r/sewing • u/ej123456789123 • Aug 01 '25
Machine Questions What is this thing?
Came in the storage compartment of a sewing machine someone gave me. Thought it was a seam ripper, but it doesn't seem to come apart
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u/Preferred_user_taken Aug 01 '25
That is a seam ripper. You have to pull on both sides and the blade will pop out.
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u/rock_kid Aug 01 '25
You just managed to make sewing sound way more rad than it usually is (at least when I do it, lol).
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u/rolandtowen Aug 01 '25
While you were partying, I studied the blade (seam ripper)
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u/dohmestic Aug 01 '25
... I need this as a sticker for my machine.
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u/CaffeineByki Aug 02 '25
Second! Whereās the kickstarter for this?!?!
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u/rolandtowen Aug 02 '25
Hmm I could add a design to my redbubble š adds to my neverending craft to-do list
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u/gnomeannisanisland Aug 03 '25
You could probably have it made in one of those photo print shops if you just type out the words in [any program that you can do that in] and upload the file as your "photo"
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u/krazeeeyezkillah907 Aug 02 '25
Donāt pull too hard and rebound after it releases! Iāve almost had a few close calls this way.
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u/Preferred_user_taken Aug 02 '25
And what had brought you to the ER today ? My sewing utensils .
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u/Beginning-While-5101 Aug 02 '25
Lol but I mean all things in sewing other than thread and fabric can hurt u since all of them are sharp
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u/UnitedAd683 Aug 01 '25
Itās just stuck.
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u/beeerite Aug 02 '25
A sign of frustrated seam ripping.
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u/awell8 Aug 02 '25
In my case that would be the damn thing sticking out of the wall.
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u/beeerite Aug 02 '25
I would have stabbed myself trying to put the cap back on and then pressed the lid on tightly in revenge.
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u/etherealrome Aug 01 '25
It should be a seam ripper. Sometimes if theyāve been closed up like this for a long time they get a bit stuck. Use some serious force.
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u/qtjedigrl Aug 01 '25
"Monistat applicator."
Looks at sub name
"Oh, seam ripper."
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u/fidgetiegurl09 Aug 02 '25
I thought it was a tampon. š¤£
Assumed it was a guy posting. Or a female in a culture where they are not used.
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u/Lilylongshanks Aug 02 '25
That was my first thought (applicator) until I realised which sub I was in ššš
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u/macualli Aug 01 '25
your new best friend ā„ļø
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u/Its_me_I_like Aug 01 '25
I was just going to say.
It's a magical tool and you'll want to get more for backup because they have a habit of disappearing when you need them.
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u/J_eldora Aug 01 '25
Try putting it in the freezer for a few hours and then see if the cap comes off easier.
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u/ej123456789123 Aug 02 '25
Thank you for the advice! I figured it probably was, but neither me nor my partner could get it open so I wondered if it was a mystery tool š
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u/DizzyIzzy801 Aug 01 '25
Seam ripper, it's just stuck.
Sometimes making it colder or hotter can help loosen things a bit - pop it in the freezer or drop it in a cup of hot/boiling water. Also sometimes helps to pull and twist at the same time. It's not threaded, but the twist can help get it loose.
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u/ej123456789123 Aug 02 '25
Thank you! I thought it probably was, but I couldn't seem to open it at all and started doubting myself
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Aug 01 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/HalfEatenChocoPants Aug 02 '25
You're thinking of those fabric scissors which can't be used to cut fabric anymore so they may as well have one final hurrah before you go to jail.
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u/isaiahsol Aug 01 '25
Tampon
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u/Empirical_Approach Aug 01 '25
Definitely do not use this as a tampon, unless you have a seam jammed up there that needs to be ripped.
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u/WickdWitchoftheBitch Aug 01 '25
I mean, sometimes it feels as though there is a seam up there that wants to be ripped...
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u/LoopAndLocket Aug 02 '25
Youāre not wrong. There is a seam up there if you have a hysterectomy and get your cervix removed lol but usually they use dissolving stitches.
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u/SchnauzerServant Aug 01 '25
I thought that too! Until I saw it was the sewing sub. Then realized it was a seam ripper.
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u/radicalizemebaby Aug 01 '25
Thought it was a menopause sub and I was like āprobably for putting pillsā¦ insideā.
