88512 Lighted Seam Ripper, Silver

I found the lighted magnified seam ripper quite effective, as I am currently having some problems with my sewing machine's automatic buttonhole maker, and have ripped out about 20 buttonholes! If there was anything harder than that, I don't know what it would be! The seam ripper was a bit awkward to handle, but actually, it did a superb job in lighting and magnifying the area, and allowed me to get all the little bits of thread out of the flannellete. I would recommend this product. I gave it 4 out of five, as it was a little bit awkward to handle, but otherwise did a great job!It is now a couple of months later, and I realize that my hand surgery result was the reason I found the seam ripper awkward at first. Now, I have gotten quite comfortable with it - it is super great, and I would rate this amazing tool a 5 out of 5!

I absolutely LOVE this seam ripper! I quilt therefore I rip seams. Any one who quilts knows that into every quilt block sewn a rebellious seam must come out. At least for me, anyway.I love that the magnifying glass enlarges the stitching and that the light allows me to see better. It’s a little larger than a regular seam ripper. This makes it easier to hold on to the seam ripper. I bought this for myself. I would be happy to have received this as a small gift. Either as part of the whole gift package or as a hostess gift or a “I saw this and thought of you” gift.

Anyone who has done "stretch and sew" sewing knows how difficult it is to remove the stitching. I recommend this seam ripper for delicate, stretchy, or woven fabrics. It helps you see tiny stitches so you don't accidentally rip the fabric. It's hard to believe such a tiny magnifier could help, but it does. The seam ripper rotates if needed. I couldn't figure out by the picture how in the world I could hold it and use it as a seam ripper, but it fits naturally and comfortably in my hand. I was afraid the hinge would break, but it is very sturdy. I store it in a zip lock bag because the other posters mentioned that the lens will get scratched when stored. I wear eyeglasses with a very strong Rx with bifocals. If you have trouble seeing, this is very helpful.

I love the magnifying glass with the light. Really helps me see the stitching so I can cut the exact thread I want. However, the seam ripper part is a little loose from the magnifier so it moves, making it challenging to see and rip because the magnifier moves all over the place. I guess I can figure out where I want it held (seam ripper in relation to the magnifier) and just tape it so it doesn't move. Other than that, it is great with the placement of the light and magnifier.

I thought this would make seam ripping easier and faster. Turns out it makes it harder. I have decent, but not perfect eyes. The problem with this is that I often have to switch from looking through the magnifying glass to looking at something else, like when I need to move my fabric so I can seam rip a new spot, or to grab the small threads and then look at the trash can to drop them in. This switching my eyes from looking through the teeny magnifying glass to outside of it is actually quite unpleasant for me and I find it to be a lot of work. After a bit of it I just give up and want to use a normal seam ripper. I hypothesize that having a larger magnifying glass on a stand would work much better. Just the changing of focal distance so much is unpleasant and makes it not worth it.

12/15/14 Update: As you might guess, I haven't made regular use of this tool (except when I sew and then I should tie it around my wrist) but, after these few years I thought I would add it still works just as well. I have not scratched the magnifier although I never got around to making a pouch for it. I'm still very glad I purchased it.Original Review: I am not a great seamstress so after I spent most of a day ripping out seams with my regular seam ripper I decided if I was going to keep trying to sew I needed better tools than what I had. (That's right, I blame the tools not user error!) I kept looking at the picture of this and could not for the life of me figure out how this would work but what the heck couldn't be worse than what I had.I was surprised at how comfortable it is to use. It is the seam ripper part that twists not the magnifying glass or the base of the handle. The magnifying glass is perfect as is the light. It would have made that day of ripping out seams so much less frustrating.Two notes.Someone else mentioned in a review that they made a pouch for it to protect the magnifying glass from scratches. This is very necessary. Really, it should come with one but it doesn't.Also, when I was playing with it seeing how it worked, I turned on the light, played with it and put it away. Uh, you need to turn the light off when you aren't using it. If you don't, the batteries die. Funny how that works.Anyway, the batteries are relatively cheap and rather standard. I actually had a bunch on hand for some other things that take the same batteries. More on batteries because someone asked:Search for "lr44 batteries" here on amazon. Last time I bought them I paid $10 for 50. They are probably the most popular button batteries sold so you should find then at drug stores, walmart, target, anywhere but amazon is cheapest.The battery number is on the flat side of the battery but you need light and a magnifying glass to read it. Some brands also use different numbers which are usually printed on the packages or Google will find a conversion chart.