Good embroidery and applique scissors can make all the difference in the outcome of your product. Getting a good, clean cut makes for a professional looking product. I have owned many scissors over the years, and there are two I always recommend. As always, my recommendations and suggestions are solely based on my experience, and I know there are other great options out there!

Heat N Bond Lite is also going to give you an amazing cut as it acts like a binder on your fabrics so the grains of the fabric don't stick out when you cut. I have a tutorial on using Heat N Bond Lite, as well.

Back to scissors!

For appliques, I prefer the Gingher 6" double curved. Then, for the little unavoidable jump threads, little snips are a great item. Sometimes some standard tweezers as well. 

Snips!

Gingher double curved

But while we're talking about scissors, I also get asked often about how close to cut fabric when doing a blanket stitch applique. I told someone that I feel as though it's a bit like a haircut, you can always cut more off but you can't put fabric back on (that is, of course, until you adhere the HNBL fabric to the garment!) There's also no hard and fast rule I follow in terms of making sure I leave a certain measurement. Hopefully the pictures below help!

You can see where I'm pointing that that curve is a bit too long for my liking. But I follow the "haircut" mentality, and simply went back and trimmed the area a bit closer to the tackdown stitch which is why I say err on the side of trimming not too close because you can always trim more...but you can't put fabric back on if you get too close to the tackdown stitch and it pulls away!

The Heat N Bond Lite and Gingher Double Curved scissors make for a great trimming and NO loose threads so it looks clean and nice!