small luxuries

 it's a rule of sewing: no matter how good you are at sewing, if your scissors are blunt you end up with a less than acceptable garment.

i've always been a fiskgar's girl ever since i took a weaving course in finland in the first ice age and came across them. actually i've had those same scissors up to now. since i live in a quaint town, there's a sharpener that passes by every two weeks and i've been sharpening my knives and scissors with him. but there comes a time when no matter how much i sharpen- actually he sharpens- it's no go.

time for new ones and a great excuse to go downtown to the old city where cuchilleria roca is located.

the place is a  delightful old fashioned store which  sells knives scissors, cutlery and impressive badger shaving brushes.the salespeople are also old fashioned in their service,very helpful and what i like the most, they do not rush customers; they make you feel as if they have all day just for you.

the lady who waited on me showed me the usual fiskgars and suggested kai scissors as well. she showed me the pro range,totally out of my budget, but goodness what scissors! i settled for the 9 inch mid range and the sales pitch was totally out of her control. she said that  they were japanese and that japanese steel was very good. as if i had to be cajoled into anything japanese!!

the scissors are heaven to work with. the handle is soft and  supple, the inclination is just right helping  to cut  without the need to pick up the fabric, yet another sewing no-no.

the blades are made of katana grade steel. i am convinced of that because of  japanese  reputation for excelling in craftsmanship, even in an industrial scenario. 

and they are nice to look at.

another small luxury: re-fashioning  defectuous shibori silk scarves for facings.

i'm cutting the pockets for a skirt from an ai dyed silk scarf which didn't make the grade.

more about the skirt tomorrow.

neki desu