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

Get high quality arts & crafts items ON SALE now!

by modes4u September 9, 2020

Check out our Arts & Crafts SALE for all the goodies you need for your DIY projects. Japanese clays like Padico, Kutsuwa etc. are AWESOME if you want to make fine little sculptures! Use molds and tools to define them, and then embellish them using high-quality accessories like decorations or resins, which you’ll find plenty of in our shop. We also have lovely DIY eraser sets, and MUCH MORE for you to choose from! Grab your favorite arts & crafts items at VERY LOW PRICES now! We won’t restock items that sell out! Our sale ONLY lasts until Sept. 16!!

Get super cute supplies at great discount prices!

September 9, 2020 0 comment

Free wallpapers with Kokoro Araiguma!

by modes4u September 4, 2020

Ooooh, just look what we found, some absolutely lovely free wallpapers for your smartphone, tablet and computer, featuring a San-X kawaii character, the magical racoon Kokoro Araiguma!! Kokoro is truly magical because she has got a very useful and kind superpower: she can heal hearts by washing them! Sad hearts are depicted as having turned blue and hard, as if they were starting to freeze. But when Kokoro takes care of them, she washes it all away, and healed hearts get back their natural pinkish and soft look!

Kokoro Araiguma usually appears thus with a heart character called Sensei Heart-chan, and the grey sour faced tanuki or racoon dog Ashi Araiguma, which seemingly gets often a good dose of Kokoro’s washing too, probably in an attempt to help him get rid of his bad temper! Just take a look below at the images and enjoy the beautiful colors and textured appearance of these watercolor-like illustrations turned into desktop and phone wallpapers.

There are adorable scenes of Kokoro Araiguma washing the blue heart in a little tub, but we do love her portrait with Ashi Araiguma under the clothesline 🙂 Kokoro seems to love sharing hot drinks like tea, coffee and cocoa with her grumpy friend, too. After all, they provide a great chance for a good talk, which also helps to relieve and cheer up hearts! You can find lots of San-X products in our kawaii shop with these cute characters engaged in their favorite activities, come and take a look! Which is your favorite? Let us know!

How cute is this?

Kokoro Araiguma is very kind!

Here she is with Sensei Heart-chan!

Everybody’s here!

September 4, 2020 2 comments

Our plush toys sale starts NOW!

by modes4u September 2, 2020

You definitely want to check out our awesome new plush toy sale right away! We have the most kawaii charms, pouches, hand puppets and more! They’re of the cutest animals too such as bears, hamsters and other critters. We won’t restock items that sell out! Get your favorites before it’s too late. This sale ONLY lasts until September 9!

Get super cute toys at great discount prices!!

September 2, 2020 0 comment

Free Sentimental Circus September Calendar !

by modes4u September 1, 2020

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sentimental Circus! They are a delightful group of kawaii characters created by the Japanese firm San-X, which we do love! Now that summer is coming to an end and fall begins, it is an ideal time to remember these kawaii toy animals. They meet at night to have a good time creating and sharing a beautiful circus show!

Sentimental Circus are the heroes featured on the new San-X September calendar sheet that we bring you today. September is dedicated to rag-bunny ringmaster Shappo, and a very special visitor: a “moonlight” fawn. In this official video you can see how the magic of the circus turns the fawn’s wishes into lovely butterflies and flowers. When this delicate being seemingly made of light meets the Sentimental Circus characters, even Shappo grows a fancy pair of butterfly wings!

In our kawaii shop you’ll find many San-X products. Make sure to check out! In the meantime, here are some Sentimental Circus free illustrations for you to enjoy, and complete your San-X 2020 calendar! You can print them out and use them to decorate your room. How do you like the Moonlight little deer?

Plan your September with this calendar!

These are beautiful illustrations!

How kawaii!

Who’s your favorite Sentimental Circus character?

September 1, 2020 1 comment

Get to know Hamipa from San-X!

by modes4u August 31, 2020

We love welcoming new kawaii San-X characters, so here comes our presentation and tribute post for the brand new San-X panda bear, Hamipa! As soon as we saw Hamipa’s design, we realized he was a somewhat peculiar panda bear. Below, you will find some descriptive images by San-X that tell us how Hamipa developed, check them out!

