Gadgetmania by Maris Olsen: KAI Scissors

Readers, I am so delighted to introduce to you another lovely Gadgetmania Blogger, Maris Olsen of Sew Maris.

Sew Maris works and teaches in her home studio in Bellevue,Washington. No wonder she is passionate about fabrics, notions, patterns, sewing books and tools. She attends sewing workshops and conferences and takes classes whenever she has a chance. By the way, tomorrow, her first(!) granddaughter is due, and Maris is now on her way to New York to spend some time with her family - so, let’s wish them all the best! And, thank you, Maris, for finding time to write this great post! 

(By the way, sorry for the absence of images, as KAI Scissors is very strict about linking to their website, even if it constitutes fair use, such as this review. Just follow the links below to learn more.)


Hi! My name is Maris Olsen, and I am a full-time sewing nerd and part-time instructor in Bellevue, WA. When Marina asked for guest bloggers to write a post about their favorite tools, it was a no-brainer for me. I LOVE KAI scissors!

OK. First order of business – a little description. Kai scissors are made of Japanese steel and vanadium. Van-ah-di-what? I will spare you all the scientific mumbo-jumbo – what you care about is vanadium makes the steel harder. Which means it retains a sharp edge longer. That is goodness for people like me who want to cut fabric into all hours of the night and hate, hate, hate dull blades slowing them down. They also have awesome-ly ergonomic handles. Also, more goodness for prolific sewers, and people who might be developing a little arthritis in their hands. Not because they are old or anything, but just because. ;-)

Kai has several different lines of scissors and tools to suit a variety of uses and budgets. Kai makes 17 different scissor styles in their Standard line – all of which are part of the 5100 series. I own one of these babies – the Kai 5135C 5 1/2 inch Curved Blade Scissors. I use them every day. I love how the curved blade makes grading seam allowances a little easier. I also use them to trim threads when I can’t lay my hands on one of my 4 pairs of the little yellow handled 4 inch craft scissors. Which also, BTW, do an AMAZINGLY fast job of snipping thru a seam I need to unpick.

I also own two pairs from their Professional line – the Kai 7250 10 inch Professional Shears and the Kai 7240-AS 10 inch Serrated Edge Shears. These are both part of the 7100 series, and are they ever sweet. They cut like budd-ah. The action on both these shears is just a dream, and every time I use them I am happy. I wish, wish, wish I had owned the serrated ones when I was cutting out yards of silk charmeuse for my daughter’s wedding dress.

If you would like to do yourself a favor and own a fantastic cutting tool, high-tail it on over to Kai Scissors and place an online order. You are not likely to regret anything you buy from this fine brand. Hmmm, maybe I should try out one of their universal rotary cutters – works both right or left-handed – sounds like another tool I need!

Maris Olsen
http://sewmaris.com

I hope you enjoyed the post as much as I did! I heard great reviews of KAI Scissors and will try them  once I will need a replacement for mine.

By the way, if you also want to contribute a guest post, write me an email at mvk(dot)fashion(at)gmail(dot)com. For more details, visit the original Gadgetmania post (http://frabjous-fashion.blogspot.com/2011/11/gadgetmania-revival-guest-bloggers.html).

What scissors do you own, readers? Share your experience and links!