Do you rip or slice your seam apart? See the benefits of these 2 seam rippers

Welcome to my last QUILTsocial post for the week. Yesterday you learned how easy it is to make a 3D quilt block with the SEW EASY Half Diamond Ruler – 4½” x 14¼”.

Today, the focus is on seam rippers. The essential quilting tool that we all love to hate!

I’ve got several seam rippers lying around, having tried a few different ones over the years. In fact, I’ve actually worn one out; not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but it’s a fact!

Some seam rippers are like X-ACTO_® knives: dangerous both to the user and to the project. I still have one of these, but stopped using it for quilting. Other ones like the standard seam rippers always seem to be rolling off the table. But, retrieving them from the floor makes for a good workout, I suppose.

But today, let me show you what I’ve found! A seam ripper designed to roll less and stay on the work table! It’s the HEIRLOOM Small Seam Ripper.

Though the package description says it’s small, it’s actually an average-sized seam ripper. It measures 5⅛” in length with a nice, comfortably sized grip.

The big plus? This seam ripper’s more likely to stay put on your work surface than most others. It’s been designed with six flat edges rather than being round, so there’s less chance of it rolling off of your work table.

Another feature that I love about this seam ripper is that I can use the blunt end to help remove small bits of threads from a seam that has been removed. The blunt end works like an eraser on a pencil. Just rub it over the tiny pieces of thread and they come out of the fabric easily. It’s so much quicker than trying to pick them out by hand.

Another must-have for your tool box, especially if you do foundation piecing, is the HEIRLOOM Kai Seam Ripper.

No one likes using a seam ripper, especially when working with foundation piecing. Typically, many of us use a smaller stitch length when sewing foundation pieces. I find it frustrating and difficult to use a regular seam ripper when I need to take apart a seam that’s been sewn with such a small stitch. The HEIRLOOM Kai seam ripper really comes in handy for this type of work.

The head of the seam ripper has a 1¼” long blade surrounded by a piece of serrated metal which protects you from injury and your project from a heartbreaking mishap like cutting one of your fabrics.

To use, simply move it back and forth over the stitches you wish to remove as though cutting a slice of bread.

It’s super-easy to use!!

TIP: Before using any seam ripper on a foundation piecing project I suggest that you place a piece of clear tape over the sewing line on the paper side. This will keep the paper in one piece allowing you to reuse it.

As you can see, both of these seam rippers have great features that make them awesome additions to your quilting tool box. Whether you like to “rip” or “slice” your seams, HEIRLOOM has a seam ripper for you!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s posts and that you’ll join us again next week on QUILTsocial when another talented quilter will be sharing more fun quilting projects.