If you’re like me, you’re forever losing your scissors or forgetting to bring them when you sit down at the machine. So I came up with an easy solution: I strung a pair of small thread scissors onto a chain so can wear my scissors as a necklace!
This is a stupid-easy project, but it’s such a useful tool, you won’t want to be without it. Let a necklace and your scissors join forces to become THE SCISSORLACE!
Check out the video or follow along with the text/photo instructions below.
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Click here to watch the video on Youtube.
For a ridiculously easy version, you can get a ball chain, which requires no extra tools because the closure is built in.
You just thread one end of the chain through one of the finger holes and VIOLA!
A handy dandy pair of scissors you can wear around you neck. A spiffy iridescent unicorn shape is a major bonus.
If you’re willing to make your chain from scratch, here’s how to do it!
- Get yourself about 25″ of your chain of choice.
Chain comes in all kinds of cool colors and styles, so don’t be afraid to get wacky.
And if you’re wondering why I chose 25″ for the length, there’s a very good reason for that. It is both large enough to go around my big fat head and long enough that I can just lift the scissors and trim whatever I’m working on.
If you make the chain too short, you’ll have to lean in and give whatever you’re cutting a kiss, and that’s just annoying.
2. Prepare the findings! That’s what we call the little bits and bobs that go into making jewelry. You’ll need two jump rings and a clasp. Clasps also come in several styles. I’m using a lobster clasp.
So here’s a little tip if you’re new to jewelry making. If you’re like me, you’d take a look at this jump ring and figure the easiest way to get it open would be to pull it apart. Like so.
The problem with pulling it apart is that it becomes very awkward to get the loop closed again. You will often end up with a persistent gap between the two ends that doesn’t seem very big, but can open more as you wear the necklace and eventually become wide enough to let the chain slip out.
There’s got to be a better way! And there is!
Instead of PULLING the loop open, TWIST it open. You’re basically pulling toward yourself with one set of pliers and pushing away from yourself with the other.
See how that works?
And since we’re not pulling those ends apart, when it’s time to close the jump ring again, you just twist back the other way, and the two ends of the loop should still be in pretty much the same position, snugged right up to one another.
I used to have huge problems with my jump rings falling off over time because I was pulling the ends apart and never getting them all the way back together. That hasn’t been a problem for me since I started twisting the ends open instead.
3. Now that the ring is open, attach it to one end of your chain.
4. Close the jump ring by twisting it back into its original position.
5. Repeat that step with the other end of the chain, but before you close the jump ring, pop the clasp on there as well.
6. Close the jump ring, insert the chain through one of the scissor fingerholes, fasten the clasp and HOT DIGGITY DOG! Our necklace is complete!
If you’ve got a sewing or quilter or needlework enthusiast in your life, I think a fancy pair of thread scissors strung on a nice chain would make a loverly gift!
Bonus tip: a Youtube commenter suggested drilling a hole in the end of a seam ripper and doing the same thing. Genius!
