This post is the beginning in a series about scissors. We will talk about what separates the good scissors from the great scissors, what kinds of scissors there are, and what they are used for.
The first and most important thing to know about sewing scissors is to never use them on paper. It is important to have a separate pair of scissors dedicated to paper since paper can dull sewing scissors making it harder to cut through fabric.
Sewing scissors are made at a different angle to paper scissors. Most fabric scissors are around a 45 degree angle where as paper scissors are often at a 10 degree angle. This is why when you use paper scissors on fabric they can tend to mash the fabric rather than cut it. It is also why using your fabric scissors for cutting paper can dull the blades faster.
Paper scissors at a 10 degree angle.
Notice how blunt that blade edge truly is.
Fabric scissors at a 45 degree angle.
The blade is much finer and sharper. Cutting paper with these can blunt the edge.
Something you may notice from these images is that the blades on scissors are actually curved. This helps to keep pressure agains the blades and help prevent skipping a cut.
The upcoming posts are going to go over the different types of sewing scissors from tailor shears all the way to duckbill scissors. Want me to talk about something specific? Leave a comment and let me know!