I think I have been given at least a handful of mending kits over the years as swag at a conference or at a hotel when I ran into a hem emergency. They all seem to fall apart and become a tangled mess in my junk drawer. I’ve been on the hunt for a sewing kit that would be durable and have some quality tools in it. One of my suppliers recently sourced these adorable kits from Japan, and we sold through our first batch right away! This highly functional sewing box conveys Japan’s “kawaii” culture, the unique culture of cuteness in Japan. 

This sewing box conveys the manufacturer’s hope to introduce Japan’s “kawaii” culture to the world and to create an opportunity for younger generations to learn about the vanishing culture of sewing. Upon seeing “kawaii” artwork of a panda motif created by a local felt textile artist, the company came up with the idea to create a panda pincushion and to ask the artist to produce it. However, because there were people who said they felt bad sticking pins into a panda, a hedgehog was finally chosen as a perfect motif for the pincushion. In Japanese, hedgehogs are known as harinezumi, meaning “pin mice.” In this set, the hedgehog fully takes on this identity, acting as the pincushion.

This cute but practical hedgehog sewing box is packed with tools selected by professionals, all stored in a wood box that slides open!

It includes:

• A convenient one-touch needle that is easy to thread

• Five colors of thread that can be rewound

• The smallest and amazingly sharpest Japanese scissors with a total length of 45 mm

• A small magnet that holds scissors and needles in place

• And, of course, the hedgehog pincushion that is handmade with wool felt