My recent trip to Japan involved a very busy schedule as we tried to visit as many places as possible within a short period of time. But I am very happy to report that we had the pleasure of visiting our supplier Olympus Thread in Inuyama, Nagoya.
It was wonderful to finally meet Takeshi san in person. He kindly picked us up in Nagoya and drove us to the Olympus factory in Inuyama, where we also met Yuko san and were shown around the impressive facility.
All employees were very friendly and focused their efforts on careful production of high quality products.
Olympus Thread was established more than 110 years ago. It was fascinating to see its manufacturing process for embroidery threads, knitting yarns, and hand-crafting kits which are made in Japan. I was especially amazed with the process of making sashiko threads.
To create excellent products, you need high quality raw materials. That is why Olympus’s sashiko threads are made of premium quality cotton, which is treated with exceptional care at each step of the production process. There are many dyeing methods used by the manufacturer to create perfectly evenly dyed sashiko threads. One of them is a Kasuri dyeing, which creates beautiful, shaded colours with amazing gradations. You can have a look at these wonderful variegated sashiko threads in our on-line shop. They come in skeins of 20, 40 and 100 meters long.
It was also fascinating to see the manufacturing process of famous pre-printed sashiko panels.
Olympus Thread have always kept customer’s needs at heart and created a pre-printed fabric with sashiko patterns, which makes a whole process of learning and practicing stitches so much easier, especially for beginners. Olympus’s pre-printed panels are among our best-selling products, which you can also find in our on-line shop.
Another exceptionally high-quality product I was very interested in was Sakizome momen. "Sakizome momen" means 'yarn dyed cotton fabric' in Japanese language. The manufacturer revived the traditional Japanese vintage textiles. The method of dyeing yarn requires a lot of time and care despite the utilisation of modern technologies; that is why Sakizome moment is produced only in small batches. However, the effect is truly beautiful.
The textures, colours and designs retain the feeling and appearance of Japanese traditional cotton fabrics. The taupe and toned colours of the whole range of Sakizome Momen are inspired by nature and the fabric itself is of premium quality. This fabric is classic for sashiko and boro stitching, but it is also perfect for other projects like patchwork and garment making. You can find the whole range of beautiful Japanese fabrics in our on-line shop.
Except the abovementioned sashiko threads, pre-printed sashiko panels and sakizomem momen you can also find in our on-line shop a range of other Olympus Thread products. Our range is constantly expanding so it is worth keeping an eye on our newcomers and special offers.
In addition, we are also an official Olympus Thread’s distributor here in the UK and we offer a full range of other Olympus products to our trade customers. If you are a trader, you can get familiar with these products at the manufacturer’s website by following this link [LINK]. If you are interested in any of Olympus products, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to help!