William Whiteley and Sons was founded in 1760 and have been designing and manufacturing amazing handcrafted industrial scissors in Sheffield, England, as a family-run firm since then. Many of its craftsmen’s skills have been handed down through generations and their shears and scissors are amazing. I use Whiteley and Co tools in the shop, home and studio and they are incredible pieces that will last a lifetime.

These right handed classic sideband shears* are a brilliant length and weight for cutting all manner of fabrics. These are known as ‘sidebent’ as the handles are not evenly placed over the blades but are angled so that the hand is raised and the lower blade lies flat along the table, this allows for accurate cutting and no shifting or raising of the fabric while cutting.

We often get asked ‘which size scissors/shears would suit me?’, when in the shop we encourage people to try different sizes. Basically it comes down to what feels comfortable in the hand, but the strength in the forearm also plays a part. Over the years the length of my shears has increased as the strength in my hand and arm has developed. In the studio I use anywhere between 10” and up to 13”, depending on the fabrics I am cutting. 8” is the classic starter’s size but if you have a larger hand etc then 10” my be a good size. It really is like the old ‘how long is a piece of string?’ saying…. To be honest a really good pair of scissors/shears is my tool weakness! I have many and I love them all.

A really good pair of traditional full metal scissors is an investment. These scissors can be resharpened for many many years and are often the item handed down to the next generation. Always remember to have them professionally by someone who knows how to sharpen scissor blades! Also I don’t believe in the whole don’t-use-my-dressmaking-scissors-to-cut-paper bollocks, I think this was just to stop other people from using one’s favourite scissors. Paper doesn’t blunt scissors anymore that fabric will. What I will say though is it is totally fine to be precious about this tool as it really is an extension of your hand and arm when in use.

*Just out of interest…. scissors have even sized handles and are less than 6” in length, shears have different sized handles for the thumb and fingers and are over 6” in length.

Specifications:

Hot forged carbon steel with an anti-corrosion chrome finish on the blades (do remember to always keep your shears dry however and clean and oil the bolt regularly). Hand painted handles.

Product length: (8”) 21.5cm/8.5” (10”) 27.5cm/10.8”

Length of cut: (8”) 9cm/3.5” (10”) 13cm/5.1”

Weight:(8'“) 193gm/6.8oz (10”) 420gm/14.5oz

And a bit of superstitious tradition: If you are giving a pair of scissors as a present the receiver should always give you a coin in return (doesn’t matter how much, 5¢ is fine), the exchange is meant to ward off the severing of the relationship by the gift of blades…. fascinating huh??!