Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts: Scissor Saga

Part of the Sewing Studio Craftsy course (join the class at a discount by clicking the link to the right) involves cutting out fabric with a pattern and trimming seams. Instructor Diana recommends good quality dress maker shears for the job and Gingher are her favourite brand. As they are the Rolls-Royce of cutting tools and highly praised by most sewers, I knew they were the ones I wanted to purchase.

I went on an expedition to the nearest 'big city' to find my own pair of 'lefty' shears as ordering on-line was not proving cost-effective (and I couldn't find the left-handed 'regular' shears I wanted). Poor, sweet hubby drove me to four or five locations I found on the net that supposedly carried Gingher, but I couldn't find them in a brick and mortar location either!

Feeling rather let-down I agonized over my decision...and in the end bought a pair of lovely Singer shears - they felt good in my hand and cut very well. I only had an old pair of Henkel's from back in the early 90s (plastic handles, not forged) to compare them to but the $40 price I negotiated seemed pretty good compared to what I'd seen for pricing of the Ginghers. The Singers weren't my dream scissors but I figured I wouldn't find the Ginghers anyway so I bought them.

Fast-forward to our trip to the States. Our first shopping stop was at a Joann's in Kentucky. Daughter and I browsed around and lo-and-behold, there were a pair of Gingher Left-handed Dress Maker Shears, in the LIMITED EDITION SOUVENIR STORAGE TIN!!!!! These were indeed my dream scissors! And the price???? $36.99!!! Cheaper than the Singers I'd already bought! And in my hand? A 40% off coupon!!!!! Awww, the dilema. What to do, what to do. I really didn't NEED another pair of scissors and the Singers were perfectly adequate for what I required them to do. I wasn't even planning on doing too much more garment sewing and a rotary cutter is used for quilting. However...the Ginghers would last me FOREVER and that storage tin would be perfect for adding a label to warn anyone NOT to use these scissors for cutting anything other than fabric! And 40% off would be an AWESOME price!

But...in the end, I decided to buy something else and be responsible. I shouldn't spend money on more scissors and waste the ones I had already purchased. Instead, I used the coupon and bought a new storage container for my thread spools (more on that later).

Off we went...to start our vacation. But...I never got those scissors out of my mind the whole trip! They hovered there in the back of my consciousness...should I have bought them? Maybe I should have...they were really nice. I could sell the Singers...or use them for batting...I tortured myself (and poor, sweet hubby) waffling back and forth. Maybe we could try another Joann's. But I'd already used my one and only coupon. :(

I dragged the family to 2 more Joann's we passed and they didn't have the scissors in the tin. One had a lefty pair but I wanted that tin! After we reached our destination I searched in the GPS for another Joann's and found one about 1/2 hour away. Hubby said we could try there after the vacation to see if they had them. So, I tried to forget about the scissors for the week...but secretly couldn't wait to go shopping again! I even used a fairy-dust wish that the Joann's would have the tin of perfect dream scissors! I didn't have another Joann's coupon but I heard they accept Micheal's coupons and I had received an email on my i-pod with one valid on the day we checked out! I printed it off using the hotel business office...all the stars were aligning for me once again! Would have been so much simpler if I'd gone with my instincts and bought the dream scissors in the first place!!!

Fast-forward again to our crazy check-out, car stuffed to the roof with suitcases, packages, dirty laundry, and water bottles. A van full of tired, blistered, tense family members anxious to get on the road and get home. Being the martyr mother I declined the visit to the in-the-wrong-direction fabric store and we were off on our way north. But being the creative (and 100% obsessed) thinker I am...how about I return to the ORIGINAL Joann's in Kentucky, use a different Michael's coupon from my Michael's receipt (actually valid on the actual day we would pass through Kentucky) and get that original tin?? Would it still be there? Would the store be open on a Sunday? Would they really accept a Michael's coupon? (I would have paid full-price at this point!)

We drove the first day with perfect weather and despite a few slow-downs on the highway, no disasters! Everything was looking good! I googled the store hours at the next hotel: open Sunday til 6:00 pm, check! I googled whether Joann's accpets Michaels coupons: most do, check! We got away in good time to arrive around 5:20 pm. No problem!

Well...I'm sure you can guess where this is going. Problems. LOTS of traffic slow-downs (for no apparent reason, by the way. No accidents, no construction. Just slow trucks and a domino effect through the mountains of Tennesse.) Despite the congestion we were on track to beat store closing. Until...we hit the WORST thunder storm I've ever been in! We were close to Cincinati when the skies turned grey-green and the wind turned violent. The rain came down harder than a hurricane until it became impossible to see the road. We managed to pull over to the side with everyone else, 4-ways flashing and hands in the prayer position. The car rocked in the wind and the ditch quickly filled with a torrent of water. My knees and hands were shaking and we plugged our ears as each clap of thunder got closer until it was directly overhead. I was pretty convinced we were in the eye of the tornado (I knew this part of the country could get tornados) and it was really scary! Eventually, after debating our options, we pulled out and inched our way along, hoping to drive out of the storm. Unfortunately, I think we drove with it! It came in waves, getting worse in parts, until finally we could see a bit of easing. The GPS painfully showed our slow progress....only kilometers from our goal but moving only feet a minute the time didn't decrease very fast.

So here's the end of the story. We got to Joann's, shaken and stirred, with about 15 minutes to spare. The thunder and lightening had caught up with us and arrived at Joann's as well but I dashed through the doors and bee-lined to the notions section. There, hanging in all their glory, were my wonderful lefty scissors...complete with tin. No other left-handed scissor obsessed shoppers had stolen my prize over the previous 7 days. I grabbed the tin, handed over my coupon (yes, the took it!) and excitedly told the teenage boy cashier my scissor saga. He stared at me...and said, "wow, that's quite a story!"...I triumphantly exited the store, "Rocky-style" (as now the entire family was rooting for my quest to end successfully) and hopped in the car, satisfied and calm, as the next bolt of lightening zig-zagged through the sky.