Author

modes4u

I’m Sandra, the founder, and I’m originally from Austria. I moved to Hong Kong in the 2000’s to complete my further studies here, then sought out to start my own business in this wonderfully vibrant city. As a result, modeS4u was born, and it's been running for over a decade now! We hope you enjoy reading out blog! If you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please feel free to email us anytime at: info@modes4u.com Thanks, Sandra & the modes4u team

Unleash your inner artist with this free quilt sewing pattern!

by modes4u August 23, 2019

If you are a lover of the arts, besides a fan of needle and thread, you will probably enjoy very much the free sewing pattern we want to share here today. It is a marvelous design by Elise Lea, with the wondrous panel fabric by Robert Kaufman featuring Gustav Klimt‘s famous painting, The Tree of Life. The Austrian genius loved using gold leaves in many of his paintings, therefore plenty of Gustav Klimt fabrics with golden hues are used to complete the quilt pattern. All of them belong to the Robert Kaufman fabrics collection, named after the symbolist painter, where many of his remarkably original designs can be enjoyed in textile form.

This pattern is recommended for those who have some quilting & sewing experience: the required level is defined as Intermediate. You will see in the images included below that the panel with the tree is delightfully framed with multiple strips, most of them pretty easy to cut and sew. There is however a wide strip made out of gorgeous blocks on the bottom and side of the central panel which will require some work to complete. Created with dark triangles and squares that are themselves made out of colored mini squares, it stands out beautifully.

The finished quilt measures about 120 x 145cm, and you can choose any of your favorite fabrics as backing, although we would advise to match the main colors used for the quilt top: beside gold, there are red, black, ivory and blue. Do not forget to send us pictures of the finished project if you decide to undertake it, as we would love to see and share them!

You can learn how to make this quilt!

brown gold metallic tree panel fabric Robert Kaufman Gustav Klimt

red brown diamond shape gold metallic fabric Robert Kaufman Gustav Klimt

blue brown diamond shape gold metallic fabric Robert Kaufman Gustav Klimt

blue triangle gold metallic fabric Robert Kaufman Gustav Klimt

black gold metallic purple green oval shape fabric Robert Kaufman Gustav Klimt

metallic gold and black brushstrokes fabric by Robert Kaufman

Robert Kaufman oval shape fabric in grey and metallic gold

Robert Kaufman red and metallic gold brushstrokes fabric

August 23, 2019 0 comment

Happy Fairy Tale Unbirthday! Check out our charming products!

by modes4u August 21, 2019

Everyday is a great day to celebrate an Unbirthday, as we learned from the most fanciful character of the Mad Hatter, in the classical and much loved fairy tale of Alice in Wonderland. An Unbirthday is any day of the year that isn’t your birthday! We just thought it would be a great idea to celebrate the unbirthday of all fairy tales that ever were, and call it the Fairy Tale Unbirthday, how would you like that?

Everybody loves a good story, and many people enjoy those which involve fantasy and magic, especially children. Magic and fantasy are probably the basic ingredients of a fairy tale, that we could describe as a popular short story or folktales happening somewhere unreal, and involving archetypal events and characters. Think of a far away kingdom, a princess, a witch, a hero, a fascinating creature… Some fairy tales have become famous all over the world thanks to books and films!

In our kawaii shop modes4u.com we even have a product subcategory dedicated to fairy tale fabrics, which we would love for you to check out. There, you will see many textile designs inspired by well known tales like Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan etc. Lots of fabrics feature other fairy tale creatures and characters too: there are unicorns, mermaids, dragons, wizards…and fairies, of course!

That is not all, though. We’ve got many other kawaii products related to fairy tales! These include pencil cases, deco tapes, stickers and other beautiful stationery items, as well as iron-ons, bento boxes, lunch bags, decorative figures etc. Take a look at them and tell us which are your favorite fairy-tale items!

