Favorite Notions #1

I have a lot of favorite sewing notions, so I thought I'd share a few.  Every couple of days I'd add another--with as many notions as I have and use regularly, it'll probably take a while to get through them all.

The first one I probably can't live without: a thread snips. If you've never used a thread snips and you're still picking up and putting down a scissors to cut your threads, you might want to try one of these.

 The one on top I bought 25 years ago when I worked in a textile factory sewing endless numbers of sleeves into endless numbers of turtleneck tees.  You slip your pinky through the ring and use your thumb and first finger to do the snipping. The ring is great for factory work because you never have to put the snips down and you can still use your hands to flip and fold your piecework.  I looked for years for a replacement, but nothing was as good as the original :-)

The bottom ones I bought at WalMart in a sewing package that included a seam ripper and a sewing gauge for $1.  I expected these snips to be total garbage, but to tell the truth, I've had some of these for several years and they never seem to get dull.  The same cannot be said for the seam rippers included in that deal--those things were completely worthless.

So I probably have at least a half dozen of these in my sewing room--one at each machine (sewing, serger, and coverstitch) and a couple on my cutting table.  I even have a couple of unopened packages for spares, waiting for one to break or get dull (amazingly, it hasn't happened yet). I always have one on hand for snipping any pesky threads that come my way.