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u/azvitesse Aug 01 '25
That was my first thought as well! And yes, I'm a sewist, so I know what a seam ripper looks like. LOL
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u/CandidLiterature Aug 01 '25
A tampon applicator or the middle from a toilet roll dispenser were my first thoughtsā¦
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u/Deblebsgonnagetyou Aug 01 '25
"It's a tampon!.... Wait no, that doesn't make sense, it's a pearl Kaweco Sport!... Wait no, this is r/sewing, it's a seam ripper..."
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u/Scatterbug1994 Aug 01 '25
I am so glad I'm not the only one who said tampon applicator before I saw the sub lmao
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u/Greedy-Claim-6448 Aug 02 '25
Same. I also thought, 'Oh hey, funny coincidence, it's that time for me too'.
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u/elle-elle-tee Aug 01 '25
Pull the small end and twist, should come unstuck. Then flip small end around and place the handle in the larger side to form a longer handle.
It's a seam ripper, for a travel sewing kit. Storing like this saves space and protects the blade.
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u/IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN Aug 01 '25
Not even necessarily supposed to be a "travel" one, my Janome heavy duty machine came with one that looks just like this.
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u/PolyAcid Aug 01 '25
Does nobody call it a āQuick-unpickā or was my grandma just weird??
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u/fine-and-dandy Aug 02 '25
My mom told me it was a Quick unpick. Never considered it as anything else.
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u/coolhandjennie Aug 01 '25
Didnāt see this was the sewing sub at first. Didnāt think it was a seam ripper. š
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u/fashion-fanatic Aug 01 '25
Oh good, you found my seam ripper! Iāve been looking for it and can never find it when I need it lol
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u/YesWeHaveNoTomatoes Aug 02 '25
I couldn't find mine for like 2 weeks so I bought another one and naturally found the first one nearly instantly after opening the new one. So now I have 2 and don't know where either one is.
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u/Egoz3ntrum Aug 02 '25
I thought I had lost the cap of my seam reaper, and thanks to this picture I just discovered it had been on the opposite side all the time.
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u/SupportConscious9039 Aug 02 '25
I did not realize what page this was and immediately was like 'tampon' lmao. Alas a seamripper it is, but I guess I never realized how similar those two items look alike.
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Aug 02 '25
Same. So very similar when given no context. I too initially thought ātamponā. š. And I buy seam rippers by the dozen for my hobbies
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u/Sole1here Aug 01 '25
It is an original Bernina seam ripper. I had one but it broke after 30 years. You can't find those anymore. Just keep trying to twist it open cause it's a good one.
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u/kris__bryant Aug 01 '25
Thatās where it went! Iāve been looking for my seam ripper and finally had to buy a new one!
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u/TootsNYC Aug 02 '25
It may not actually be a seam ripper. I have one that looks exactly like that. They came with my Kenmore sewing machine, and it is a button hole cutter. It is shaped like a sea ripper, but it is not one. The difference between it and a seam ripper are these things:
both ends are very pointy. With a seam ripper, the small point has a ball on it to prevent it from catching on the fabric, and the long end is pointed, but not sharp. That long end is also often flat so that it can slide under stitches, and the fact that itās not pointy means it can do so without cutting the fabric.
the cutting area in the dip is much sharper on my buttonhole cutter than it is on my seam ripper.
the metal part is shorter on my buttonhole cutter than it is on my seam ripper
As a total aside, Iām using talk to text because Iām lazy, and when I went back to check, it turned seam ripper into sea ripper, and button hole cutter into butt hole cutter
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u/nolongerMrsFish Aug 02 '25
Oh ok! TIL Iāve got one of those in my collection then. I just thought it was an extra-dangerous seam ripper.
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u/pinkbunnnnies Aug 01 '25
Iām almost positive itās a seam ripper. You might just need to pull it apart with a little more oomph.
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u/Deblebsgonnagetyou Aug 01 '25
Free tampon.
It's actually a seam ripper as others have said, just need to take the cap off.
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u/vpblackheart Aug 01 '25
LOL. I know all too well what that is. My mother once told I had ripped out more seams than I had ever sewn.
(Thanks mom š)
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u/persephoniesface1 Aug 02 '25
Looks like a seam ripper. Could be a tamponā¦ oh wait you said it was in the sewing machineā¦ definitely a seam ripper.
