Welcome to Tooled Up, an ongoing series where we review needlecraft products that we think you’ll love. The world of embroidery is huge and there are loads of neat ideas out there. We’ll do what we can to find great gizmos and share them with you with honest reviews and the occasional affiliate link.*
Let’s talk about stitching on planes. There’s often confusion about what you can and can’t take into planes, particularly when flying internationally, and a lot of this focuses on whether you can take scissors onto planes.
Let’s just clear a couple of things up.
- Embroidery needles are fine.
- Scissors with blade lengths under 4cm are usually fine, but all it takes is one over-zealous airport security person and that rule goes out of the window. As an aside, it seems that arguing with airport security never helps.
So you can stitch on a plane, but often you’ll want to cut threads, and this is where Threadcutterz comes into its own. If you’re at all uncertain about whether you’ll get scissors on board, using a thread cutter negates the whole issue, and the Threadcutterz ring is a great choice.
With two tiny blades, recessed under the top of the ring, Threadcutterz gives you a simple solution for cutting your threads, but with the advantage of being on hand at all times. Because, let’s face it, that’s the niggle with other thread cutters – they often disappear down the sides of chairs, onto floors or into other dimensions and you can spend ages trying to find the things. Threadcutterz has a velcro adjustable ring strap, which means you can put it on any finger or any tubular surface, and this means that it stays put and is within easy reach.
Busting out the @threadcutterz ring at the X Stitch Hangout this evening! Nifty! #mrxstitch A photo posted by Jamie Chalmers (@mrxstitch) on
I’ve been using my Threadcutterz ring at workshops for quite a while now, and it’s just so convenient. I can spend ages searching for scissors and other tools, so Threadcutterz sorts me right out. It’s safe, it’s easy to use and it’s an ideal gift for people who struggle with scissors.
Get hold of the Threadcutterz ring from their website – tell ’em Mr X Stitch sent you!