The Best Scissors for Upholstery and Home Decor

Furnished by Hand is centered on hand-stitching beautiful furniture, especially decor fabric covers that can be removed for cleaning and maintenance and replaced with ease. I'll disclose the most essential tools to help you to achieve this.

Professional craftspeople use the most appropriate and durable equipment for the job, and prefer an efficient and successful work process, rather than filling up their craft-space with shiny and colourful tools that aren't up to the job. Your tools don't need to be expensive, but they must be:

Durable

Fit for purpose and easy to use

Made from good quality materials.

I like to create with confidence, without wondering if the tool I'm using is still within it's warranty period; no one wants to hoard packaging boxes and return slips to send back faulty or sub-standard equipment.

I actually love to give positive reviews, and reading other people's reviews helps me decide how I make purchases. Like most people, I don't want to buy things that 'I have a feeling' are going to be a waste of time and money.

To be honest most of your tools won't last a lifetime, but your scissors or shears should and for that reason they're a very important and worthwhile investment.

Scissors and Shears

Scissors are tools that are used to cut things. They have a pair of handles and a pair of long tapered blades with sharp edges on one side.

The blades are joined together at a point, so that when the handles are squeezed together, the blades cut material that's positioned between them.

Scissors and Shears are basically the same instrument. Let's look at the differences between the two terms.

'Shears' is the general term for very large or specialist versions of a scissors, for example:
Professional Tailors Shears:
Blade: The blades are usually over 15 cm in length,

Handles: One of the handles is usually a round hole that fits your thumb, while the other handle is large enough to fit a few fingers.

Scissors are smaller in size and have a more evenly designed form, for example,
All Purpose Scissors:
Blade: The blades are usually under 15 cm in length
Handles: Both handles are usually equal in size.

As long as they cut the stuff that we want to cut, they aren't a tool that we'd normally give too much thought to, but using the right scissors for your project is essential. It's one of the few tools that can put a strain on your joints and muscles, especially if you have to apply force. They can also damage your material, for example, if the blades:

aren't sharp enough or sharpness is inconsistent,

can't run smoothly through thinner fabrics,

unable to grip and slice through thick layers,

you have to swap scissors to cut different materials

Scissors and Shears come in many variations and classes depending on what you want to use them for.

At the most basic level, you can be sure that cutting out your templates or decor fabric with clean and uniform edges will give your finished projects a professional appearance. Let's look at the materials you'd use and the range of scissors you'll use to cut them.

Decor Fabrics for Furnished By Hand Projects

I like to get really creative with my home decor projects. That means I'm always happy to combine, mix and match fabrics that can create different moods in our rooms, from ethereal and serene, to atmospheric and dramatic. I tend to reserve lighter fabrics for things like window dressing, but for heavy traffic areas, I mainly use:

Faux Fur

Faux Suede and Velvet

Vinyl

Chenille

Soft Leather

Heavy Jacquard

As most of my home decor is bespoke, I need to get my ideas down on paper and then make templates or pattern pieces for my creations.

These template designs are the foundation for each project. I find that it's much easier to change the look and ambiance of a room when the textures and colours are the only things I have to be concerned with. Some of the materials that I use to create my templates include:

Mylar Plastic

Beer Mat Card

Thin Plywood

template design lettering carved from wood

Scissor Types for Upholstery and Design

Your scissors should make light work of any cutting job. The blades must have a surgical-grade sharpness, with the ability to slice through a range of materials like decor linen, chenille, backed velvet, faux fur, backed suede, soft leather, and vinyl.

They should hold and run effortlessly through finer fabrics like silk, cotton, and voile. Your scissor handles must be completely smooth and comfortable enough to place your fingers through and perform the squeeze and release action for minutes at a time.

Scissor blades can gnaw or chomp through your decor fabric. This will put stress on the fibers of the material and cause fraying.

Professional Tailors Scissors and Industrial Grade Textile Shears

Home décor often involves cutting long lengths, thick layers, and tough specialist textiles.
Handcrafted tailor scissors or large industrial grade textile scissors make cutting décor materials easier, cleaner, and smoother. Industrial Shears are heavy-duty scissors used to cut specialist textiles, from sheet metal to heavy-duty fabrics, like leather and lino.

Professional Tailor's Shears have a side bend that protrudes on one side. The bend anchors the scissors to the table and displaces the fabric evenly on either side of the blades. Both of these scissors have longer blades so that each snip you make is the same long length of the entire blade shaft.

All Purpose Scissors

all purpose drop forged carbon iron scissors

A good quality pair of all-purpose scissors can slice through many materials including Mylar, paper, and cardboard. They can also cut fabric that has a light to medium thickness.

