Recently, I needed to buy a pair of left handed pinking shears. I needed them to cut 200 5”x 5” fabric squares. If you’re left handed, you know that stores don’t carry an abundance of left handed scissors of any kind and I definitely didn’t have time to order any online.
Even though I didn’t have time to wait for an order, I decided to check my local craft and fabric stores online so I wouldn’t waste my gas going to a store that didn’t have what I was looking for.
To my disappointment, AC Moore didn’t have any left handed pinking shears. I knew cutting with right handed shears was not an option because not only do they hurt my hand but they also don’t cut correctly.
Thankfully, JoAnn Fabrics carries the Fiskars Softouch 10″ Pinking Shears (pictured above) that left or right handed people can use successfully. Because I have their regular shears I was hopeful they would work. They cost $42.99 but I had a 50% off AC Moore coupon which JoAnn Fabrics* did honor (yay!).
I highly recommend Fiskars Softouch 10” Pinking Shears and no, I am not an affiliate. Although they only got 2 good reviews out of 5 on JoAnn Fabrics’ Web site, I recommend them because I had no problem using them and after cutting 200 squares, the cut quality didn’t change.
The only mistake I made was cutting most of the squares within a 24 hour period. Bad idea. Cutting that much fabric or squares will take a toll on anyone’s hand, regardless of the pinking shears’ brand. In the future I’ll spread out the cutting over a few days to eliminate hand soreness and fatigue.
Do you have some great left handed products-sewing or otherwise-you love? Let me know in the comments.
*JoAnn Fabrics will not honor AC Moore coupons on items (such as fabric) that AC Moore does not sell.
Hi Katrina! I just came across your article as I was searching for left handed pinking shears. Did you find it difficult to get an accurate cut with the Fiskars? I have had to use right handed scissors most of my life just because left handed ones were never at my disposal. So, I learned to watch my cut from the “wrong side” and to cut in the “wrong direction”. The true/natural way for me to use scissors would be to cut moving from right to left, or in a clockwise manner around a pattern. With right handed scissors, I have to use them “as if” I was right handed, and watch my cutting line over top of the scissors. It gets physically painful if I have to do much cutting. Hence, cutting is not my favorite part of sewing. And pinking shears have been especially cumbersome! So, with these particular scissors, will I still need to cut as if I am right handed? Thanks!
Donna, when I use them I have to line the points up with the edge of the fabric, but they’re comfortable using my left hand. It took a second to get used to but they worked great, especially since they’re so sharp. I was really surprised at how well they worked without giving me physical pain, because I’ve had plenty of scissors like that. Honestly, for shears that are for left or right handed people, they work really well.
Santa didn’t leave you a sewing maichne?! For shame…Thanks for sharing this link. I had cut out some fabric to make bags (complete with some rip-stop nylon to line them with) and it got too complicated for me….so I only made one bag. I can go back and finish them now! (and maybe not make it so complicated)Thanks for the inspiration!
You’re welcome, Piotr. Glad I could help.
Katrina, I brought 2 pair of left handed shears by Fiscars. they are very sharp ! I got them from Walmart. Check them out if you get a chance. Thanks so much for your informative articles!
I never thought of checking Walmart. Good to know. Thanks, Dara.
I am also left handed. I bought an expensive pair on german made pinking shears on-line some years ago and have been very disappointed with them; too heavy to use and no matter how they are adjusted thy don’t cut well.
Are the fiskars pinking shears true left-handed (left0bladed) or do they just have a generic handle?
They have a generic handle because they’re supposed to be for left or right handed people. They cut very well though.
I’m left handed too, and have just been recommended the fiskar soft grip shears, but, when I’m cutting lots of straight lines for patchwork etc, I use a rotary cutter, it’s so much faster and easier on the hands if you are left or right handed.
Yes Julie, I agree. And no scissors are comfortable when there’s a lot of repetitive cutting involved. I’ve never tried the pinking blade on the rotary cutter, I’ll have to do that next time.
I am in the UK and have been looking for left handed pinking shears, i’m happy to pay more for what I want, but like the rest of you I cant find any with left handed blades. Searching on google brought me to this page. I have never used a rotary blade before, and especially didn’t know that you could use them on fabric, it seems a much easier way to do things with a pinking wheel. So thank you for your advice, i’m off to hopefully find the rotary cutter now!
Your welcome, Lauren. I hope your search is successful!