To be honest, you only need a good pair of fabric scissors to sew. But who doesn’t want to be more efficient with their sewing? I have some great cutting tool recommendations!
Here’s what I use the most for both sewing and embroidery; not all of these will be covered below, so if you have any questions, let me know in the comments.
- Kai angled 9″ scissors
- Paper scissors
- Gingher Featherweight Thread Snips
- Gingher 6″ Duck billed scissors
- Kai serrated, angled 9″ scissors
- Havel 4″ double curved lace trimming scissors
- Kai 4.5″ sererated patchwork scissors
- Martelli rotary cutter
Thread Snips
Do you use your regular fabric scissors to cut the threads after sewing seams?
Repeated cutting at the same point will dull the scissors. Not to mention, the risk of cutting the fabric is FAR greater with larger scissors. That’s the last thing you want to do as you finish up a garment you’ve put so much effort and love into.
Thread snips are small scissors that open and close with a hinge – usually staying open. You press the two sides to cut. They are great for getting the cut right against the fabric. Be careful not to poke yourself. A good pair of snips comes with a cover to prevent accidents.
I recommend Gingher Featherweight Thread Snips (Amazon link) – they are lightweight (like the name says), super sharp point, and easy to use. It comes with a cap that can fit a needle in (this part is not an advertised use, just something I do). The tip is also magnetic if you ever loose your needle in your work. I have two – one next to my serger and one next to my sewing machine.
Angled Scissors
Regular fabric scissors are great, but an angled one is even better. When you use scissors, it lifts the fabric and distorts it a bit when you are cutting around a pattern. The angled scissors will help keep the blades closer to the table, which means less fabric movement.
I recommend the Kai 9″ Bent Handle Scissors (Amazon link). Kai brand is lighter than other brand and very sharp too.
You can see the angle difference below – the bottom scissor is straight handle, and the top is the angled one.
Rotary Cutter
If scissors aren’t your thing, rotary cutters are great. However, you will need a self-healing mat to cut on. I highly recommend Martelli Ergonomic cuttters – they have cutters for both right and left handed folks. Martelli cutter-right handed and Martelli cutter-left handed.
I found these cutters after I started getting wrist pain from the traditional straight cutters. The Martellis are ergonomic and pressure on your wrists is more distributed. I have had no more wrist pain since switching back in 2018.
I have, however found it difficult to have blades that stay sharp long enough to my liking. Usually, they would get dull after two projects. Then I found Kai rotary blades in June of 2020 and have had to change the blade once in two years! You can get your Kai blades here (Amazon link) – they come in 28mm, 45mm, and 60mm.
Serrated Scissors
Do you get frustrated cutting slippery fabrics?
I got a secret for you, serrated scissors. The edges have fine little teeth to help grip those slippery fabrics like satin, rayon, silk and the likes.
I got these Kai 9″ Bent Handle Serrated Scissors in Berry color. It’s a little more expensive than the black handled but I like being able to easily tell the difference between this one and the non-serrated one.
Duck Billed Scissors
Duck billed scissors are great for cutting really close to stitches when you are grading seam allowances or trimming understitching. They have one wide and flat blade that helps prevent accidentally cutting something you don’t want to cut. And they are usually angled to get in to tight spaces.
Mine is the 6″ Gingher Knife Edge Applique Trimmers (Amazon link).
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Links to everything I mentioned are listed below:
- Gingher Featherweight Thread Snips (Amazon link)
- Kai 9″ Bent Handle Scissors (Amazon link)
- Martelli Ergonomic cuttters – Right hand
- Martelli Ergonomic cuttters – Left hand
- Kai rotary blades here (Amazon link)
- Kai 9″ Bent Handle Serrated Scissors
- 6″ Gingher Knife Edge Applique Trimmers (Amazon link)
Other cutting tools I have, and use mostly for embroidery work:
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Some links contained in this post may be affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you purchase through these links and helps keep this site running. I was provided with the pattern to test it out, but all opinions are my own.