The handles are usually of equal size.

Pinking Shears

These scissors are large. Their thick blades have prominent raised ridges along the sharp edges. The cutting action places a zigzag pattern along the cut edges of your fabric.

Micro Serrated Scissors

These scissors have two different blade edges: a very sharp knife-edged blade and a micro-serrated edged blade that has tiny ridges on its surface.
Some Craftsmen and Craftswomen prefer to use serrated edge scissors to slice through man-made materials and plain knife edged scissors to run through natural fibres like 100% cotton, silk and linen. Don't buy cheap serrated scissors: they're a false economy because the serrated edge can't be sharpened, so once they're blunt it's time to use them as a paper-weight or throw them out.

Left Handed Scissors

We must applaud the dexterity of left-handed craftspeople, as most have had to adapt to using right-handed tools. Left-handed scissors are designed specifically for left handed craftsmen and craftswomen.

The scissor blades are positioned in reverse, and are designed to use the natural pressure of the left hand to direct the blades. The scissor blades are positioned in reverse, and are designed to use the natural pressure of the left hand to direct the blades.

Embroidery Snips

These little scissors are used to unpick stitching mistakes and snip away minute threads from elaborate needlework designs like embroidery and applique. The blades are small, which is great for getting between tight spaces where larger blades won't fit.

Specialised sewing scissors

Each of the scissor blades has a different tip, one is sharp and the other blunt.

They're used for delicately cutting fabric in small awkward areas.

Carbon Steel v Stainless Steel

Scissors and Shears are generally made from Steel of two different types: Carbon Steel or Stainless Steel. I have used both extensively, here is a breakdown of the main differences I've found between the two types of scissors.

Hand-made Carbon steel and Stainless Steel Scissors

Carbon steel blades won't become blunt just because you've cut the 'wrong kind' of material. You can use these scissors a number of times on different material before the scissors require sharpening.

Carbon steel scissors will rust quite quickly if they are not kept clean and dry. Handmade Stainless Steel Scissors on the other hand, do not rust easily.

The blade action of carbon steel scissors can become stiff from infrequent use.

Mass-Produced Stainless steel Scissors

When newly purchased, my shop bought stainless steel scissors provided precision cuts swiftly, but I was always anticipating 'the bluntness'.

The sound of the snips changed each time and the squeeze action of the handle felt tighter with less ease.

Some stainless steel scissors are quite good at cutting through layers of thick fabric (not all fabric i.e. tweed blunts the blades quickly), but in my experience, these scissors don't run through silky or satiny fabrics unless they've had a thorough sharpening first.

Scissor Performance

I have chucked dozens of scissors in the bin after a relatively short service, for different issues.

the blades get bent out of shape or dented

lost tension mechanism after it has been dropped

handles popped clean off to reveal dangerous thick metal spikes

coating peeled off from the handles and blades leaving shiny specs on my fabric and a rough surface on the scissors,

they need constant sharpening

I now have a tried and tested favourite. My preference is based on my experience of using many different types of scissors, and spending way more money than I would have liked trying to find the right ones. Well I've found them - I know that I won't need to buy a new pair of scissors, as these will always work.

Handcrafted Drop Forged Carbon Steel Scissors.

At Furnished By Hand, we hold hand-craftsmen and craftswomen in the highest esteem: the vision, love, creativity, and dedication that goes into each uniquely made piece, is truly awe-inspiring.

Tools created by master craftsmen and craftswomen are always in high demand because of the meticulous attention to detail - the creations are authentic heritage products.

A master cutler, will forge a cutting tool that has industrial/surgical grade sharpness, optimised ergonomics and an advanced finish.

The best handcrafted scissors cut like they're brand new, even after a decade of regular use, without sharpening. They remain perfectly balanced and are a surprisingly worthy investment.

You have the ability to make consistent, precise cuts from the top of the blade to it's tip. Carbon Steel is made from Iron and carbon, so you'll benefit from its strength and long-lasting sharpness.

How they're made

Well, I can tell you that it isn't a quick, slap-dash process as is the case with some mass produced scissors. In fact the procedure takes time and painstaking attention to detail. A number of different craftsmen and craftswomen use their well honed skills and techniques to create each pair of (very) long-lasting scissors.

A lump of red hot high-carbon steel is hammered into the basic shape of a scissor-half, called a Blank.

The blanks are trimmed to remove stray bits of metal

The entire surface (including inside the handle) is sanded down to make everything smooth.

A Screw hole is drilled at the top of each blade, to fit the bolt or interlocking screw that will hold the two scissor halves together.

