Once upon a time, there was a student and sewing teacher. The teacher's name was Mrs. Price, though be not fooled, for she was truly priceless. The annual "Make it with Wool" was upon her dear class, all young hands worked feverishly into the evening to complete their exceptional articles, and the light shone brightly from that high school classroom to those passing by in the night. Sewing machines and sergers hummed, students chattered and scissors snipped. Upon completion of each project, the fearless leader would summon the support of all those present and a chorus of "BAAAAA, RAAAAM, EWE," would be proclaimed in honor of those who gave their warm coats for the cause. Suddenly a loud moan was heard, heads turned to see a girl in distress with her head down upon her woolen coat, seam ripper in hand. She was opening those carefully stitched buttonholes only to slice completely through the edge of that coat. Mrs. Priceless walked her quick clip, as she was slow in nothing, over to the heartbroken girl and told her she would conjure a way to recover the beautiful piece. And she did. She cunningly covered each of those buttonholes with a swatch of leather. Those judges were none the wiser and awarded the girl great accolades for the very clever addition.
Moral of the story:
NEVER USE SEAM RIPPERS TO OPEN YOUR BUTTONHOLES UNLESS YOU ARE AS CLEVER AS ONE MRS. PRICELESS
Today, I discuss a few of my favorite sharp and pointy objects.
You would think a seam ripper would certainly be on my list,
but alas, it would not be on my top 10 list of sewing paraphernalia
I could take to a deserted island.
PINS:
A very good friend in the sewing world.
Pins are like a crystal ball,
giving you a glimpse of the future:
what your project will look like when it's sewn,
but still able to adjust if necessary.
When in doubt, use more pins!
And don't go whimpy.
Use pins you can easily grab, with a spherical head.
BONE FOLDER:
Though allied with the world of paper,
these little tools make your corners sharp and professional.
Sure, you could use a pen or pencil,
but run the risk of marks on your fabric or
poking all the way through that delicate corner.
SCISSORS:
One pair of scissors I could not sew
without are my little embroidery scissors.
These are just fiskars available at most retail establishments,
but they have a petite end, perfect for clipping threads,
seams and, you guessed it, opening buttonholes.
I have some in purse, on my desk, in my desk,
and maybe another pair in my purse.
BUTTONHOLE HOW-TO not massacre your garment
1 Open the scissors, and using one of the blades, swivel it back and forth until the tip pokes out through the other side, about 1/4".
2 Make a small clip, making sure you are only cutting fabric, not threads.
3 Continue making small clips until you reach the end of the buttonhole.
4 Turn fabric around and repeat on other half.
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