Gone swimming
The swimming bag is done! Dirty looks are a powerful motivating factor. It's just a big, simple tote - I based it on this bag from this book and made it a bit bigger. It fits a towel and my swimming gear easily, and there is room on top for groceries, so I can avoid adding to the stash of 100s of plastic bags I accumulate every week.It was the first time I had sewn oilcloth, and the sewing machine was not a fan... it seemed to slip sideways a lot while I was sewing. But apart from that it was all very straight forward. The other thing about the oilcloth is that it has this really strong plasticky smell, but I'm hoping that will fade.
Right, now I'm off to the pool.
Adventures in fabric town
Today I finally made it to "Textile Town" in Nippori, after hearing about it for ages. It's a street full of fabric stores, the biggest and best of which is called (of course) Tomato. It's not quite as big as Yuzawaya, but is cheaper and has a different range of fabrics. I picked up a few - the apple print top left I've seen online but never on sale, so I had to get that - I think it will be perfect for a small handbag or as part of a patchwork baby bib.The bird and cloud print fabrics second from the top is to make a handbag out of. I have been wanting to try one of the patterns in my new Amy Butler book, and I need a dark-coloured bag now that the weather is getting colder so I will see how it goes.
The red and white polka dot was a remnant - it is quite a big piece and was only ¥200. I'm sure it will come in handy because I love spots and have so many prints with red in them.
The two fabrics at the bottom are to make a bag for my swimming stuff. I've been going to the local council pool recently, and don't have a bag big enough to fit a towel in so I've been stuffing it in a paper bag and incurring dirty looks from the pool receptionist who seems to suspect I am some kind of undesirable (as in this land of Louis Vuitton only a homeless person would carry such an unsavory bag). It's even worse when I go to the supermarket on the way home from the pool with wet hair AND a homeless person bag. To remedy the situation I thought I would make a bag big enough for my towel, swimsuit and compulsory swimming cap. The fabric second from the bottom is for the outside, and the one at the bottom is a kind of water-repellent oilcloth, so I'll use that for the lining. I am going to start work on this soon, as I don't think I can handle anymore scornful looks!
I planned to walk around Yanaka after fabric shopping, because I wanted to see the Jenny Holzer exhibition at SCAI, but it began raining hard so I decided to come home. Half the fun of Yanaka is just wandering around exploring and it is too hard to do that with a big bag of cloth and an umbrella. I'll have to try and make it up there another time soon... and maybe pay Tomato another visit too!
Sunshine and paper
The good weather has continued - today when I walked back from returning the hire car I passed this house that I always love, and it looked even prettier than usual in the sunshine. These old-style Japanese houses really appeal to me, especially this one with its beautiful garden of potted plants. It's such a contrast to the apartment buildings and incineration plant that it's nestled in between.I've been taking a break from sewing lately - I'm getting really frustrated with the sewing machine, and the mess that is my sewing cupboard. Instead I've been enjoying playing with paper, making woven collages like these (Mark: "but what's it for?" Me: "not sure. I just wanted to see if it would work) and cards like these. Coming up next: more stamp carving.
Too much paper
I love stationary in a completely irrational way. This is a long-lasting obsession, pre-dating the fabric preoccupation by at least a decade. I have clear memories of spending my pocket money when I was in primary school on pastel plastic paper clips with cartoon characters on them, and of coveting the Hello Kitty pencil tins that the Japanese kids in my class had. Living in Tokyo, for a stationary addict, is like being a kid in a candy store. There is so much fabulous stuff, from the Sanrio kitchiness to the beautiful hand printed washi paper. I now have a cupboard crammed full of gorgeous paper and decided that it's time to get on with making some of the things I had in mind when I bought it. Project One was these note cards and little matching envelopes (also in blue) and some notebooks with decorated spines. I need to get my gocco out so I can make a batch of birthday cards too.
This means that the spare room is now covered with paper as well as fabric, but it feels good to be making clearing the cupboard at last.
Latest obsession
Since I picked up this book at the local bookstore I have been fixated on carving tiny rubber stamps. There's something soothing about the concentration required, and I love the quick results. My stamps still turn out slightly wonky, but I'm getting more precise as I go along.Laptop Cosy
Ever since I bought my iBook I have been planning to make a cover for it, to keep it clean in my bag and stop it getting too scratched. I had some quilt padding left over, so just made a simple rectangular pouch with velcro at one end. The main fabric is black linen but I didn't have quite enough, so I made some strips of cotton patchwork to fill in the gaps.This was just a quick project but it should do the job. I much prefer the soft feel of the linen to the scratchy polyesters and nylons that all the computer bags in the shops here are made of. I have a few scraps left over, so I'm planning to make a little drawstring bag for my mouse and cables.
Sightseeing
I've spent the past few days pottering around Tokyo with my sister, which has been great fun. Saturday we went to Shibuya and looked at Tokyu Hands and the big crossing, and then to Ebisu Matsuri to catch up with friends, watch the dancing and eat yakitori. Yesterday we visited Harajuku for Meiji Jingu, where there was a gorgeous ikebana exhibition on, checked out some of the outrageous toys in Kiddyland and ate lunch at the fabulous Brown Rice Cafe (I always feel so healthy after eating there).Today was Senso-ji in Asakusa and then the river cruise down to Hamarikyu Gardens and a walk into Ginza for department store gazing and Itoya. All very fun and made better by the weather, which is suddenly perfect - sunny with a breeze and much less humidity.
I finally got around to taking some photos of things I've sewn recently - a nightie, bag and skirt. The bag had it's first test today and passed with flying colours (although the strap is a bit scratchy on bare shoulders - better for t-shirts).
Tomorrow we're off to Kamakura, so I'm hoping the weather stays nice.
Typical
I went into the fabric store in Shibuya tonight planning to look at black and white fabrics and trims for backtack (I'm still procrastinating). I came out with a new skirt pattern, some velcro, and a couple metres of beautiful soft cottons in summer colours. Why does this always happen?Some issues have been resolved though - having had a good look at the patterns that were supplied I've decided to use a different one, from this book, that I've been wanting to try for ages. It looks pretty similar to the BHG one that we were given, so hopefully no-one will mind. Now to get on with making it and packaging it all up to send off to Velda. I had better hurry up if I'm going to post it by June 1!
Log cabin pillow
I have a sore throat this weekend, so have been staying in and doing not much. It was a good chance to use my new sewing machine, which I inherited when Jess went back to the UK. It's so much better than the old one - not temperamental at all, and the needle actually lines up with the presser foot which makes a huge difference.I've been wanting to make one of these log cabin cushions for ages, and finally got around to it yesterday. I love the bright colours that Lisa uses, but this one is a present for someone with slightly more subdued taste than me so I went for mostly blues and browns. I'm really happy with how it turned out though, and it was much simpler to make than I expected. More photos here.
It's a little quilt for a friend's baby. I bought the fabric back in January but couldn't get motivated to start. The baby arrived in early March so that forced me into action... and once I got started it was actually really fun to make. Hopefully getting something finished will help me out of my creative apathy.
from : http://floatingworld.typepad.com/floating_world_views/sewing_and_crafty_stuff/
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