I was totally speechless as he handed my precious scissors back to me. I still have them but don't use them for sewing anymore. I have taken my scissors to the local Cobblers- who also sharpens blades- for about 15 years. He also sharpens serrated blades and the edges come back to me glinting in the light and razor sharp! Thank you for this common sense post! Whenever people freak out about their shears dulling from cutting the odd bit of tissue I just look at them.
Shears can be sharpened - and they should be sharpened regularly! They are tools and will dull even if you only cut fabric.
My good scissors need sharpened so bad! I looked up the knife sharpening guild in my area and found a guy really close by. The problem is he just does this on the side at his house, and I immediately got a little creeped out. I sharpen knives, you know.
This might be a really stupid question, but what the heck is tissue paper? Is it the same as pattern paper or maybe silk paper?
I'm asking because I'm about to make a dress for my friend and she wants it made of silk and chiffon, so this advice comes at just the right time for me.
I've been trying to translate it into danish, but neither my oldfashioned dictionary or the online ones seem to be able to give me an answer. From the pictures online it looks as silk paper, but you never know, there might be some difference which doesn't show on pics, so now I'm asking you clever ladies: what the heck is tissue paper?
Tissue paper is very thin paper a lot like the Big 4 use for pattern paper. If I couldn't find a roll of it, I could go to the gift wrap area of a general goods store and get some sheets of it folded up in a package.
That can be way more expensive than a roll of it, but good if you hardly ever use sheer fabric. I don't know what 'silk paper' is, unless you mean a handmade or decorative paper that is made with silk fibers. Here in the US that is an expensive item and available in art supply stores - so I don't think you mean that. In german, tissue paper is called "seidenpapier" silk paper , but only because it' s as thin and delicate as silk.
I'm guessing it's the same in danish? Thanks so much! Yes I think tissue paper might be what we would call silk paper, exactly because of its thinness. I had no idea that silk paper in English actually means paper of silk fibers. Oh well, you live and you learn. Thank you again! While I fully understand that fabric scissors needs sharpening from time to time, there's no reason to cut paper pattern with them. Same as with a kitchen knife, the trick to keeping them sharp is to treat them right.
That's not hysterical or neurotic, that's common sense! A good pair of scissors doesn't need to lay unused in a drawer to be treasured, but one can avoid dulling them for no good reason. For example, I cut my patterns with paper scissors and my toilefabric with scissors set aside for that task. But to save myself from off-grain silk, I'd certainly use my good scissors and then have them sharpened.
Or maybe just use my rotarycutter and change the blade? My mom was a professional dressmaker and draper. She always sharpened her scissors before working with gauzy, silky, or "funky" fabrics such as sequins.
But it is difficult to imagine why paper should be more harmful than say hair. Unless you're only using them to cut paper. Then you probably won't notice for decades. The cheapest pair of children's safety scissors will cut paper and, as many parents know full well, they will also cut hair and most fabrics. Very poorly. Scissors cut things!
Don't mix up scissors that you use for fabric with scissors that you use to cut paper because fabric scissors are a lot better when they are super sharp and paper dulls scissors. You won't notice it too much on paper because you can still cut paper with really dull scissors, but when you go back to cutting fabric, you'll have a sad face! Non-sharp scissors can damage fabric.
Fabric and hair are thin "floppy" fibers that bend out of the way easily. There are four popular minerals used in paper filling and coating: kaolin clay, calcium carbonate available as ground or precipitated , titanium dioxide and talc. Both titanium dioxide and talc, however, are consumed in small quantities for special applications where extreme whiteness and opacity, or pitch control are required.
Hence, the workhorse minerals employed in the paper industry today are precipitated and ground calcium carbonates and kaolin clay. Cutting up copper pennies will most assuredly dull scissors. The progression from 3 to 4 on the Mohs scale reflects an increase in hardness of approximately 25 percent. If you are uncomfortable using extremely sharp scissors or shears you can easily reduce their sharpness.
If your shears are stylist, barber or grooming shears simply cut on a paper towel until the sharpness is reduced to a level you are comfortable with. If your shears are for cutting fabric or other materials make several cuts on a piece of 20 pound copier paper until you are comfortable. Razors or surgical scissors should never be reduced in sharpness.
They should be maintained to extreme sharpness in relation to their intended procedure. Sign up to join this community. Essentials Articles. It seems like it would be pretty simple. Fabric shears are for fabric only and paper scissors are for paper. However, there will be that person who uses them on paper not realizing it, not caring, or not knowing the difference.
However, due to their refined edge, cutting almost anything other than fabric with sewing scissors can dull them. There is a slight difference between fabric scissors and sewing shears, but the words are often used interchangeably. Sewing shears, technically, are scissors with cutting blades longer than six inches. When looking for general fabric scissors it often does not matter much if they are listed as fabric scissors or shears.
However, due to their size, shears tend to have more cutting force and are heavier for can cut through thicker or layered fabric. The primary difference between fabric scissors and paper scissors is their sharpness. Paper scissors usually have a blunt edge. While having a dull edge works great for paper, it does not work for heavier materials like fabric. If you try cutting through fabric with paper scissors, you will usually end up tearing the fabric rather than actually cutting it.
Otherwise, you will get ragged edges or just rip and damage the fabric. Paper scissors are dull and tend to need less upkeep and are commonly cheaper. This makes it all that more important that expensive fabric scissors are not accidentally used on paper. Yes, cutting paper will dull your fabric scissors. So, if you have high-quality sewing scissors you should avoid cutting paper or anything else with them.
While you can cut some paper just fine with your fabric scissors, it will eventually dull them. This is due to the harsh minerals and materials that go into the paper. The stiffening agents in most papers are the worst offenders. In particular, abrasive materials like talc and kaolin clay damage and dull fabric scissors. The sharp edge of sewing scissors is simply not made to take damage like that.
Cardboard and similar materials should also be avoided. In short, do not cut anything other than fabric with fabric scissors. If you end up accidentally cutting paper or anything other than fabric, not all is lost.
While it will dull the scissors, it is fairly easy to sharpen them. There are a variety of methods for sharpening fabric scissors. Thankfully, quite a few methods are fast and include materials you probably already have at home. The most popular methods for sharpening your sewing shears at home are the aluminum foil and sandpaper methods. You can also sharpen your scissors using a sharpening stone or scissor sharpener, or take them to a commercial sharpener. All you will need to sharpen your fabric scissors is a piece of foil or to grit sandpaper or finer , the scissors you want to sharpen, and a piece of scrap fabric.
Believe it or not, this method really does work for improving your scissors! It mainly hones the blades and sharpens them slightly. This method is best for upkeep, not for restoration. It is especially good for helping scissors cut better on a budget.
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