Bent-handed Shears

• These shears are available commonly with 7- or 8-inch blades. The bent handle allows the fabric to lie smooth and straight when it is being cut, thus yielding better control over the cutting edge. These scissors are available in right-handed or left-handed styles. These scissors are used to cut fabrics only.

• a. All steels, chrome-plated shears are for heavy-duty cutting

• b. Stainless steel blades and plastic handles are fine for lightweight fabrics

• c. Serrated edge shears give maximum cutting control and are used for synthetic fibers and slippery knits.

Scissors

These are the main tool for cutting fabric. Scissors have sharp, pointed, and slender blades, used for cutting different materials. These scissors are mostly 3 to 10 inches long in size. These have round handles for both blades. Specific fabric-cutting scissors should not be used for cutting heavy material as it may reduce the sharpness of the blades.

Pinking Shears

These shears are generally 9 to 10 inches long. It is useful in finishing raw edges of fabric or to produce a decorative edge. It is one of the best shears for edge finishing of various types of fabrics, which do not ravel too badly. It creates a clean zigzag cut line of any fabric/material or garments. Pinking shears produce a notched cutting line (zigzag) to give a neat look to the inside of the garment and also prevent raveling.

Embroidery Scissors

These scissors are small, usually, 4–5 inches in length with very sharp blades, used for all-purpose needlework, ripping, and for making buttonholes.

Seam Ripper

It is a simple pen-like device that allows the removal of machine or hand-stitched seams by cutting the stitches in an accurate and safe manner. A seam ripper is the best equipment to rip or open seams. While removing the stitches, the fabric should not be pulled as it can stretch and easily tear the fabric.

Thread Cutter

• It is a small handy spring-loaded tool, specifically used for cutting extra threads on the garments and ripping seams. Threads are simply cut by pushing the upper blade down with the thumb.

Notcher

• It is a tool commonly used in pattern making and sewing. It creates notches in the paper pattern or material. By notching, one marks the balance points of the pattern and also seam allowance, center lines, ease, dart intake, etc. (Fig. 2.26). Notches are used to align the pattern pieces.

Rotary Cutter:

A rotary cutter is a tool that can save you hours of time. As the blade rotates, it makes it easy to cut layers of fabric simultaneously, whilst giving you a clean cutting edge.

Cutting Mat: If you’re using a rotary cutter, you’ll also need a cutting mat to protect your work surface. We’d recommend choosing the largest size you can to make sure you can fit all your fabric on at once.