Life consists of little things, if you often use sewing scissors, then you know how often it happens that it is difficult to find them at hand at the very moment when you need them. A scissor case can solve this minor problem once and for all. In this material we will tell you how to make a case for scissors with your own hands at home. At the end of the material you will find a useful life hack from Coco Chanel herself, who sometimes also had to look for scissors to make design changes.
The history of scissors and how cases for them appeared
As in the history of any other useful tool, the history of scissors includes many names of people who are considered the first inventors of this useful device. One of the colorful stories of the creation of scissors is described in an ancient Greek legend. One day, a certain shepherd, walking with his flock, wandered far from home and saw a golden glow on the top of a mountain. He decided to climb up to find out the source of the glow and neglected the herd out of curiosity.After two days of travel, the shepherd climbed the mountain and saw wonderful rams with golden wool, which shimmered like gold in the sun. He wanted to take away at least one animal to show this miracle to the villagers, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not move a single ram. Exhausted, he descended the mountain and returned to his village. The residents did not believe the shepherd's stories and laughed at him, offending the witness of a real miracle. The shepherd locked himself in his house and did not leave it for several days, until one morning he ran out, carrying in his hands two knives held together by one arc. He climbed the mountain for the second time and, with the help of these first scissors, cut all the wool from the rams. Having brought confirmation of what he had seen, the shepherd excited the residents, and now they rushed to the mountain to see the wonderful animals with their own eyes. But the shorn rams left their pasture. And the villagers returned to the village with nothing and again tried to ridicule the successful shepherd. Then the owner of the golden wool once again showed them the evidence and asked where he got such a miracle from. When asked how he was able to shear the wonderful animals, the shepherd showed his fellow tribesmen his invention in the form of two connected knives and immediately demonstrated its effect on an ordinary ram. From that moment on, the shepherd became a respected person in his village, and its residents took note of the new tool and continued to use scissors.
But if we ignore fiction and turn to dry facts, then the first prototypes of scissors were actually invented in ancient times. Thus, a device resembling scissors was found during excavations in the ruins of houses of Ancient Egypt and dates back to the 16th century BC. But unlike modern analogues, Egyptian samples were made from a single piece of metal.Alas, it is unknown whether this instrument had a separate case. The first scissors resembling modern ones were found in the temples of Ancient Rome and were made around the 1st century AD. At this point, the history of scissors is interrupted until the 15th century, when they were reinvented by... Leonardo da Vinci. It is believed that the tool was invented by a genius to make it easier for him to cut imperfect fragments of his paintings from the canvas. Knowing the pedantry of the master, we can certainly assume that his scissors definitely had a case. With the light hand of the master, the convenient device went to the masses. Well, as for the masses, the device began to be used by those who could pay for the services of Leonardo da Vinci and masters of his level. With each century, scissors became more and more attractive: now they were made to order, and the handles were decorated with fancy patterns and openwork elements. Around the same time, when scissors became an analogue of an expensive toy and the first cases for scissors appeared: firstly, I didn’t want the gilding to be quickly erased from the product, and secondly, the tool, stored in a special case, was more difficult to lose. Moreover, scissors became a symbolic gift as a sign of sympathy for the lady: the gentleman always included a pair of scissors in cases made of expensive fabric or leather with the gift. With the development of guilds and workshops, scissors became a must-have item for every European home.
Is a case for scissors really necessary?
Scissors were and remain a rather fragile tool. Anyone who has dropped their scissors on a tiled floor or simply on a hard surface at an unfortunate angle has been convinced of this. Blades can quickly become dull and even bend due to impact.Cutting thin silk fabrics with such scissors, for example, will be much more difficult than with new ones, because they can ruin the fabric and damage the edge of the fabric. And when storing scissors without a case, they may come into contact with other tools, causing the blades to also lose their sharpness. After all, if there is a small child in the house, he can easily get hurt by the tool. In order to avoid such incidents, it is advisable to have a specially made case for each scissors.
What is needed to make a case for scissors with your own hands:
- A piece of thick cotton or linen. You can even use different fabrics and take materials with a pattern.
- A piece of seal.
- Sewing supplies (needle, thread and scissors).
- Braid (optional).
Step-by-step sewing of a case for scissors
A case for scissors can be easily and quickly made with your own hands and without professional equipment.
- Cut four identical pieces of fabric and two identical pieces of sealant.
- Fold the pieces of fabric in pairs so that there is a seal between each piece of fabric. Determine the front sides.
- Stitch the parts together, additionally securing the seal in the middle of the product. You should end up with two parts with a seal in the middle.
- Connect the resulting parts of the product with the right sides facing each other. Connect the products, leaving a small unstitched area for scissors.
- Press the seam and turn the garment right side out.
- Finish the remaining edge by folding it inward, or decorate the edge with braid.
And here is the promised life hack from Coco Chanel. If you look at the photos of the creator of the famous black dress at work, you will probably see scissors in each of them.Don't see them in your hands? Take a closer look, perhaps they are hanging on her belt, secured with a special ribbon. Everything ingenious is almost as simple as a little black dress. Cut the required length from the ribbon and secure its ends by threading them through the rings of the scissors. Now the scissors will definitely not get lost.