Who doesn’t remember Elmo, Cookie Monster or Ernie & Bert? Generations have been growing up with the cute characters from Sesame Street and still are. We now have some adorable Sesame Street products in our shop, mainly memo pads, deco tapes and pencil cases. Be sure to check out the super kawaii reversible Sesame Street plush pencil case. One side is red Elmo, but you can also flip the case inside out to have a cute blue cookie monster pencil case.
On the Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo you could not only see incredible fabrics but also work with them. In the ‘Fabric & Sewing World’ there was a whole area equipped with lots of sewing machines for people to work on. And they were super popular, all the spaces were constantly occupied. We were very impressed with the range of people working there. You would think that primarily experienced sewers and adults would use the machines. But we also saw quite a few children handling the sewing machines like they have never done anything else. And they would barely be tall enough to reach it.
A quick glance at the Fabric & Sewing World on the Japan Hobby Show 2013
Here you could select fabrics for your project
Like here people were sitting all throughout the area and work on their fabric projects
The sewing machines were brand new. And all in Japanese…
A pretty mood board with echino fabrics
We do not know what this is supposed to be, but the fabric bunting is very pretty
A woman is helping a child
We were totally amazed how professional many children could work on the machines
Of course the sewing area was surrounded by different booths
Her some iron-on technique is presented
People enjoyed this are a lot, it was a great idea
If you are looking for a really extraordinary fabric design you’re right at our shop. We just added lots of cool Anime fabrics which you can find in our Asia fabrics category. The designs are from the company Trans-Pacific Textiles, a small fabric manufacturer located in Hawaii. Not just do they have an unusual location but also a Japanese fabric designer, who designs lots of cool prints around Japanese pop culture. So check our all our new Trans-Pacific Textiles fabrics.
Our partnership with the Japanese stationary and gift manufacturing company San-X really flourished in the past years. Last year we were super proud that we carried almost 1,000 San-X products in our shop, this year the amount has more than doubled. By now we carry more than 2,100 San-X products on modes4u.com. It’s not such a big surprise when you keep in mind that Rilakkuma is the most popular character in our shop, and also San-X’ most successful character.
It’s also a big honor that we are allowed to sell limited Rilakkuma editions. To celebrate Rilakkuma’s 10th anniversary San-X has been releasing quite a few super limited plush toy editions, which are almost exclusively available in Japan. Only a handful of retailers in the whole world are allowed to sell them outside of Japan and we are one of them. This is why you can buy the Rilakkuma zodiac sign edition or the Rilakkuma Chinese New Year edition at our shop.
We will keep ordering many new products from all the different San-X characters and soon we will hopefully have 3,000 San-X products in our shop.
For a couple of weeks already you can buy Mameshiba products in our shop. We’re super happy to have lots of stationery items, cellphone accessories and plush toys with the Japanese iconic bean dogs. While we were researching about them, we found a lot of cute little animated short clips revolving around the different Mameshiba characters. They are just a couple of seconds longs and always contain some funny trivia. Take a look at the clips for Mameshiba, green pea, black bean, Peanut and Natto.
Are you in the mood for a holiday? After you have seen these summer fabrics you’ll want to plan your summer vacation right away. We got them with our latest Timeless Treasures delivery and think they put you in a super sunny mood. They are our favourite product of the week.
We already showed you the Kokka fabric booth at the Japan Hobby Show last week. But as sewing was a major theme at the trade show in Tokyo we also visited lots of other fabric booths. In fact is was a real fabric wonderland. Everywhere there were piles of fat quartes, fabric swatches and bolts, it would have taken days to look at every single fabric. Plus all the manufacturers had lots of lovely clothes, bags, home decor and more sewn with their textiles, so that you could see what to do with them. It was a great inspiration.
Wonderful fabrics with lots of examples what to sew with them
Boxes full of fabrics
We discovered this adorable owl fabric
Wonderful Sentimental Circus fabrics
This is fabric heaven!
Lots of different manufacturers presented their fabrics
Every booth had so much to look at
An inspiration board with examples of what to sew
The fabric booths looked very colourful and cute
We loved these bags
Here people are using fabric paint to stamp on tote bags
Fabrics as far as the eye can see
Another fabric booth from the Japan Hobby Show
A lot of manufacturers were totally new to us
At some booths you could also buy accessories
What a pretty bunting at this booth
We recently received our second big fabric delivery from Timeless Treasures. We ordered lots of new fabrics and also restocked a couple of popular designs. During the last days we have been adding many Timeless Treasures fabrics to our shop, until now you can already find more than 150 new designs. And we’re not finished yet. There are lots and lots of beautiful animal fabrics, food fabrics and retro fabrics to be discovered.
You would think that we already have quite a big selection of fabric materials in our shop, but we keep getting more. With our newest delivery of Timeless Treasures fabrics from the USA we got a couple of super soft Minky fabrics. The cuddle polyester fabrics have a silky soft fur structure and feel as soft as mink. They are perfect to sew baby blankets or other baby accessories. Of course you could also make super soft cuddly toys with them or create some home decor such as pillows or lounge wear. A lot of people also use them as backing for different projects.
Our favourite product of the week is super kawaii: Hello Kitty cellphone plugys. It would be adorable already if they were just regular Hello Kitty plugys for your earphone jack, but no, the little cat wears a bunny costume. It’s a cuteness explosion. We just received the plugys in purple and yellow this week. Not only do they look cute and are a fashionable cellphone accessory, but they also protect your earphone jack from dust, dirt and humidity.