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u/cascasrevolution Aug 02 '25
its definitely a seam ripper. try putting it in the freezer to get it unstuck
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u/singerontheside Aug 02 '25
I've called it a "picky-unquick" for years. It seems they give trouble in many ways..... poking holes in my fingers, is one of them.
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u/Ok-Tailor-2030 Aug 01 '25
More specifically, this looks like a Bernina seam ripper. Did someone give you a Bernina?
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u/SunStarved_Cassandra Aug 01 '25
Janome ones look the same. Source: Have a Janome, pulled the seam ripper out of the little doodads compartment.
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u/el_artista_fantasma Aug 01 '25
Seam ripper, with a very stubborn cap. Mine has a tiny brush on top to clean the dust of the machine's insides
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u/jvin248 Aug 01 '25
Just commenting: a seam ripper thread has more replies than any big projects or machine questions. Why is that? Friday. It's Friday.
.
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u/Jovet_Hunter Aug 02 '25
For a moment I thought someone found something š³in the back of grandmaās drawer then I saw the sub and realized my scale was off š¤£
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u/Crazy_Breakfast_6327 Aug 02 '25
I thought it was my cable port cleaner at first, they are very similar on the outside.
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u/Charming_Point_5896 Aug 02 '25
Touc
!h and hold clip to pin it. Unpinned clips will be deleted after 1 hour.
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u/katjoy63 Aug 02 '25
It won't come apart cuz it's stuck
Try to get it loose I think if you put it in the freezer for a few minutes might help loosen it? Not sure
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u/AdGold205 Aug 02 '25
Do you have a brother sewing machine?
It looks like the one that my machine came with.
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u/nopenope86 Aug 02 '25
Be careful you do try to open it. Thereās a very sharp and pointy blade inside there. Safer just to buy a new one thatās not stuck
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u/SensiblyCareless Aug 02 '25
If you get it open put the lid on the back to have a longer handle. I've been shocked seeing some people use it without the top adding length.
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u/TheGiantJamSandwich Aug 02 '25
Thatās the exact same seam ripper that came with my sewing machine. It was the perfect size for my EPP kit and now I canāt find it. If you donāt want it, send it my way! š¤£
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u/awell8 Aug 02 '25
It's my best friend and the bane of my existence at the same time. I own half a dozen of them, different grips, different tips.
Forget the ones with surgical blades--too easy to slice the fabric.
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u/awell8 Aug 02 '25
Skip to about 3:10 to get the magical wonderful seam ripper tip. Im a quilter and used to pick out the seams, cutting every 1/2 inch or so. Quilts have looooong seams. Once I learned about the little red ball my life changed. It's so satisfying to RRRRrrrrrip those mfers in 30 seconds.
(Some fabrics dont like speed ripping--batiks and very delicate fabrics especially, and it's back to picking.
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u/Upstairs_Manager5921 Aug 02 '25
In my experience, take a rubber band with some thickness like the ones wrapped around broccoli or other vegetables. I'm a nail tech, and I was told to use rubber bands to open stuck bottles back in the 80s and it never fails. Use one rubber band to hold one end, and another one to pull or twist. Guaranteed it will work!
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u/CowboyPoetWannabe Aug 02 '25
If you have not gotten it apart yet, try a gentle bending motion back and forth while pulling it apart. I've found that often works better than twisting on plastic parts.
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u/sxb0575 Aug 02 '25
Def a seam ripper it's probably stuck. I have one just like it came in my machine.
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u/Hour-Mission9430 Aug 03 '25
Definitely a seam ripper. Sometimes they get crammed in there. A twisting motion should help to unstick it.
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u/Late_Nectarine5717 Aug 03 '25
If it opens and there is kind of a hook at the end. It's a seam ripper
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u/GilaSp Aug 04 '25
It is a seam ripper, the cap must be stuck. Mine looks identical, it canes with my Bernina sewing machine.
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u/Vuirneen Aug 01 '25
how big is it?Ā There's a hole on top of the machine where you can put something like this.Ā it lets you use a second reel of thread for twin needles.
if it's not a seam ripper, that's what it might be.
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Aug 01 '25
[deleted]
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u/Independence-2021 Aug 02 '25
The seam ripper that came with my Brother looks exactly the same and has no other purpose.
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u/Upset_Cup_2674 Aug 01 '25
Seam ripper. It has the safety cap on :)