Japanese textiles

Shrine Sale Stories…Recent Treasures

So I am continuing to love Instagram as it allows me to post shrine sale finds and other interesting items on a real-time basis which is just so satisfying. For those of you who have not taken the leap, I’ve been finding some great treasures for myself recently and I’d love to share them. My blue-green glass addiction is unabated and I found this chubby sake bottle last week. The two “ears” on either side of the bottle neck would have had a handle running through them originally. I think this one is perfectly shaped to be a lamp, but in the meantime, I will allow him to just hang out with his friends.

Speaking of lamps, this sake jug with its flowers, unusual in that most rustic jugs just have a manufacturer’s name or mark painted on them like these, is also a wonderful shape for a lamp.

I love its implied relation to an American classic, the stoneware jug. It took the floral decoration on it to make me see it that way.

Actual lamps have been another find, although I know I paid more than I should have for this purpley-indigo beauty. I have wanted a tiny task lamp for my desk at the beach house and looked everywhere the last two summers for one with no luck.

It will be absolutely perfect up here, so I had to have it.

I also couldn’t resist this minty green metal storage box. Don’t know what it is for or where exactly it will go, but I am sure I will find a place!

My lavender and blue dreams continue, with the markets fully supporting them. Lavender is not a typical color in Japanese textiles – it really is rare to see it – but I found an extraordinary lavender and blue tsutusgaki furoshiki (a traditional wrapping cloth made with a hand drawn rice paste resist technique) with a soft shibori faded background. I was having trouble convincing myself to buy it (“Do I really need it?”) when I realized I had an item stalker. You know what that is, someone who has spotted something you are looking at and decided they want it, so they follow you around the booth hoping you will put it down so they can grab it. An item stalker always helps to force a purchase!

Since then I’ve found a length of typical shibori (Japanese tie-dye), but in lavender and blue.

While I’m at it, here’s another really pretty and detailed piece…

…and did someone say pop of color? Obviously May Daouk‘s living room is still on my mind when you look at these colors together.

My spate of finding incredible Japanese prints – impeccably framed no less – at Kawagoe continues unabated. These small lithographs aren’t stand out pieces alone, but as part of a larger gallery wall, I know they will be fantastic.

I am not familiar with the artist and haven’t had time yet to research it, but I do love them.

So have you made any great finds recently? I’d love to hear about them!

May 1, 2013 By tokyojinja in Glass, Lighting, Porcelain and Pottery, Shrine Sales and Flea Markets, Textiles 7 Comments Tags: fabric, Japanese art, japanese prints, Japanese textiles, lamps, lavender, light fixtures, sake bottle, sake jugs, shibori, tsutsugaki, vintage fabrics

Modern and Ancient Collide…Obi iPad and Kindle Case DIY

Each year after the ASIJ Quilt is completed, I am left with a crafting hole in my life. Last year, the lovely and talented Erin Leong brought her hand sewn iPad case to one of our last quilting sessions and the oohs and aahs were deafening.

Using vintage and antique obi, kimono and haori lining fabrics, coupled with obijime as closure ties, she fashioned cases pretty enough to stand on their own as small clutches in addition to their proscribed use.

We decided to meet and all make a case or two for ourselves. Erin brought a sample that she had just begun (click on photos throughout this post for details). Obi brocades are just thick enough to provide some soft cushioning for electronics and they are just the right width for a standard large iPad. For a Kindle or iPad mini, the width needs to be cut down to fit. Since obi are thick and reinforced inside, she takes them apart to cut the outside layer of the bag. Soft silk, rayon or cotton lining fabric is perfect for the inside.

Each one is simply a long rectangle of fabric, folded in thirds, with two sections sewed together to make the pocket and the third section left free as the flap.

The play between the colors of the wrapped detail edge of the lining and the obijime, contrasted with the outer obi fabric is what makes these bags so fun to design. Erin has also included a bit of sashiko embroidery on her two bags, giving them extra depth and detail.

