From the Love of Scissors

Once upon a time there was a small little girl around the age of four whose name was Riley. Riley was always trying to break the rules and get into everything she shouldn’t. It was around Christmas time and all Riley wanted was a pair of scissors. Naturally being four, Riley was not allowed to have scissors but this one Christmas her Aunty came up to her and handed her this strange looking box.

Riley ripped off the wrapping paper to find her very first pair of scissors. Being a good Aunty they were just kid scissors which couldn’t cut anything more than paper; Riley was oblivious to this as she was too excited to have the scissors and find out what she could cut with them.

Riley was obsessed with her new scissors and kept them close with her wherever she went.

As Riley grew older she discovered that she would need to find her place in this big world. Her older sister was her best friend and they did everything together. So much that Riley would follow her older sister around copying her in her adventures.

The older sister just wanted to be a mermaid, so she decided to become a swimmer. As always Riley just followed hoping that she would too also find her happiness in this world of swimming and become a mermaid.

A few years past and the Riley found that she was quite good at swimming, but it just didn’t feel right. It wasn’t where her happiness was, it didn’t make her feel the same way as holding her first pair of scissors did!

Riley was slowly growing older, and with all changes came new friendships too. She met a friend through swimming and they had a play date at the friends house. Riley stumbled across a room full of these unusual looking machines with a sharp object that moved up and down threading what looked like string through some fabric. Riley still half mesmerised by the machines, asked her friend “What are those things?” to which the friend replied “They are my mums sewing machines, she uses them to create our dance costumes. She usually leaves me the scrap fabric so I can make costumes for my dolls. Did you want to play with some of the fabric scraps?”

Riley’s mind was exploding. This new found world of sewing was very intriguing so much that that day she also discovered that in order to cut the scraps she would need fabric scissors.

The two friends grabbed the big bags of scraps and some fabric scissors which Riley insisted on holding, and stumbled into the living room.

They sat there for what felt like years, just cutting and creating a range of different costumes.

Riley herd a voice from the distance yell out “Riley your mum is here”.

Riley’s mum walked in to find the two friends sitting amongst a pile of fabric which had been thrown everywhere, with scissors carefully placed small group with the needles and thread in the middle of the room. To the left of the mess was the BRATZ and Barbie dolls covered in new fashions the two friends had created.

Just as Riley was saying her last goodbyes to her friend, the friends mother came up to her with a bag full of all different coloured scraps and a pair of fabric scissors, carefully handing them to Riley saying “You have a gift and I think this should start you off”

The ride home Riley clung onto the scissors for dear life. Not even letting the slightest bump in the car loosen her grip.

Once they got home Riley wasted no time at all and grabbed her dolls. It didn’t take her long to realise she was missing a few essential tools in order to keep the clothes on the dolls. She slowly got up from the floor and walked up to her mum.

“Mum do we have any sewing needles and thread I can borrow?”

There was something about this new world that blew Riley’s mind, she wanted to know everything about it. She researched day and night until her mind just couldn’t take anymore without some rest.

Riley was sound asleep, the sun beamed through the small little gap between her white blinds. Shinning in her eyes the light eventually awoke Riley. She tumbled out of bed still half asleep and made her way into the kitchen. Walking slowly Riley caught a glimpse of a strange shaped object out the corner of her eye, Riley Rubbed her eyes as her vision was a little bit blurry from still being half asleep. Once her eyes adjusted she realised it was a box.

The box was carefully wrapped in balloon wrapping paper, Riley stared at it puzzled for a second. “Its my Birthday” Riley yelled out at the top of her lungs.

After her family sung Happy Birthday, Riley was able to open the box. She wanted to be so careful while opening it but she was way too excited that the paper just ripped straight away.

Inside the wrapping paper was a sewing machine!

After School, Riley excitedly ran into her room. Throwing her school bag on the floor and grabbing her sewing machine and scissors. She sat at her desk for hours sewing everything and anything she could. At this point in her life, Riley had never been happier.

In High school, Riley’s passion for sewing continued. She had learnt everything she possibly could from her mum and grandmother, now it was time she could pick her high school teachers brains.

Riley was always 4 steps ahead from the rest of her class. One day her teacher approached her with a brochure for a Fashion Competition to which her teacher said “I think you should enter this”

Riley loved creating her own fashion and entered the competition every single year she was at school.

It was 2014 and Riley was quickly approaching her final year of school, everyone kept asking and pushing all the students where they were going after the year had finished. That was never a problem for Riley, she always knew what she was doing. She was going to follow her Happiness with her fabric scissors firmly in one hand.

After completing 3 years of a Fashion Design course, Riley was again left with the question… what is next?

In 2018 Riley’s family took her to see the film IT as a graduation celebration. There was one thing that stood out to Riley more than anything else whenever she watched films and that was always the costumes.

When she got home, Riley immediately grabbed her scissors and started making the patterns. Before she knew it she was done! She had created her very own Pennywise costume. Everyone was so amazed by it asking Riley what she made it for, to which she wasn’t sure.

Riley’s sister approached her one day asking why she doesn’t wear it to a Cosplay Convention and show it off. Riley was unsure at first brushing it off due to fear! But she was curious and the more she thought about it the more she realised she did love costumes and why waste this perfectly good one she had created.

Time went by quickly and before she knew it was time to wear her costume to the convention. It was nothing like she had ever experienced before. So many costumes. So much talent. She looked left and right, and all around her everyone was in a costume. It was amazing. Riley knew in that moment, thanks to her sister she had made the right choice.

Riley immediately got sucked into the world of cosplay. A year had past since she built Pennywise and she was about to get ready with her new cosplay, Scarecrow. This costume attracted the likes of some unusual people. Riley wasn’t sure if it was the love of DC comics or the fact that this group of people could keep up with her sarcastic comments but she enjoyed their company. So much that they all met up again the next day and exchanged numbers.

This group of four, including Riley quickly formed an unbreakable bond. Riley taught the 3 Men everything she knew about sewing and fabric scissors, even having them all over for sewing days just so she could teach them first hand. The friends shared everything they knew about the cosplay world with Riley and everything else she could used her scissors for.

One day while sitting at lunch in complete costume with her new friends, Riley sat back and looked at the friends and knew. This was her true happiness. If it wasn’t for her love of scissors at such a young age and the way they made her feel while creating she would never have met her friends and fallen in love with Cosplay.