Monthly Archives: November 2013

Dinosaur Land

A lovely dinosaur design that is perfect for school and book bags!

In Japan, the new school year starts in the spring time and many schools require certain types of handmade bags for students to carry. Beginning in the previous fall, parents start to get busy planning what types of school items they will make for the new school year. Kokka Fabric annually introduces a fabric series with characters perfect for these school goods. Today’s fabric, Dinosaur Land, will surely be loved by boys. Dinosaur is currently a very popular motif in Japan, seen everywhere from stickers, notebooks to a variety of stationery items. For a quick English lesson, alphabets and dinosaurs are blended into the design. This fabric is perfect not only for school bags but also for a bottled drink holder or a large bag that you can carry to afterschool football or baseball practices.

Mini Dinosaur　P24900-900　#10 Canvas

This tiny print fabric is perfect for making small goods such as a bottled drink holder or a school bag. The lovely color tones reflect the strokes similarly created by colored pencils. It is an ideal fabric for making children’s shirts.

Continue reading →

toistaa

Tiny motifs in succession, reminiscent of a Scandinavian wooden toy

The name of today’s fabric, toistaa means “in succession” in Finnish. As the name indicates, tiny motifs are closely lined throughout the fabric. Wherever you cut, it brings out the same cuteness. It is a perfect fabric to use for beginning crafters.
With tiny print designs, it suits making small cases. By adding a contrasting color piping, you can create a lovely Scandinavian style apron for kids.

Hippo　P25500-500 Oxford (OX)

With flowers and trees surrounding the hippo, this design reminds you of wooden toys. Compared to other fabrics in this series, Hippo has a larger print design. A bag for everyday use may be a good choice for a project.

Continue reading →

Usaron

A dreamy bunny who　adores cute things

A very lovable bunny fabric is here! It’s called Usaron*. Usaron loves cute things, tasty food and getting dressed up! A bit mischievous and funny, that is Usaron.
Usaron’s creator, Saki Yamashita says,“Usaron’s movements, poise and motif are expressed all over the fabric. With a slightly thicker Oxford as its material, such everyday personal items as bags and small cases are great. Interior décor goods like curtains and cushion cover are perfect as well. Children’s skirt and parent-and-child matching aprons will be cute to make. If you end up with a remnant, you may cut out the motif for an applique or easily make a stuffed Usaron charm. Placing the right sides of the cutout fabric together, sew around Usaron, turn it over, put the cotton stuffing inside and you will have a cute Usaron charm! With your creative ideas, Usaron will accompany you everywhere!”

*In Japanese, a bunny rabbit is called Usagi. The name Usaron’s Usa comes from usagi.

Sweet Dream 　JG35500-500　 Oxford (Ox)

Sweet Dream is a polka dot design fabric with pink Usaron and white Usaron. “Three color schemes let both Usaron and polka dots stand out. It fits well with Usaron’s image. I hope Usaron’s lovely smile will cheer you up.” (by Saki Yamashita)

Continue reading →

Inspiration 28
A pencil case with “echino” laminated fabric

By tallying up the number of orders from KOKKA’s distributors throughout Japan, we release the fabric sales ranking each month in the Japanese-language version of this website.

One or more fabrics from “echino” series by Etsuko Furuya always rank in the top 3. Because of the distinct color scheme called “echino color”, echino fabrics are so popular and used for various sewing projects such as bags, pouches, dresses and so on. Sometimes we find the creations made of echino fabrics in crafters’ blogs not only from Japan but also from around the world. How wonderful to see that the echino fabrics are transformed into lovely products to be integrated in their living spaces!

Hiromi Widerquist, who is a Japanese crafter living in the U.S., posted what she made with echino in her blog at the beginning of last September. She wrote, “A day before school resumed, I whipped up a new pencil case for my daughter with laminated Echino fabric. The reason I picked this fabric is that peacocks are her favorite bird. Like I predicted, she liked her new pencil case. I am glad that she is still young enough to appreciate her Mom’s handmade.”

The blue zipper, which is matched with the coloration of the fabric, spiced up this back-to-school item. Consequently, the pencil case was stylishly finished. It could be a checkbook wallet in different size.

According to her, the pencil case was sufficiently strong without lining due to the thickness of the laminated fabric. She sewed up the simple product within half an hour.

Widerquist has written two blogs in two languages: “HIBI LABO JOURNAL” in Japanese and “Harujion Design” in English. You can see lots of her creations in both blogs, including a body pillow that has recently been posted. Whichever you see, you will just say “remarkable”. Indeed, these are “must see” blogs! You can also get the sewing tutorials with detailed descriptions from there. Check them out!

“HIBI LABO JOURNAL” in Japanese at http://hibilabo.jugem.jp
“Harujion Design” in English at http://harujiondesign.blogspot.com

file004
Ellen Baker

Garden Fabric collection.

The Forth artist we feature is Ellen Baker. Last month she participated in the Quilt Market in Huston as a designer for Kokka. Here is a short interview she shares her enthusiasm with her next collection.

Kokka-Fabric.com(KF): How did you prepare for the brand-new collection before the show?

Baker: For the recent Quilt Market in Houston, I made samples from my new book 1, 2, 3 Quilt using the Garden fabric collection, including pillows, a tote bag, clothing and home decor items.