The blank is hardened, either by:

immersion in molten salt baths,

oven-baked , quenched in oil or water, then baked again

Flexible grinding removes burrs and imperfections (reserved for top-of-the-line scissors)

The scissor halves are buffed and shined in a vibrating rumbler with ceramic chips and polish

(Some scissors have wet-paint, a coating or plating applied to the handles of the scissor halves)

The scissor halves are coupled with a bolt or interlocking screw,

The putter hammers curves into the blades with skilled precision. .

the blades are sharpened, balanced and tested to ensure first-rate quality

Considering the workmanship, expertise, time, effort and durability of materials used, a pair of these scissors is a smart investment. They are powerful. Better still, there is no need for regular sharpening, as they stay sharp for longer.

Slicing through good quality fabric with a pair of handcrafted carbon steel scissors is a splendid experience: from the sound to the crisply cut fabric edges on either side of the blades.

Blade and Handle Surface Treatment

Mass-produced stainless steel scissors, (and some handcrafted ones too) often have a treatment applied. The treatment is applied to the surface of the handles and blades for:

durability and longevity

rust-protection,

heat protection

scratch and flake - resistant

cover burrs and a rough surface

advanced sharpness

The treatments include plastic handles, wet-painting, coating and plating. There are loads of types including:

Powder coating

Teflon coating

Zinc, Chrome, Nickel or Gold plating

Electro-painting (black,red,yellow handles)

Black oxidisation

Titanium Nitride Ceramic coating (higher-end scissors)

There are other treatments too. Some scissors are not coated or painted, instead, a low-grade acid is applied. The acid slowly breaks down the raw surface to create a high shine.

Powder Coated Forged Scissors

Forged scissors with powder-coated handles are considered to be more durable and comfortable to the touch than wet-painted handles. The powder-coating makes the handles smooth and strong, so they shouldn't crack or flake in harsh conditions - but they don't last forever. Forged scissors for decor fabric often have red or black powder coated handles.

Teflon Coated Forged Scissors

Teflon coating is sometimes used to coat heavy duty, industrial grade and specialist scissors.

This makes them heat resistant, and they can slice through some plastics as well as heavily backed decor fabric. In addition, the Teflon coated blades are non-stick so they can be used to cut through drying or tacky glue, without clogging the blades.

Plastic and Rubber Handled Scissors

Stainless Steel scissors often have plastic handles with ergonomic rubber press points to protect your thumb and forefinger. The rubber handle inserts do make the squeezing action more comfortable during thick fabric cutting.Personally, I've never been satisfied with the plastic handled variety. I much prefer shears that are forged entirely from metal - from the handle to the blade tip.

Polished High Carbon Steel Scissors

Top of the line carbon steel scissor handles are sanded, polished, buffed and shined to a gleaming finish.

They do not require plastic or rubber handles, wet-paint, coating or plating. Hand-grinding forged scissor blades gives a superior finish, unfortunately not all cutlers still use this technique, as it's a very advanced skill to master. There are a number of essential handcraft skills that are involve in creating these type of scissors.

Sizes and Weights

Scissors and shears usually range in size from 8 to 13 inch, Note that unless the description states otherwise, the given 'length' of the scissors refers to the length from the top of the handles to the tip of the blade - and not the blade alone. means the whole scissors.

The size that you choose will depend on the fine quality or thickness of your project materials, your ability to hold the scissors and control (manoveour) the scissor blades.

Shears and Scissors that are formed as one continuous piece can feel are heavy. Of course you benefit from the weighty form, because it applies added pressure while you're cutting, so that you don't have to.

When making your choice, remember that large and heavy doesn't mean bulky or awkward to use. In fact very large high-grade scissors slice very neatly and always give you superb long cuts.

Let's say you want to make a huge set of curtains, you'll need to cut precise, even sections out of very large pieces of fabric.It's easy to make a mistake if you use the wrong type of scissors.

A large pair of good quality Tailors Scissors will allow you make precision cuts in less time and with less stress to your joints, wrist and arm.

How to Check the Quality of Your Scissors

The blades of top-of-the-line scissors, have a visible gap between them when they are shut.

In addition, the blades are very subtly curved, which creates a 'grip' point whenever the blades cross paths (not to be confused with curved scissors used in the beauty, grooming and medical industries). The best quality scissors are solid, robust with a professionally hand-ground blade edge.

Mass produced scissor blades align perfectly when they're new, but after regular use the blades become unbalanced, especially if you drop them a few times. The cutting action becomes weaker as the blades loose the ability to slice crisply at the tip.

Scissor Care

You can take your hand-crafted carbon steel scissors back to their rumbling days and give them a good shine with a fine grit and wax polish.

Handcrafted Scissors will benefit from occassional light oiling, to prevent rusting and stiffness.