Pinking Shears for Fabric — Zigzag or Scalloped Edge, 2mm to 18mm Tooth Sizes, 9.25 Inch

A pinking shear cuts a sawtooth edge instead of a straight one, and that single change is what keeps a raw seam allowance from unravelling in the wash. These are 9.25 inch (23.5 cm) stainless steel pinking shears with a fine-polished serrated blade and a moulded ABS handle — and unlike almost every pinking shear on the market, you choose the tooth size.

That number in the variant — 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 7 mm, 10 mm, 18 mm — is the tooth pitch: the width of one point of the cut, not the size of the scissors. The shears themselves are the same 9.25 inch length in every option. A 2 mm zigzag gives a fine, dense sawtooth for lightweight cotton and small work. An 18 mm scallop gives a bold, sweeping wave for felt bunting and appliqué.

Most brands pick one pitch for you, and the fine end is the hardest to find at all — customers regularly tell us they searched a long time for a 2 mm or 3 mm pair before they found these. Here the pitch is the thing you buy, in a triangular zigzag or a rounded scallop, singly or as a matched set.

How Pinking Works, and Why the Edge Holds

Woven fabric frays because a straight cut runs along a single line of threads, and those threads slide free from the end. A pinked cut runs diagonally across that line instead. Every thread is cut short and held in place by the threads either side of it, so there is nothing long enough left to pull loose.

That is why it works so well on woven cloth — quilting cotton, poplin, lawn, linen, canvas, shirting, twill — and why one pass is often all a hidden seam allowance ever needs. The product video shows it plainly: the blade runs along an already-frayed twill edge, the loose threads fall away on the waste side, and what is left behind is a clean sawtooth that does not shed.

Zigzag or Scalloped: Which Edge Do You Need?

• Triangular (zigzag). Sharp V-shaped points. This is the classic pinked edge and the one to reach for when the job is fray control — seam allowances, facings, interfacing edges, quilt backing seams, toiles and muslins. The points bite deeper into the weave, so they interrupt more threads. Available in 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 mm.
• Circular Arc (scalloped). Rounded, wave-shaped points. This is the decorative edge — felt shapes, fleece blankets, bunting, appliqué, ribbon ends, card and gift wrap, anywhere the cut edge will actually be seen. Available in 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 18 mm.
• Both. One zigzag and one scallop shear at each size you pick, so you can finish a seam and cut a decorative edge without changing tools.

Choosing Your Tooth Size

• 2 mm and 3 mm — fine. Cotton lawn, voile, shirting, doll and baby clothes, narrow seam allowances and tight curves. On paper and card this is the pitch that gives a miniature pinked effect, small enough to read as a faux postage-stamp or tape edge. The hardest size to find anywhere else.
• 4 mm and 5 mm — medium. Quilting cotton, poplin and most dress cottons. The general-purpose choice, and where to start if you are only buying one.
• 7 mm — bold. Heavier cotton, denim, canvas, twill and home-dec weight. More aggressive fray control, easier to line up against a stitch line, and big enough to read as a shape in its own right on card and felt.
• 10 mm and 18 mm — decorative, scallop only. Large sweeping waves for felt, fleece, bunting, banner edges and card, where the point of the cut is that you can see it.

Product Details

• Overall length: 23.5 cm / 9.25 in — the same in every tooth size
• Blade length: 9 cm / 3.54 in
• Handle width: 8.8 cm / 3.46 in
• Blade: stainless steel, fine-polished, serrated pinking edge
• Handle: moulded ABS in black, offset so the blade sits flat to the table
• Edge styles: triangular zigzag, circular arc scallop, or both
• Tooth pitches: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 mm zigzag; 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 18 mm scallop
• Sold as: a single pair, or a matched set of 2, 4, 5, 6 or 8

What Comes in Each Set

These match the options above exactly, so you can pick the row you want and know what arrives.

