Over the past couple of weeks I’ve realised that I’ve used a lot of different pairs of scissors for loads of different jobs, so I thought I’d share my ‘little’ collection with you, and what I use them all for, you know, just in case you need to add anything to your own collection ;o)

First up are the big ones.  These are actually a pair of cheap dressmaking shears that came free with Big Brother, or perhaps even Little Brother.  I honestly wouldn’t use these ones in particular for dressmaking (because cheap) but with the long blades and big comfy handles they do work great for cutting quilt batting off the ginormous roll up in my loft/basting area (since I can’t use my rotary cutter on it!)

Next are my Fiskars Soft Touch Microtip Scissors  As you can see from the photo below, these are ones you grip and squeeze (so handily good for both righties and lefties)  These have fairly short blades, and a good little tip, so are good at cutting through lots of layers to a specific point, and I use them most often when I’m cutting the box for the zip in inset pockets on bags as they go right out to the corner through several layers of fabric and interfacing/interlining.

Then come my Olfa Applique scissors which I got in my goodie bag at Sewing Summit in 2012.  Now if you’d asked before I wrote this what they were designed for, I couldn’t have told you, but I did have a chuckle when I realised that I use them for exactly what they’re designed for – cutting out fabric for applique!  They have quite a small handle, but they weren’t too uncomfortable, even after I cut out everything for the wall hanging I did a few weeks ago, and the small blades with sharp tip are good on a single layer of fabric to cut to a specific point.  Occasionally I use them to cut through thicker layers, but they become a little less precise with lots of layers.

Then we have my EK Success Cutter Bee paper scissors, which I actually got back in my scrapbooking days, so these are a good 12 or 13 years old now.  I use these to cut out my paper patterns as needed, and they have a pretty comfy grip and a good sharp point for getting into awkward angles.  They have a plastic cover that protects the points from being damaged when they get chucked around too.

After that are my Janome embroidery scissors which I just keep by my sewing machine for cutting random wee bits and pieces, like the thread after I’ve wound a bobbin.  Originally they were what I used when cutting out my bears (yep, even for the big ones), but their  1 1/4″ blades would actually make them usable for travel sewing too:

Then there are my French embroidery scissors.  They have a tiny 1″ blade, and I only use them for very small, precise work on a single fabric layer.  They also have a packet that they go into to guard the tips:

Finally my Ernest Wright snips that Santa brought me a couple of years ago.  These are good for cutting thread very close to the fabric, but since Big Brother has an auto thread-cutter they were a bit redundant for a while.  Now they live with my Featherweight toolkit, and I use them all the time when travelling with one.

How about you, do you have a favourite pair of scissors?  What do you use them for?