It all started with a normal panda bear, and we know pandas are relaxed, right? Well, it seems Hamipa is especially easy-going, relaxed and lazy, even for a panda! So, after too much relaxing, and taking things too easy, the big black patch on his fur slid down his belly until it became something like loose short pants… that are just too big for him, and keep sliding down!

Hamipa is not bothered by this, he really does not care, and would rather be free of pants of any kind. In addition, he often takes advantage of such loose garment, carrying things tucked into his pants, such as an apple… or even his good friend, the owl Pichihiko! Pichihiko usually pulls up Hamipa’s pants when the bear is fast asleep, but as soon as he leaves, Hamipa turns around and they slip down again!

In our kawaii shop we already have a lot of cute Japanese stationery featuring Hamipa, so we invite you to come and see them. In the meantime, take a look at the images below, we hope you like them!

Hamipa is a very funny panda!

Here he is with his friend Pichihiko

He’s a lazy panda indeed!

San-X Hamipa panda sleeping memo pad

glittery yellow striped Hamipa panda 2B pencil by San-X

San-X light blue and white striped tea towel with Hamipa panda

San-X Hamipa panda bath and bedtime puffy stickers

San-X colorful hamipa panda memo pad

scented white eraser with Hamipa panda and apple by San-X

Hamipa panda bear glitter bandages by San-X

August 31, 2020 0 comment

Free sewing pattern for a backpack!

by modes4u August 27, 2020

If you are a beginner in the art of sewing and you have never tried to sew a backpack because you think it is too difficult, here goes a free sewing pattern for you to start creating a simple but very cute backpack. This pattern is made available by the Japanese textile firm Kokka, and features their beautiful fabric with hearts. If you prefer other motifs, you can choose your favorite among the many prints Kokka fabrics: it will always have that unmistakable kawaii style!

In addition to the outer fabric, you will need some bias tape, acrylic tape and buckles to mount the fastening straps at the rear, a 50cm zipper, and another fabric that will become the inner lining. As you can see, these are the minimum elements. This backpack is designed for young children so the final size is small, but thanks to the large upper opening, it is spacious and they will easily put their things in and take them out.

In our kawaii shop we carry a selection of Kokka fabrics, as well as many useful sewing notions, including Gütermann threads in hundreds of colors, zippers of different lengths, elastic etc. If you like sewing, we recommend that you check out our textiles: you will find high quality fabrics from world class suppliers known for their fantastic designs.

We’ve included other fabric designs you can use to give this project a go!

If you decide to give this backpack a try, please send us some images of the finished project. We love to see and share what you do with our products!

We LOVE this little backpack!

red twill fabric with white hearts by Kokka

red heart twill fabric in white by Kokka

Kokka grey twill fabric with light pink hearts

black twill fabric by Kokka with white stars

twill fabric by Kokka with white and blue checkered pattern

red dot twill fabric in white by Kokka

United Kingdom flag twill fabric by Kokka

August 27, 2020 2 comments

Our fantastic pencil cases are ON SALE right now!

by modes4u August 26, 2020

Get the most out of our exclusive Pencil Case Sale which starts NOW! We have many beautiful designs such as pencil cases with glitter, unicorns and other kawaii animals, cute characters and much more! Hurry though, as anything that sells out won’t be restocked! This sale ONLY lasts until September 2.

Get super cute pencil cases at great discount prices!

August 26, 2020 0 comment

Learn more about our range of floral Tana Lawn cottons by Liberty Fabrics!

by modes4u August 24, 2020

We are dedicating today’s post to the selection of magnificent Tana Lawn fabrics that we have available for you in our kawaii shop! If you take a look at these gorgeous fabrics, using the link above or checking the images included below, you will see that all of them feature stunning floral prints of exquisite taste and exceptional colors. You could say that this type of design is the hallmark of the brand when talking about Liberty Fabrics, the famous British textile firm that makes Tana Lawn cottons. That’s probably why we like them so much!

