know that these shears are not cheap.  And if you are going to purchase a pair, please don't waste your money on a cheap pair.  Cheap pinking shears will not perform well and will cause you a lot of frustration.

Having said that, you don't need to purchase the most expensive pair either.  Stay middle of the road and you'll be fine.  I use the Fiskars Softouch 10 Inch Pinking Shears for around $28.00.  They work well for my purposes.

One last thing.  As tempted as you may be to use these for your scrapbook projects, please do not!  Paper will dull the blades and your shears will be useless on fabric!