Japanese Fabrics – Hello Kitty

This week’s Japanese Fabric post is all about Hello Kitty fabrics! I’m not one of those die-hard Hello Kitty fans where everything I own must have a HK on it, but I must admit I have a really soft spot for it, and I find it really hard to resist buying the fabrics even though all the licensed characters’ fabrics are quite pricey. Hello Kitty fabric is available from a number of different brands, especially Kokka.  Even Liberty did a collaboration and incorporated Hello Kitties into their floral fabrics.

Here are some Hello Kitty fabrics in my collection. I get all kinds of ideas for sewing projects when I buy quilted fabrics. But they always end up in the stash because I can never bear to cut them.

Hello Kitty in colorful bunny suits! I made a travel sketch book holder using this one before, it’s quite an old design because I bought it 3-4 years ago.

This is not actually Hello Kitty, but Charmmy Kitty. According to the official HK website “Charmmy Kitty is a white persian cat that Papa gave to Hello Kitty as a gift. She wears a lace-trimmed bow on her left ear, and a necklace which holds the key to Hello Kitty’s jewelry box.” I didn’t know that! I just thought they were friends ;P

I made this a couple of weeks ago and my kids just throw their stuff around, which explains the crumpled bag. Sigh… But isn’t it cute? It’s a reversible messenger bag.

Now for the other prints that are more current and on my wish list 🙂

Hello Kitty x Liberty range. It’s a bit like playing where’s Wally. It’s so cute and yet wearable at the same time! Although I can imagine my kids will go crazy trying to find all the kitties in there.

Union Jack Kitty Chan.  This is so cute! (using this word too many times) Will look lovely on a bag. The Kitties and bows are also printed on a white background, so you can cut the shapes out to make a little tag to hang on your bag! Or just use the shapes on a pocket, or as an applique on a plain t-shirt. Very versatile fabric print 🙂

Hello Kitty collaboration with One Piece. When I was in Japan in June, I saw lots of One Piece x Hello Kitty merchandise in the Sanrio stores there. One Piece is a very popular Japanese manga about pirates. I haven’t read it before so I have no idea why it is so popular, but the merchandise is sooooo かわいい! (Kawaii – Japanese word for cute)

Ok, enough gushing about Hello Kitty 🙂 But I hope you like the fabrics!