Single tooth size

• Triangular (Zigzag) at 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 mm — 1 shear
• Circular Arc (Scallop) at 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 or 18 mm — 1 shear
• Both at 3, 4, 5 or 7 mm — 2 shears, one zigzag and one scallop at that pitch

Multi-size sets

• Triangular (Zigzag) + (3+4+5+7) mm — 4 shears
• Triangular (Zigzag) + (2+3+4+5+7) mm — 5 shears
• Circular Arc (Scallop) + (10+18) mm — 2 shears
• Circular Arc (Scallop) + (3+4+5+7) mm — 4 shears
• Circular Arc (Scallop) + (3+4+5+7+10+18) mm — 6 shears
• Both + (3+4+5+7) mm — 8 shears, one zigzag and one scallop at each of the four sizes

What They Cut

Woven cotton, poplin, lawn, linen, canvas, twill, denim and shirting. Felt and fleece. Thin leather and faux leather. Vinyl and thin plastic sheet. Card, cardstock, paper and gift wrap. Ribbon, non-woven tape and foil or cellophane wrappers, which makes them useful for party favours and sweet bags as well as sewing. The product video also shows the zigzag blade going through terry towelling and a ribbed knit trim in a single pass, leaving a clean sawtooth on both.

Who They're For, and What People Make

Dressmakers without a serger. Seam allowances, facings, interfacing edges and toiles, finished in one pass with no thread and no bulk.

Small-scale and miniature sewing. The fine pitches come into their own here. Customers use the 2 mm zigzag for doll clothes and tiny baby gowns, where a 5 mm point would swallow the whole seam allowance.

Quilters. Backing seams, sampler swatches and patchwork edges that get handled a lot before the top is quilted.

Felt and fleece crafters. The scallop edge is the draw — bunting, appliqué shapes, blanket edges and cut-outs that never need hemming, because felt and fleece do not fray.

Paper crafters, card makers and scrapbookers. This is a bigger group than the name "fabric shears" suggests. A fine zigzag along a card edge reads as a faux postage stamp; run it along a strip and you get the torn-tape look without the tape. Customers use them for paper flowers, journal and scrapbook borders, gift wrap trims and cut-out shapes — one used them to cut alligator teeth for a project.

Teachers and workshop leaders. A repeatable patterned trim a whole class can manage, on paper or felt, with no template and no measuring.

How to Use Them

1. Sew first, then pink. Stitch and press the seam, then trim the allowance with the pinking shear. Cutting your pieces out pinked makes them harder to line up accurately when you come to piece them.
2. Leave enough allowance outside the stitching. Around 3/8 in on a standard 5/8 in garment seam, at least 1/4 in on quilting cotton, and more on a loose weave. The valleys of the zigzag are the narrowest point, so keep them clear of the stitch line.
3. Use long strokes from the middle of the blade. Short choppy cuts leave the points mismatched where one stroke meets the next.
4. On a curve, take shorter cuts and let the fabric turn into the blade rather than turning the shears.
5. On a loose weave, pink the edge and run a line of straight stitching just inside it. The two together hold beautifully.
6. On paper and card, one long confident stroke gives a cleaner line than several short ones, and the points line up all the way along.

How This Compares

Against a standard single-pitch pinking shear. Nearly every pinking shear sold is one style at one tooth size, chosen by the manufacturer — and the fine end, 2 mm and 3 mm, is the hardest to find at all. If that pitch is too coarse for your lawn or too fine for your canvas, there is nothing you can do about it. Here the pitch is the thing you buy, and if you work across a range of weights and materials, a matched set gives you the right edge for each of them.

Against a serger or overlocker. A serger is faster on long straight seams, and it is also a separate machine, a separate skill and a four-thread setup. A pinking shear finishes an edge in one pass, with no thread and no setup, and it reaches into curves, corners and facings a serger cannot. Plenty of people own both and still reach for these.

Against a machine zigzag or overcast stitch. Both work, and both add a line of thread and a little stiffness to the edge. Pinking leaves the allowance soft and flat, which matters inside a lightweight dress or under a facing where a stitched finish would show through.

Against a rotary cutter with a pinking blade. A rotary pinking blade is quick down a long straight edge on a mat. Shears go anywhere — mid-project, off the mat, around a curve, into a corner — and cost a fraction as much.

