8.25" Dressmaker Shears, Ernest Wright

The 8.25″ dressmaker shears are of high quality and easy to use. A versatile scissor, they are perfect for cutting through textiles and tough fabric (canvas, rope, carpet, rubber), making them fit for both professional and daily tasks. Lightweight and capable, the 3.75″ carbon steel blades will never let you down. Hot forged and hand made in Sheffield, by craftsmen with traditional techniques. A mirror finish makes these shears the most beautiful tool you’ve ever owned.

Like all Ernest Wright scissors and shears the 8.25″ dressmaker sidebent shears begin as two solid carbon steel bars. Through the traditional hot forging process, a bar is converted into a blank before the Ernest & Wright masterputtertogetherers get to work! The die for the 8.25″ is an old Sheffield pattern unearthed and revitalised. These unique scissors will never let you down.

Note: we also have a left-handed version.

Total length: 8.25″ / 21 cm
Blade length: 3.75″ / 9.5 cm

Material: Drop forged high quality carbon steel, for long-life precision edge retention
Finish: Hand polished

Care: After use, always wipe your carbon-steel scissors clean and dry, and store them away from any water, salt or humidity. It is preferable to store these wrapped (or encased) in dry cloth, dry leather, or a dry cardboard box, to protect them from airborne moisture. If you don't these scissors may be prone to discolouration or even rust.

About Ernest Wright: The history of Ernest Wright reflects everything Sheffield Steel has become famous for. Highly skilled craftsmen making supreme quality products. A lot has changed since the heydays of manufacturing, but we’re proud to be here and able to pass on the heritage of an ancient craft.

Why are some shears sidebent?

Sidebent shears, like the 8.25″ Sidebent Dressmaker, have shanks that project upwards and away from the blades. This means that the top bow and the bottom bow (the loops held by your thumb and fingers), are offset and respectively above and aligned with the blades. Hence, sidebent.

Tailors and dressmakers often need to make long cuts in fabric, while working on a tabletop. This gives us the reason to make scissors and shears with a sidebent design. If the craftsperson were using shears with straight shanks, then the bottom bow would catch against the edge of the table, making the shears much harder to use. With a sidebent design, the user can rest the shears flat against the tabletop, enabling smooth, efficient cutting. 

Sidebent scissors designs were patented by a Sheffield scissors-maker, Thomas Wilkinson, in 1800. The inventor’s firm, Thomas Wilkinson & Sons, received First Class Prize Medals at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the Paris Exhibition of 1855. Still to this day, busy tailors owe a debt of gratitude to Wilkinson’s clever sidebent design.