Fabric from Japan

As promised this post is full of all the yumminess I bought when I was in Japan in April.  I shopped in a variety of places, department store, antique market, vintage fabric store... and am pleased with my haul (although I don't have plans for much of it as yet).

I went to Yuzawaya fabric shop with Carin and bought several lengths of fabric 

plus some ready-quilted AnPan Man fabric to make something for Sam 

I just had to have something with dragons as it is the Year of the Dragon and this piece caught my eye

Considering the temptation presented by this wonderful craft shop - they really do have everything - I think I was remarkably controlled!
Near the Asakusa temple Carin and I visited a small kimono shop (new and used) and I bought this small piece of sakura decorated fabric:

I visited an antique market with Carin and bought this length of shibori fabric

I also went shopping with Julie.  We visited Chicago, an exciting treasure trove of secondhand clothing in one of the poshest streets in Tokyo, Omote-Sandō, with stock ranging from the standard battered jeans and T-shirts to the most exquisite obi.  Julie was looking for used obi for a workshop - hoping to see it soon Julie ;-) while I was looking for fabric and yukata.  Neither of us went away emptyhanded.

 

I bought this lovely, lightweight yukata to wear as a summer dressing gown, I also bought one for DH.

A couple of small textiles, cheap and cheerful tenugui

 and a blossom design Japanese handkerchief, a smart Japanese girl is never with one. 

While we were on the Japanese Textile Study Tour Bryan took us to Rogei
He said he'd allow us ten minutes in the shop full of vintage textiles and with a workshop running making gorgeous dolls.  Had he no idea how we women shop?  Needless to say the ten minutes was extended!!  This is the shop where we were described as the Western Ladies Bomb!  The trip also resulted in an example of a great service in Japan the takkyubin.  Our shopping was boxed up and sent to the Indigo Hotel by courier - no lugging big carrier bags around the city.

A delightful shibori koshi-himo which would have been worn beneath the obi but which I enjoy wearing as a scarf.

A selection of silk pieces that were not expensive because they were everyday.  They are going to become a boro cloth or bojagi, something like this maybe -

I couldn't resist these two pieces of vintage silk.  Just look at the exquisite designs and the stitches and patches that still remain in them, so gorgeous

I was very, very tempted by a boro furoshiki.  It was sashiko stitched, patched and had had a life and some I'd say.  It was so full of stories and character but it was expensive.  I hesitated.  I do regret not buying it.
But then I had sufficient yen remaining for the final shopping spree of the trip, Nat and I shared a kimono length of double-sided stencil printed fabric from the indigo master

Which is a good place to leave this post, with the promise that the next one will be about my visit to Noguchi san's katazome studio.