Happy Fairy Tale Unbirthday! Check out our Charming Products! 1

We have tons of kawaii fairy tale fabrics!

Happy Fairy Tale Unbirthday! Check out our Charming Products! 2

And loads of fairy tale goodies!

blue fabric with cat mermaids and sea creatures

pink fairy tale Moda fabric

off-white Peter Pan and children fabric by Michael Miller

black Alexander Henry dragon fabric

scented rainbow dragon unicorn squishy by Eric

Disney colorful Alice in Wonderland fairy tale sticky notes bookmark sticker

kawaii white purple fairy tale glitter pouch pencil case from Japan

white pink purple cute Cinderella fairy tale glitter pencil caps from Japan

white colorful fairy tale macaron Alice mermaid food cloth from Japan

August 21, 2019 0 comment

Learn to make this breathtaking Effervescence quilt with a FREE sewing pattern!

by modes4u August 16, 2019

Sometimes, you just need a quilt design that exudes freshness and creativity. If that’s the case for you, we just found what we believe is a great free sewing pattern you’ll definitely want to try out! You’ll just want to have a little practice under your belt as the recommended sewing level for this specific design is Intermediate.

This design uses Robert Kaufman panel fabrics. Just like many of our customers, we are great fans of their Effervescence fabrics, so this quilt using designs from their Effervescence Digital collection immediately caught our eye! We’ve included a few more colors in our list of fabric recommendations so you can also try out this project in different tones! We also have a different quilt pattern using Effervescence Digital fabrics on our blog, which you can take a look at here.

It is a good chance to try your hand at working with cuts of different sizes and shapes, especially stripes and squares. The geometric features of this design mean that accuracy becomes most relevant for a successful and balanced result, so you should take extra care to keep all those lines really straight.

Thus, with sewing tools at the ready, check out the images below to get an idea of what you may soon be enjoying in your own room, maybe on your own bed! If you like the design and are willing to go for it, but are unsure of how it will suit your own home décor, remember that anything you make with your own hands is a truly unique gift, and that a handmade quilt is a very valuable piece of artful sewing. Any loved one you know getting married, or moving into a new home? Well, this is a mighty fine gift, if you can complete it on time for such a special event. Take into account that the finished quilt measures about 184 x 184cm.

We hope you enjoy working on this quilt. Don’t forget to share with us pictures of the finished project if you decide to take it on!

Learn to make this breathtaking Effervescence quilt with a FREE sewing pattern! 1

We can’t stop staring at this quilt!

black and white Robert Kaufman Effervescence Digital Panel fabric

blue Effervescence Digital Panel fabric by Robert Kaufman

Effervescence Digital fabric by Robert Kaufman with blue dots

Robert Kaufman grey dot Effervescence Digital fabric

solid black Robert Kaufman knit fabric onyx

solid dark grey Pepper Robert Kaufman knit fabric Laguna Jersey Heather

Effervescence Digital Panel fabric by Robert Kaufman in orange and purple

Robert Kaufman rainbow color Effervescence Digital Panel fabric

colorful dot Effervescence Digital Robert Kaufman fabric

navy blue Robert Kaufman Effervescence Digital fabric with dots

August 16, 2019 0 comment

Join our Cloud 9 fabric giveaway! Win 10 stunning organic fabrics!

by modes4u August 14, 2019

Join our new giveaway NOW for a chance to win 10 beautiful organic fabrics from Cloud 9! The fabrics are approximately 40cm – 50cm in length, meaning almost 5 meters in total!!

Here’s how to participate:

Head to the Cloud 9 fabrics section of our kawaii shop. Find your favorite design, copy its link (URL), then come back to this blog post and leave a comment with the link pasted in. That’s it! Please just make sure to include your correct email address when participating, as we will contact the winner by email.

Winners must respond to our email within 48 hours or the prize will be forfeited.

This contest is open WORLDWIDE and runs until Aug 31, 11:59pm HK time. GOOD LUCK!

