Pinking Shears -
Relic of a By-Gone Era or Contemporary Sewing Tool?
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 With the introduction of sergers to the home sewing market, many of us shunned grandma's pinking shears in favor of finishing every raw edge with our sergers. We reveled in the ready-to-wear look on the inside of our garments, while the right sides of our garments looked as homemade as ever. We have discovered over the years that sergers, while being a boon to our primary construction methods, just don't "cut it" in areas like facing seam allowances on woven fabrics. These areas require finer finishing techniques than a serger can offer.
Rediscover pinking shears! The soft, zig-zag edge created by pinking shears is ideal for reducing bulk in graded seam allowances, softening the edges of interfacing, eliminating hard lines of facing & hem allowances, & reducing shadows of turned-back edges on the right sides of our garments. As a bonus, pinking shears reduce fabric fraying in light to medium weight fabrics.
In the picture above, I am applying an exposed, silk crepe de chine, facing, (pink) to the center front of a cotton interlock bodice, (white). A serged attachment seam would have created a thick, two layer seam which could not be graded. The additional thread in the serged seam would have increased bulk. I chose to attach the facing with my sewing machine & grade the seam allowances with my pinking shears.
On the opposite side of the facing, I had the option of serging the single layer facing "hem" to finish the raw edge. After pressing, the serger threads would have left a textured imprint on the right side of my exposed, silk facing. Again, the pinking shears offered a finer finishing result.
The serger will be used for all of the primary seams on this garment. Side seams, shoulder seams, & sleeve seams are examples of where serged seams are most practical.
Do's & Dont's of Pinking Shears vs. Sergers- Don't use pinking shears to cut out your main garment pieces
- Do use pinking shears to trim raw edges during construction
- Don't use a serger to apply facings to small, curved edges such as neck lines on woven fabrics, (garments made entirely of knits are the exception to this rule)
- Do use a serger on primary seams such as side, shoulder, sleeve & leg seams
- Do use pinking shears to reduce fraying on raw edges of light to medium weight fabrics
- Don't depend on pinked edges to control fraying in loosely woven or thick fabrics
- Do use wide seam allowances & serged edges on loosely woven or thick fabrics
- Do cut only one layer at a time with pinking shears
- Do buy high-quality pinking shears - they'll be easier to use
In conclusion, in the competition between sergers & pinking shears, both tools are big winners. Each tool offers professional finishing results when used for appropriate techniques. No garment or home decor' sewer should be without both a serger & high quality pinking shears in their sewing rooms. |
Thread Play with Bernina
303 BERNINA 303 (237-6462)
County Line Rd. & Quebec St.
Courtyard Shops Behind Safeway
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