I recently treated myself to a new pair of pinking shears. I have had a hand-me-down pair for many years. When I tried to use the old pair, they were hard to open and close. They tended to mangle the raw edges that I was trying to finish. I always ended up discouraged and finally decided that pinking was an inconvenient way to finish seams. I am amazed at how well my new shears work. I can even use them to finish narrow doll clothes seams. Here are a few tips for pinking doll clothes seams:

• Pink the seam close to the raw edge. The measurement from the peak of the pinked edge to the stitch should be almost ¼ inch.

• Small curves are difficult to cut with pinking shears.
• These seams may be pressed open unless they are inside an elastic casing.
• The Pinked edges may be pressed in the same direction so that the machine stitching is visible inside the garment. The edges must be pressed in one direction if they will be inside an elastic casing.

sherralyn New Things, sewing tips sewing tools