Make sure to remember to also check out our ongoing Cloud 9 fabric sale! Get awesome organic designs at discounted prices! Hurry though, as we won’t restock items that sell out, so grab your favorites before they’re all gone. This sale only runs until the end of this month.

Aren’t these fabrics gorgeous??

Here’s your chance to win this bundle!!

August 14, 2019 19 comments

Feature the Statue of Liberty in a stunning quilt with this FREE sewing pattern!

by modes4u August 9, 2019

Did you know that the ultra-famous Statue of Liberty presiding over New York Harbor was made by two illustrious Frenchmen, the sculptor Bartholdi and the engineer Eiffel? Yes, the same who built the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris! This incredible monument has become a world icon, and you do not need to be a New Yorker to show it off in your projects! Fortunately for us quilt lovers, the American textile designer Ben Richard has already included the Statue of Liberty in one of his designs for Robert Kaufman‘s Patriots Collection. This is the free sewing pattern we are bringing to you today, check it out in the pictures below! We’ve posted a different quilt pattern also using this fabric, which you can check out here. Maybe you can make both quilts!

The multicolored panel fabric features many differently colored squares with close-up images of the statue’s face. The perspective, the bright colors used and their clever combinations create an incredibly vivid visual effect. The quilt design makes the most out of it, placing the colorful squares onto a black background for contrast, which makes them stand out yet more. Once finished, the quilt will measure about 160 x 132cm.

Kona Cotton solids in yellow, light green and more are used to make the beautiful but somewhat complex eight-pointed stars embellishing this design, with a bigger star right in the centre of the quilt, and many more smaller ones forming blocks along two rows. You will need to cut and sew many small fabric triangles to make all these colorful stars! We’ve included fabric suggestions here for you to get started, including some other shades that you might enjoy using.

Due to the difficulty rating of the pattern, it is recommended for those with some sewing experience, about an intermediate level. How do you like it? Please, do send us some pictures of your finished quilt, should you decide to give it a try. We would love to see them, and share them!

We love this quilt! You can learn how to make it!

colorful Statue of Liberty fabric by Robert Kaufman

solid pink fabric Robert Kaufman USA Bright Pink

marigold Corn Yellow Kona fabric Robert Kaufman USA

Robert Kaufman turquoise Kona cotton fabric

Birch organic fabric in clover green

solid denim blue Cloud 9 organic fabric Shadow from the USA

solid sea green birch organic fabric from the USA

silver metallic embellished black Michael Miller fabric

August 9, 2019 1 comment

Write to someone special with our kawaii letter sets!

by modes4u August 2, 2019

We at modeS4u are celebrating summer, as surely many of you are too, whether at work or on vacation. This is a great season for holiday goers, who usually take advantage of the good weather to visit beaches and mountains. Warmer days with no rain, and more hours of daylight, mean you can better enjoy whatever the place has to offer, from water sports and sunbathing, to trekking and climbing!

In summer, lots of people travel to their chosen holiday destinations, and many travel back to their hometowns to meet family members and old friends. Summer is also an ideal time to make new friends! Oftentimes, those summer friends come from faraway places, and even from other countries, and they make for perfect pen-pals, especially if you share a common language, as native speakers or otherwise. Writing to your summer friends is great, as is receiving their letters, too! Letters can help keep alive a friendship until you have a chance to meet again…they are a beautiful way to reach out and share things.

Of course, what you write is most important, but where you write it does also send a message. Check out some of the letter sets we have in our shop, as they may inspire you to try some letter writing. You’ll also need some kawaii stationery such as pens and pencils, and you might want to decorate the letters further with some cute stickers.

You do not need to wait until you meet that special summer friend, though! Everybody likes receiving letters, so we encourage you to put yourself to the task. And if writing is definitely not your thing, but you find our letter sets just too cute to be true, well, remember they make for wonderful collectibles, too 😉

Write to someone special with our kawaii letter sets! 1

We have tons of super kawaii letter sets for you to choose from!

