Pat Jennings Here

Pat Jennings here. At age 73, I am a scissor officianado. At age nine, my Mother finally relented to my repeated requests that I, too, be allowed to use the “good scissors”. She gave me a lesson in simple embroidery back stitch, cut tea towels from muslin feed sacks that she had hemmed. She then turned me loose for my first experience at working with needle, thread, and my highly admired “never to be used ever before” grown up scissors.“Happiness is being entrusted with a good pair of scissors”.

Having always been passionate about fabric,thread, and scissors, “the good ones”that is, they have been my constant companions. Over the years, scissors have been the main tool for clothing for myself and my children, embroidery for sheer decoration, and my favorite - quilts.

I made baby clothes. “John John” suit was the style for toddlers and my older son had all colors decorated with balls and animals. I could have made those in my sleep. As a beginning full time social worker whose clothing budget was slim, I found my pattern and enjoyed the simple Aline style. Later, I learned that some of the better quality clothing could be found in thrift shops. With my trusty scissors, I would redesign, eliminate buttons, add or reduce trim, and voila, a lovely updated wool skirt or a silk shift. My clothing was complimented with queries about where I got my things.

My sewing studio has always been in a place where I could leave my tools out ready to use. Adding gradually a wardrobe of scissors pleased me as I knew what they could do.

Now, back to quilting where I always return. I have made both traditional and art quilts having won awards along the way. Now, I continue my work in smaller pieces where I continue in original designs where Fiskars play a major role. Currently, my passion is setting aside that studio time for creative designing and scissoring beautiful fabric to create individual original miniatures which are exhibited on small wooden easels.

I practice moving meditation in my creative process. The slow stitch of thread traveling through the needle first and then through a natural fiber is soothing, calming, and is designed not for judgement or for rules but simply the pleasure of the movement of eye and hand bringing a much needed practice to my world which can get chaotic if I let it. Of course, scissors are an important part of this deliberate time slowing process. Some of us have trouble just sitting so this form of contemplation recharges and fulfills the spirit. Joy, abundance, and peace are mine.

To best explain my art work, this colorful zinnia flower piece (above) entitled “Kentucky Wonders” was made by cutting each piece with my beloved scissors. Cutting and sometimes recutting allowed me to audition different leaves and petals to best choose the blending and enhancement of the colors and sizing.

As a septogenarian, who has arthritis (both Rheumatoid and Osteo), I have trouble lifting large pieces. The nine year old is still very much a part of me excited about color palettes, about sparkling beads, about shapes and cuts. Just as that little girl, I continue to create original designs keeping my work innovative and “juicy”. With the help of the ergonomic tools, my creative life is essentially just as young and as experimental as ever.

The Orange Handled Fiskars both large and small are my work horses. I keep a set by my machine and another in my handwork basket. The Razor Edge nippers are the perfect tool for trimming in small intricate places. The Ergo Control rotary cutter and blades are a godsend for hands and wrists.

Ahhh, those blessed scissors made for the tapered hand of a true seamstress, or perhaps the less experienced hand of a rank beginner. Either way, good scissors are a must in the fabric world. The “coolness and the toolness” of good scissors is the unsurpassed for the utility of patching, the cutting of cotton or silk for both straight and rounded curves, the sharp points for nipping into tiny spaces, and finally, the handwork of our foremothers using glorious threads for embroidery and appliqué. I have known all this since age nine even at that time being only able to admire the work of others and to dream of what my creations would look like.

Thank you, Fiskars, for being there all these years. Fiskars are strong, durable with blade accuracy. You truly are my “good scissors”.