Sewing Supplies: Scissors

I was that kid--the one who was excited to go back to school. Part of the excitement was new school supplies. It's an excitement that carried over into my University years, and even when I didn't have a lot of cash, I would have something new for the first day of school (often it was handmade notebooks).

Nowadays, sewing supplies have taken over where school supplies left off. I'm always excited for new sewing supplies and notions--even thread! Besides my actual machine, my scissors are the most used supplies in my studio. I have 3 pair that I use regularly for sewing, plus a rotary cutter, and pinking shears. Oh, and I always keep a pair of paper scissors nearby, so that I'm not tempted to dull my sewing scissors on paper-crafts.

1. Gingher 10 Inch Trimmers 

These are for the heavy-duty jobs--I use these for cutting canvas and for multiple layers of fabric. They're great for my slippers, because there is a step in the making where I have to trim though two layers of interfaced fabric, a layer of 14 oz canvas, and a layer of fleece batting. I can do it with a well-sharpened standard 8" shear, but it takes a lot of elbow grease. My little brother got me these for Christmas one year, and they have saved me a lot of hand-aches through the years.

2. Fiskars 8" Forged Scissors

If I could only have one pair, I'd choose the 8" Fiskars, because they're the most versatile. Some folks swear by the spring action type, but I find that they don't corner as well, and they're a little bit clumsy. That's just me though! The other scissors make my life easier, but the 8" ones are absolutely necessary.

3. Thread Snippers from Fabricland:

These guys are always at my right hand. Thread snipping is a constant reality in my life, and these guys are spring loaded, a feature that I appreciate in a thread snipper, even if I avoid it in a standard pair of shears.

Pinking Shears from Fabricland:

Pinking shears can be used for trimming anything that you don't want to fray or unravel. I mostly use them for when I need to cut close to a seam that I'm not going to finish, like around a corner that I'm going to turn inside-out.

Fiskars Rotary Cutter:

It's like a pizza cutter for fabric. It cuts straight lines quickly and perfectly (if you use a ruler to guide you). I use them a lot for crafting and quilting.

Whatever scissors I'm using, they have to be sharp. A dull pair of scissors can really mangle your fabric and give you hand cramps! If you're using inexpensive scissors, replace them once cutting starts to become labored. If you've got fancy scissors, have them sharpened regularly. I get mine sharpened by a pro for $5 a pair.

What kind of scissors do you have in your sewing room? Any favorite brands out there?

Bookin' It: The Sudden Weight of Snow

Author: Laisha Rosnau

1 sentence summary: The Sudden Weight of Snow by Laisha Rosnau is about coming of age in a small town, where everyone has a pretty solid idea of how you're supposed to behave and who you're supposed to be.

Setting: The made up town of Sawmill Creek, BC 

Main Character: Harper, aged 17

Themes: family, coming of age, place, societal expectations, female friendships, first love, grief

What I loved:

Rosnau really gets what it's like to grow up in a small, resource dependant community, where gender roles are rarely challenged and good behaviour is the backbone of the community. The story is told from the first person perspective of Harper, who has a few qualms about the 'natural order' of things in her hometown.  If you have ever been a teenage girl in a small resource dependent town, this story is about that town. 

 Harper is incredibly endearing. She's smart--maybe smarter than is realistic in an average teenage girl. But I'm an idealist, so that's pretty important to me. She's not entirely sure who she wants to be, but she's certain it's not the person that she's supposed to be. She's a rebel, but not a mindless one--she doesn't act out just for the sake of acting out. The boundaries of acceptability are pretty narrow, and she just wants a little room to be different without being an outcast. 

It's really hard to do this book justice. It was funny and so very sad in some parts. I have read it more than five times--no lie. Ok, I wrote a chapter of my thesis on it, so I had to read it over and over again. But, I never got sick of it. In fact, I chose my thesis topic based on this book, because I knew that if I was going to get married to any book and spend my life with it, it had to be this book. 

Swears: yes

Sex: yes

Gore: no

Drugs and Alcohol: yes

Read it if you liked:  A Complicated Kindness: A Novel by Miriam Toews, or The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

3(ish) Links

1. This colour palette generator - Just insert the URL of a pic, and it will break it down into a colour palette. How magical is that! It's not always entirely accurate, but it's always fun.

2. Daniel Radcliffe Rapping Blackalicious's "Alphabet Aerobics". Nuf said.  

3. If you're looking for something good to read, check out the 2014 Giller Prize Shortlist--you're bound to find one (or six) new books to read. My top pick: Miriam Toews's All my Puny Sorrows, which would be on my list whether it was up for a Giller or not, because she's my number one favourite author 

(I wrote an entire chapter about her novel, A Complicated Kindness in my MA thesis!)

3 Links

My favorite Links from the past week:

1.  Style Your Letters Boldly: Hand-Addressed Envelopes (a FREE Skillshare course)



One of the Envelopes by Erik Marinovich, the Teacher



2. This free printable advent art journal by Anika Lacerte of The Handcrafted Story





photo by Anika Lacerte

3. anything about the Jian Ghomeshi scandal!

wise words

DIY Day with Teenage Girl-Child

Last weekend, I got to spend some quality time with Ruby (my bff's teenage girl-child), and we hauled out the craft supplies and sat in front of the tv re-watching our favourite episodes of Raising Hope. One of the projects that we fell in love with is this duct tape flower pencil-topper (diy here!). This one was relatively easy, and tonnes of fun for both of us. 

Apparently, Ruby REALLY liked this, because she continued making flowers after I left, and then fell asleep clutching her craft supplies (pretty much the most adorable thing ever). 

P.S. If you're looking for crafts to do with teens, there are some great ideas here and here.

What I Ate (on Wednesday)

My friend Anika, from over at The Handcrafted Story, has been getting into art journaling lately, and it's inspired me to do more drawing and doodling. It's really a lot of fun. And maybe it'll make up for the fact that I don't take as many pictures for my blog as I'd like to!

Here's a doodle list of what I ate yesterday:

I'm a fan of lists, and I'm a fan of doodling, so why the heck not!