Japan is already starting to feel like it was a while ago. I survived the first week back at work, albeit in a bit of a brain fog on the first Monday. I went to machine knitting club on Thursday night which was well worthwhile as they were giving away dozens of patterns and pattern booklets, so several of those came back home with me. I am hoping to actually dust off one of my knitting machines on the long Easter weekend and have a go at something small.
Friday night I joined the bobbin lace weekend, where I was working again on the Floral Bucks Point edging that I started in September. As it's my first attempt, it is full of errors and eyesores but it is actually lace and I haven't felt like giving up. I can see a visible improvement in what I did over the weekend compared to what I did in September although I am still making loads of errors. It's a much more freeform lace than doing geometric bucks point, so you have to learn by encountering different situations and trying solutions to see what they look like (generally not great in my case but I'm getting better).
Sunday finished in mid afternoon so I had time when I got home to sew myself a new camera pouch/bag for the point and shoot we took to Japan, because the bag I made for the previous camera was a bit small for this new one. I looked around online until I saw one on Pinterest that looked fairly simple, then drafted a pattern using scrap fabric. I cut two pieces from singlesided Bosal foam and fused the foam to some of the linen weight fabric I bought in Japan. I finished the edges with normal quilting weight cotton. It felt nice to be sewing again. I like the cats, they're cute without being cutesy.
I bought a good collection of textiles in Japan. We hit Nippori fabric town on the first full day, and I got to spend more time there this time round. There are so many great fabrics but most of the places only do 1 metre minimum cuts so the bulk and weight soon adds up when you are conscious of getting it into a suitcase. So I couldn't go mad. I picked up several character fabrics in a linen weight thinking of making bags and pouches, and a lace print on blue which has already been made into a cover cloth for my lace pillow. The Liberty print at the bottom left is a lightweight jersey destined to be a t-shirt. I subsequently happened upon several more fabric or textile shops in various shopping malls, and even some gift shops on Shikoku were selling bags of scrap fabric. After picking up two quilting books in BookOff (a big secondhand book chain), I purposely started trying to buy the subdued taupe palette that is so characteristic of Japanese quilting, and some indigo print scraps.
These are the two books. I can't read much Japanese but their quilting books are full of diagrams and measurements (and inspiration).
Another tempting textile you see everywhere are little fabric bags, generally intended for putting gifts into as the Japanese are big into gift giving. Sometimes they are meant as little bags to be carried with summer kimono. Naturally they all look like knitting bags to a knitter, so several of those came home with me as well (some for gifts).
We saw loads of shops selling textiles for the home, such as wall hangings, pretty towels in many sizes and fabrics, wrapping cloths, table linens, door curtains etc. All very tempting. I bought a few wall hangings but without the scroll fittings at the top and bottom, to keep them more portable. I don't know if I will make my own scrolls or incorporate these into quilted wall hangings.
This is a wrapping cloth, or furoshiki. These come in different sizes and all kinds of gorgeous prints, and can be ingeniously folded or tied to carry or cover all shapes of items. I bought two fittings to go with mine: hoop handles and a strap, but I need to learn how to tie it still.
And of course there were the gorgeous kimono shops which I didn't even dare go into, as they didn't look like places that would welcome gawping foreigners who weren't going to buy.
But I did go into a few secondhand kimono shops, and in one I picked up a kimono jacket because I liked the patchwork effect. I think this is called a haori and is worn over a kimono. I'm going to give it a wash and see what it looks like with work trousers. It's not cotton, it has a bit of texture to the fabric, not sure if it is polyester or perhaps a silk blend.
I had my own textiles with me as I was knitting on the red and white Sanquhar glove on the plane and on train rides, and I also brought a little needlepoint scissor keeper to work on as well for a change. A couple of our shinkansen (bullet train) rides were three hours so it was pleasant to have some crafts to work on while we watched the scenery whizz by.
1 comment:
Didn’t you and DH try on kimonos last time? Hope your jacket washed and wears well
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