Jinbesan colorful letter set by San-X from Japan

Shrimp tempura letter set by San-X with Sumikkogurashi shy animals

Japanese San-X Corocoro Coronya letter set

cute flower butterfly mini Letter Set from Japan

cute light cream with pink flower mini letter set from Japan

random flamingo letter set with envelopes

Molang rabbit pink 8 color ballpoint pen

white unicorn on a light blue pen

light pink 2B shiny pencil by San-X with Corocoro Coronya

cute chocolate sweets pop out stickers from Japan

cute lucky fortune cat deer bird stickers with gold color embellishment

cute green frog stickers from Japan

August 2, 2019 0 comment

Learn to make this STUNNING Effervescence quilt with a free sewing pattern!

by modes4u July 30, 2019

We just found a great free sewing pattern we want to share here, as we believe you will certainly love it as much as we do, especially if you are fond of colorful fabrics and/or a fan of dotted designs! This quilt design uses a panel fabric from Robert Kaufman, namely the Effervescence Digital Panel, featuring lots of superbly colored circles, resembling something like a colorful sun surrounded by luminous stars. A sure treat for dot lovers, this project requires some sewing and quilting experience, being ranked as Intermediate in its recommendations on difficulty.

You will see how the design of this quilt cleverly combines all colors of the rainbow to create an almost mystical atmosphere in the panel background. The quilt pattern combines all this color with a blue/turquoise background, which makes the visual effect even more intense. The central panel features a multicolored frame, plus some cute eight-pointed stars bordering it. Star blocks use squares and triangles in a symmetrical pattern, and in this pattern, offer a rotary effect. Check out the pictures below, where we have added some other images of Effervescence fabrics that may inspire you to take on this sewing project. It will make you feel like you’re dreaming and floating about in the sky whenever you look at it!

If you decide to give it a go, please do not forget to send us pictures of your finished quilt, as we would love to see them, and share them too! 🙂

This quilt is so dreamy!

Effervescence Digital Panel fabric by Robert Kaufman in orange and purple

Robert Kaufman rainbow color Effervescence Digital Panel fabric

Robert Kaufman Effervescence Digital fabric with blue and purple dots

Effervescence Digital fabric by Robert Kaufman with blue dots

Robert Kaufman rainbow color fabric with circles Effervescence

black Robert Kaufman fabric with colorful circles Effervescence

Robert Kaufman turquoise Kona cotton fabric

solid brown-orange Kona fabric Robert Kaufman USA Amber

solid dark violet fabric Robert Kaufman USA Dark Violet

solid pale pink fabric Robert Kaufman USA Carnation

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July 30, 2019 1 comment

Check out the iSquare x ChocoToy fun in Hong Kong!

by modes4u July 29, 2019

Today we want to show you some images of a truly kawaii installation that anyone can enjoy for free this summer at the iSquare mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. When we recently spotted this oh-so-cute piece of contemporary artwork, there were lots of children climbing all over it (even though many of the installations were wet because of the rain earlier in the day. That didn’t stop the kids!)!

Aptly named iSquare x ChocoToy Summer Rush Carnival, it’s all about rainbow colors, soft edges and smiling faces. Many elements that remind us of summertime or are just typical of the summer holidays are represented here, for instance, beach items like sand castles or buckets, and toy creatures in the shape of fruits and flowers.

There are also various gorgeously multicolored structures for everyone to admire: a kawaii slide, a funny balloon on top of a real sized van with an opened side, so that people can just get into it to take a picture etc. Just take a look at some of the photos we took at the ground level of the mall, plus a few others of what can be seen on the 3rd floor (these images of the 3rd floor installation come from the ChocoToy Facebook page).

Thanks to the Internet, we learned that ChocoToy is a Venezuelan brand created by young graphic designer, Luis Albornoz, and his partner, Karen Guevara. This is an excellent example of the growing worldwide popularity of what could be called kawaii aesthetics 🙂 What do you think? Let us know!