Besides vintage floral designs, the extraordinary quality of the material used is the other defining element adding to their tremendous popularity. Originally, the fibers used for Tana Lawn fabrics were discovered in the 1920’s by a savvy Liberty buyer, W. Hayes Dorell, near Lake Tana in Ethiopia (which was the inspiration for the name of the fabrics). The raw cotton fiber material now used is carefully selected, and goes through a complex process of textile transformation before becoming the lustrous fabric known worldwide as Tana Lawn. Its preparation includes enhancing the absorption of dyes, improving handle and luster, providing stability to the fabric finish etc.

Finally, a soft, light, durable and breathable fabric that feels silky to the touch and hangs fabulously is achieved. Tana Lawn fabrics are easy to sew and even easier to wear! Thanks to these wonderful qualities of the material, to the artistic excellence of Liberty prints, and their carefully perfected and demanding process of creation of each fabric, the Tana Lawn cottons truly are a gift to our senses. Have you ever worked with these fabrics? Let us know!

Aren’t these fabrics gorgeous??

We can’t get enough of these beautiful designs!

orange-brown Liberty Fabric Tana Lawn cotton fabric with roses and peonies

Tana Lawn cotton fabric with chrysanthemum flowers by Liberty Fabric

Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton mini flower fabric in navy blue

Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton small packed flower fabric

Liberty Fabrics small colorful flower Tana Lawn cotton fabric in light cream

Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton damask flower fabric

light cream Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton red roses fabric

navy blue Liberty Fabrics bird and flower Tana Lawn cotton fabric

white Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton Jacobean flower fabric

Liberty Fabrics Tana Lawn cotton light cream fabric with Jacobean flowers

August 24, 2020 0 comment

FREE Christmas quilt sewing pattern!

by modes4u August 21, 2020

Quilting fans know that making a quilt, especially a highly detailed one, so that it is ready by a certain date requires planning and organization. It certainly takes time and some quilting experience to succeed with patterns of some complexity, like the one we bring you today. We encourage you to start this quilting project now, and complete it in time for Christmas!

This free sewing pattern is a Riley Blake design for Liberty Fabrics. As you will see in the images below, it is a very festive creation, featuring rows of Christmas trees and compact houses set on a light background, all of it surrounded by a wide double frame with squared corners. The Liberty Fabrics designs used are mostly flower fabrics, although there are also fabrics with fir trees and little houses. The predominant colors are primary-but-not-strident tones: blue, white, green and red. It incorporates great Christmas fabrics and we’ve included some suggestions here for you to consider!

Due to the fabrics used and the very design of the quilt itself, we believe that this sewing project will allow you to create for yourself a true classic … one of those cherished possessions that will stay with you for years! As such, it is an ideal Xmas gift for a special loved one;) If you decide to give this pattern a try, do please remember to send us pictures of the finished quilt, measuring about 1.64m x 1.89m. We would really love to see and share what you do!

You can learn to make this quilt!

blue Elizabeth’s Studio Christmas fabric with snowflakes

Michael Miller white fabric with colorful Christmas trees

Timeless Treasures Christmas fabric with small brown birds

navy blue Christmas house fabric by Michael Miller

Michael Miller Christmas fabric in white with gingerbread houses

aqua and metallic gold Christmas gnome fabric by Michael Miller

light cream Michael Miller fabric with gold metallic design

shimmery red metallic gold Timeless Treasures fabric

shimmery metallic silver ocean blue fabric by Timeless Treasures

August 21, 2020 0 comment

Check out our awesome NEW Bento sale!

by modes4u August 19, 2020

Turn your lunch for the office or school into a little kawaii spectacle! Check out our Bento Sale RIGHT NOW! With everything from bento boxes, chopsticks and cutlery, to food picks, mugs, food cutters, and MANY MORE accessories, we have just what you need to make your lunch really stand out! Looking to get your kids an amazing way to enjoy their food AT SCHOOL? These bento products are GREAT FOR KIDS! We have multicolored bento boxes of all shapes, sizes, and designs! Eat in style, get these kawaii boxes and accessories NOW, at BARGAIN PRICES! Items that sell out won’t be restocked. This sale ENDS on August 26!

We have oodles of lovely bento items!

August 19, 2020 0 comment