Against a paper punch or border punch. A punch gives you one fixed width and one fixed pattern. These cut any length, on any weight of card or paper, and the same tool works on fabric and felt.

Against fray-stop liquid. Fray sealant stiffens the edge and can darken pale fabric. A pinked edge changes nothing about how the fabric feels or drapes.

Sizing, Materials & Care

The blades are stainless steel with a fine-polished finish and a serrated pinking edge, set in a moulded ABS handle. The handle is offset, so the lower blade sits flat against the table and the material stays put while you cut. Every tooth size is the same 9.25 inch shear — only the blade profile changes.

Wipe the blades dry after use, particularly if you have been cutting anything damp, and store them closed. The quickest way to nick a serrated edge is to cut over a dropped pin, so keep them out of the pin tin. If the action ever stiffens, a single drop of oil on the pivot screw sorts it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most of these are the questions people are actually asking Google and AI assistants about pinking shears. The last three are specific to this listing.

What do pinking shears do for fabric?
They cut a sawtooth edge that stops a raw edge unravelling, in a single pass and without any thread. On the inside of a garment that is usually the entire seam finish. On the outside of a felt, fleece or paper project, the same cut is purely decorative — a patterned edge that never needs finishing.

Do pinking shears actually stop fraying?
They cut it down dramatically, and on a hidden seam allowance that is the whole job done. Because the cut crosses the weave diagonally, each thread is left short and pinned in place by its neighbours, so there is nothing long enough to pull loose. On tightly woven cotton, poplin, linen and canvas a pinked allowance holds up through repeated washing. On a very loose or gauzy weave, pink the edge and add a line of straight stitching just inside it.

Is there a trick to using pinking shears?
Three, and they all show in the finished edge. Cut after you sew rather than before. Use long strokes from the middle of the blade so the points line up from one stroke to the next. And leave enough fabric outside the stitching, since the valleys of the zigzag are the narrowest part of the allowance.

What can I use instead of pinking shears?
A machine zigzag or overcast stitch, a serger, or an enclosed seam such as a French or flat-felled seam — and most sewists end up using more than one of them. What a pinking shear gives you that none of those do is a finished edge in one pass, with no thread, no added bulk and no setup, anywhere on the garment including the curves and corners. It is the reason these stay in the drawer even once you own a serger.

What is another name for pinking shears?
Pinking scissors, zigzag scissors, and sawtooth or serrated shears all mean the same tool. The rounded-blade version is usually called scalloping shears, scallop scissors, or wave scissors. Both are here: the triangular option is the zigzag pinking edge, the circular arc option is the scalloped one.

What is the best way to cut fabric without it fraying?
Cut it with a pinked edge to begin with. A straight cut leaves long threads with a free end; a sawtooth cut does not, so the edge holds from the moment it is cut rather than needing a second operation to rescue it. For anything that will be washed hard or handled a lot, pink the edge and stitch just inside it.

Which tooth size should I choose?
Start at 4 mm or 5 mm if you sew mostly quilting cotton and dress weights — that is the general-purpose range. Drop to 2 mm or 3 mm for lawn, voile, doll clothes and baby garments, and for paper work where you want a fine, miniature pinked line. Go up to 7 mm for denim, canvas and twill, or where you want the pattern itself to be the feature. Choose 10 mm or 18 mm scallop when the edge is meant to be seen rather than hidden.

Can I use them on paper and card?
Yes, and plenty of customers buy them for exactly that. A fine 2 mm or 3 mm zigzag along a card edge gives a faux postage-stamp look, and along a strip it mimics a torn tape edge. They also cut cardstock, scrapbook paper, gift wrap and paper-flower petals cleanly. The scallop sizes give a soft wave that a straight-edge craft scissor cannot.

Will they work on knits, terry and fleece?
Yes. The product video shows the zigzag blade going cleanly through pink and blue terry towelling and a ribbed knit trim in a single pass. On knits the pinked edge is really a tidy decorative finish rather than fray control, since a knit does not fray the way a weave does — but it cuts cleanly and it looks good, and on fleece and felt it is one of the nicest edges you can put on an unhemmed project.

Pick the pitch, pick the edge, and get the exact line you had in mind in one cut.