The Sewing Place

Pinking shears

Ellabella

Pinking shears
« on: February 04, 2019, 19:48:40 PM »
I'm going to buy some new pinking shears and wonder which makes you peeps might recommend.

I'm looking to buy a decent pair, my old ones are so stiff they are a pain to use.

sewingj

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2019, 20:05:16 PM »
I've got some Fiskars ones which I'm happy with. I think they were about £30. My old ones seized up completely - needed 2 hands to open them!

b15erk

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2019, 09:20:35 AM »
I have some Fiskars (I think) which are a bit temperamental if I'm honest, and they sometimes lock.

I also have some very old ones which would cut butter if it was hot....

Sorry, not much help.

Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.

jintie

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2019, 15:05:49 PM »
To get a pinking edge on fabric, I use a rotary cutter, with a wavy blade.
(To sharpen my blades, I run them manually thro approx four layers of aluminium foil).
Hope this helps.
Rottweiler with scissors

WendyW

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2019, 21:57:05 PM »
I've got Fiskars, too. Never had any trouble with them, but haven't used them a lot either.

toileandtrouble

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2019, 22:57:39 PM »
Threads magazine suggests pinking as a way to trim clip and finish seam allowances all in one.  Has anyone tried this?
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

Greybird

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #6 on: February 06, 2019, 07:58:36 AM »
@toileandtrouble - that's what I used to do years ago when I only had my grandmother's handcrank straight stitch machine. Fine on cottons (not many synthetic fabrics then), hard going with thicker fabrics and not very successful with things that fray a lot.

toileandtrouble

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2019, 10:03:13 AM »
Thanks!  I did wonder.
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

So Chic

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2019, 12:34:10 PM »
I have a very old pair bought in John Lewis but hardly ever use them and wouldn't miss them if they got lost.
So Chic
Bernina Artista 630, Bernina 800DL, Janome Cover Pro 1000CP and an elderly Singer Touch & Sew 720G as a back up

SewRuthieSews

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2019, 16:10:02 PM »
I have some I got online. They don't have a brand on them but have pink and purple squidgy handles which are nice to hold.
I quite like to do quick bunting by cutting traingles out with them and stitching it to ribbon.

BrendaP

Re: Pinking shears
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2019, 17:26:59 PM »
I have a very old pair bought in John Lewis but hardly ever use them and wouldn't miss them if they got lost.

I once had a pair, very stiff and not often used.  They did get lost many years ago and I don't miss them!

As Greybird said, they were used when all machines were straight stitch, and only good for fabrics that didn't fray badly.  Since I've had a decent overlocker I don't make many plain seams which need the edges finished but when I do I finish those edges with a 3 thread overlock.

The only other sort of thing I can think of for possibly using pinking shears is little circles of gingham to make pretty jam jar covers!
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.