Comments on: Reviewing pattern scissors

By: dosfashionistas

dosfashionistas — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:15:58 +0000

Kathleen,

From your comment of Feb 23, 2005 re hand size: I had a good rep in Dallas as a pattern maker. I have small hands, short and stubby.

By: What is Reshoring -circuitously

What is Reshoring -circuitously — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:22:29 +0000

[...] like that when it’s something that will never sell in large quantities. That and having my scissors cloned. Who knows, maybe I can find a way to go after all. I think it would be very educational to see how [...]

By: Sabine

Sabine — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:57:52 +0000

now that i continued reading here….my patterns are paperboard, so the thicker stuff i cut out with an exacto knife and the thinner with my cheapo paper scissor-so you are right about your assumption, in my case at least, about not having worried yet about pattern scissors.

For fabric Kais will stay my favourites for the foreseeable future. As you pointed out large hands(mine are a full 7 1/2″ long)…I find the Kai ones JUST big enough. Before that I had Mundial ones, which LOOK like Wiss, but I never bought any Wiss ones. One reason I really like them is that that the handles are covered in rubber and with that warmer on my hands, cold really hurts me.

I don’t buy men’s gloves though-they are too wide, XL ladies ones do fine, the rare times I can get them. And now you got me curious about Aspergers….

By: Tools and Supplies

Tools and Supplies — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:12:09 +0000

[...] D -Bent trimmers. The pair shown is a Wiss 20 or rather, what used to be a Wiss 20. The new Wiss 20’s are not the same -and I do not care one whit if the new owners of Wiss say I’m crazy- and I’m at a loss to replace them. I’ve been meaning to ship these off to SouthStar for a hands on comparison but have yet to do so. I bought these as a student over 20 years ago. Oh, I use these to cut out pattern pieces. Another entry reviewing features of scissors is here. [...]

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:23:37 +0000

If you use small sharp detail scissors, what do you suggest? I’m trying to find some for my son who wants to do papercrafting.

By: Claire M

Claire M — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:52:49 +0000

In response to Jeff and Kathleen's hand theory, I have tiny hands and score 30 on this test!!! http://www.msnbc.com/modules/newsweek/autism_quotient/default.asp

By: Karen Hull

Karen Hull — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:49:44 +0000

Kathleen, True pattern cutters, model 212 for $28.05, like the original Compton Pattern Shears A4101, are available from John A. Eberly, Inc. http://jaeberly.com/id49.html where I've purchased them recently. In addition, Eberly offers a large number of manual and electric scissors and shears. Nice photos are posted on this website.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:04:08 +0000

I’m with the belmont girl. I have Clauss 1612 and before that Eastman PS100 and there is also Compton Pattern Shears A4101
If you want to see what they look like go to http://www.claussco.com click on industrial products catalog click on pattern shears. They are called Pattern Shears for a reason if you are going to cut serious amounts of Hard paper this is the way to go. The whole idea with the long handle is leverage it’s going to take the pressure off your hands and you don’t need big long blades to cut paper but you do want accuracy and control

By: Debra

Debra — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:26:56 +0000

Kathleen,

The pattern scissors I have used for many,many years are not any of the above, I use those for fabrics. I use “Belmont 8TU” Made In USA.
They look like tin snips. When I began patternmaking I used several like the scissors you have described. An older patternmaker than I mentored under encouraged me to try the Belmont style, I was against it, I tried , I didn’t care for them, they are heavy and were “different”. Well he MADE ME cut with them for one 8 hour day. He said I would never go back to the others. So I took him up on his challenge. Needless to say I LOVED them! I have never gone back. They have very short blades but they just glide around curves of any size. I used them so much they felt like an extension of my right hand …ha..ha.. I could do wonders with those snips, everyone called me “Edward Scissor hands”, if you have ever seen the movie Edward clips objects amazingly! Its funny. I have used this type for 20 yrs now. this patternmaker taught me many things I will never forget.
He’s gone now but I feel he left some of his knowledge with me, and I think I have big hands too by the way, long fingers though.

By: La BellaDonna

La BellaDonna — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 22:10:14 +0000

I can’t wait to go home and measure my blades. I have a bunch of different scissors that I value to different degrees, but they’re all bent trimmers with oval handles. I have to pick my tools fairly carefully, since I have very narrow hands with very long fingers. I wear a size 8 glove for the length, but the palms are narrow in comparison to the fingers.

What about thread and needles? Hand or machine? Do you have favorites, and if so, why? And is it my imagination, or is the thread currently on the market really, really crappy?

(And I was given a packet of 1857 hand needles, which, as you probably know, pre-dates the development of the tapered hand needle, with its widest point in the center. So cool!)