Check out this fun installation!

This watermelon looks a bit like a clock!

Summer Rush!

Someone is having fun in the sand!

What a kawaii character!

How cute is this?

Check out the iSquare x ChocoToy fun in Hong Kong! 7

We are loving this balloon!

We can’t help smiling when looking at this character!

That’s a very happy van

One of the cutest flowers we’ve ever seen

A super cute mini slide

A gorgeous waterpark themed design

Summer fun! This image and the one directly above are from the ChocoToy Facebook page

July 29, 2019 0 comment

Sew checkered reversible placemats with this FREE pattern!

by modes4u July 25, 2019

You may have noticed it has been quite a long time since we last shared in the blog a free sewing project recommended for beginners, but we have not forgotten about you novice enthusiasts of needle and thread out there! Let us bring into focus another great opportunity to practice this most useful craft, now with a really simple design that will let you make some beautiful reversible placemats. The original placemats in this free sewing project uses Robert Kaufman fabrics with a checkered pattern, as you will see in the first image included below.

Checkered fabrics are some of our all time favorites, together with dotted and striped patterns, and that is why they have a category of their own in our shop! You can combine many different patterns with squares to make great versions of these reversible placemats: check some dotted fabric pictures below to see some other fabrics that could work well for the project.

Another great advantage of this free pattern is its simplicity, as once you get the knack of it, there is no end to the pairs of matching placemats you can quickly make! Placemats are always a good addition to any home’s kitchen and tabletop textiles, because they are generally much used and need frequent replacing. And what about the joy of gifting something handmade with your own skills, time, love and effort? That is just priceless!

So go ahead, choose some beautiful fabrics with all kinds of designs, give this pattern a try and remember to send us pictures of your own finished reversible placemats: we love to see what you do!

Learn to make these for your home!

periwinkle Robert Kaufman white square fabric Blueberry Park

black grid pattern cotton fabric

white grid pattern by Art Gallery Fabrics

grey-green Robert Kaufman shape fabric

lime green Michael Miller fabric white grid design Pretty Grid

green Cloud 9 navy blue line square organic fabric Window Dressing

mini white dot fabric by Michael Miller in grey

mini dot fabric in grey by Dear Stella

black with colorful mini dot fabric Timeless Treasures

colorful dot black fabric circle Quilting Treasures

July 25, 2019 0 comment

Celebrate summer by checking out our many bird fabrics!

by modes4u July 24, 2019

Today we want to dedicate our blog post to birds! In half the world, summer is in full swing, so millions of birds cross the skies in flight, filling the air with trill and song. Many species are now completing their breeding season, teaching their offspring to fly and fend for themselves, after a few spring months of nesting, incubating eggs, and hurriedly feeding their rapidly growing newborns. Therefore, summer is a great time to celebrate these marvelous animals!

Birds are certainly some of the cutest creatures around, with many songbirds, parrots and poultry making great pets. Chicken and ducks are among the great favorites of humankind, especially their young. Aesthetically, many birds look incredibly beautiful, thanks to their sleek shape, gorgeous colors, graceful movements and swift flight. Think flamingos, hummingbirds, swans, peacocks or swallows, to name a few. Some birds, like ravens and certain parrots, are even among the most intelligent animals in the animal kingdom, using tools and engaging in complex social behaviors!

Humans have always been fascinated by birds, and have since ancient times, made them into part of myth, religion and folklore. There are many ways to learn more about these descendants of feathered dinosaurs, and as many ways to enjoy them! Simply watching and listening to birds, trying to spot different species or take good photos, reading about them, or even drawing them if you like. You do not need to be an ornithologist for that! Of course, you can also check out some of the wonderful fabrics with birds in our online shop, where you will find owl fabrics, creative bird patterns, luxurious exotic bird designs, you name it 🙂 We have included some images below for you to get an idea, how do you like them?