A Few of My Favorite Things

Let’s start something new….

I want to share a few of my favorite things with you all, so here goes. These things, supplies, ideas come from almost 15 years of embroidery (yes, it’s almost 15 years of Sew Creative Embroidery… mind-blowing!!!), and even from the many years of sewing before embroidery.

I think the first should be my scissors…  These are such tiny little things that make a world of difference.  My first pair of excellent scissors came with my home embroidery/sewing machine by Kenmore. (I think it was model 19000-1, but honestly it was just used the very first year, so it’s been a little while.)  I even kept those cute little curved scissors when I sold that machine.  I just couldn’t live without them at work!  I will say they lasted for a very long time… years.  They were the perfect size and shape to get into the embroidery area and trim out any stray thread.  Perfectly sharp, no problems with unwanted pulls or cuts on the embroidered items.  They were great!!!

What happened?  Well, we got a wonderful contract for appliqued shirts which took us into children’s boutique clothing versus the old days of shop monogramming, school uniforms, businesses, and teams.  Any time I did applique back then, it was with pre-cut letters that we would glue down before stitching, so all my little scissors needed to tackle was the threads with minor snips to stray fabric or the occasional custom applique placement.  Our new applique venture varies a lot in fabrics and sizes so we started hand cutting the pieces.  And you know what?  These scissors were perfect for that too!  The perfect shape and size to glide through cottons and trim fabric out.  We do a lot more than cotton in the shop, and so I dulled my fabulous scissors very quickly and went on the search for a real replacement.

Now keep in mind, I had looked over the years, but always ended up with something a little thicker on the blades, not enough curve, stiffer in the cutting motion, or just a bit too bulky for under the needle area.  A couple of years ago I finally found my new little scissors… they are great!  The tiniest bit larger than my originals, but perfect to work with!  We try to keep two or three out for work around the shop, and I order them in a dozen or more at a time.  I think most of them average 6 months or so, but I haven’t kept real track.  When I work with sequins, glitter, and minky they can dull down pretty fast but then they’ll still be good on cottons for quite a while.

Perfect… less than 4 inches long, curved blade, lightweight, with an easy cutting motion.  And I may be on the hunt again before I need replacements. I went to find you the link, and the company no longer lists them and the similar listings I see are straight blades.  Uggghh… the problems of supplying a shop.  I’m waiting to hear if they’ll still order them for me.  If so, I’ll update you with a link.  If not, the search will continue…

Happy stitching everyone!

Cheryl @ Easy Breezy Designs