This one was custom sized for a Kindle.

She and I pooled our stash of non-valuable obi for the group and the creativity began. Combinations were tried out and tested.

In the end, this traditional brocade on the left looked best paired with the indigo cotton in a stylized bamboo pattern on the right. We decided that a curvy flap went best with the pattern too. If you compare Erin’s two bags above, one has an angular flap, while the other a soft scroll similar to this one. Aesthetic decisions were left to each person and dependent on the fabric and taste.

The outer fabric is cut to be about half an inch wider on each side than the object you want stored in it. The lining is cut with about an additional quarter-inch seam allowance. If you cut it too big, it is too bulky to sew along the outside edge. Cut it too narrow and you can’t fold it under to make a clean edge before sewing. There are no exact instructions for this project – it is kinda do as you go.

This case looked a little blah when finished and closed, so a bright orange obijime and some sashiko stitching were added. You’ll notice that small cases look and work best with the obijime running horizontally, while on the large size it is best vertically.

Erin’s detail work is lovely – she did all the sashiko stitching on this one.

This is another that I made and love the play of the watery green lining and the bold mauve obi. The cases are designed to look handmade, and to counteract the formality of this piece I sewed the lining edge with a blanket stitch, done in a very casual style.

In the end, the case had some issues. I had decided I wanted the extra thickness of the obi and did not dismantle it. The net result was that it was almost impossible to get the needle through to sew it. Does that sound familiar? Without Erin’s assistance it would never have been done! As it is quite formal and very pretty, I think it will be kept to use as an evening clutch – I can’t quite see dragging it around as a case.

Another friend could not resist the idea of making an evening bag and chose a formal silk obi and silk lining that matched and contrasted at the same time.

She never got around to finding an obijime for it so I believe she simply used a hidden interior fastener. I think that one green flower in the lining is what makes this so perfect and so Japanese!

Yet another friend went all green – fancy brocade exterior with silk lining in a realistic bamboo pattern. After taking apart her obi, she found the fabric to be too soft, so she reinforced it with some iron-on interfacing. You can see how each project evolved a bit differently. She also chose to follow the shape of the hexagon in the brocade when cutting the shape of her flap. I’m not sure she has progressed much beyond this point. Like I said, sewing through obi fabric is a huge pain!

We are trying to convince Erin to start making these for sale, so if you would be interested, please give a shout out in the comments or send me an email. They are absolutely gorgeous – the combination of antique and vintage textiles with the hand sewing is so unusual.

Apr 11, 2013 By tokyojinja in Artist Spotlight, DIY, Jewelry and Accessories, Textiles 18 Comments Tags: clutch, iPad case, Japanese textiles, Kindle case, obi, obijime, purse, quilting, vintage fabrics

A Not Quite DIY…An Obi and Quilt Block Pillow Tale

This is one of those posts that I can’t help start with the punch line. Compare the date on the receipt to the left (9-6-2007) with today’s date and it will give you an idea of just how long this project has been in process. Actually, in truth, it has been in process for many more years than that, but its “active phase” has been over these past 5 years.

At some point many years ago I found a group of antique quilt squares in a standard pineapple pattern, but made out of classic crazy quilt fabrics including satins, silks and velvets. I can’t quite date them, but they must be late 19th to early 20th century, part of an unfinished quilting project, that found their way to an antiques fair. With no clear idea of how I would use them (pillows perhaps?) I purchased them and put them away. Years later I unpacked them from my shipment when I arrived in Japan and was happy to rediscover them.

For the non-quilters out there, the pineapple pattern starts with a central square to which narrow strips of trapezoidal fabric are sewn, creating a saw tooth effect. It can be a very busy quilt block by varying the color every row, or different effects can be achieved by holding the colors steady or shading them progressively. If this part of the post particularly interests you, there is a nice overview and example of pineapple block making here.

The ease of finding vintage Japanese textiles and the link between crazy quilts and Japan inspired me to design pillows with the quilt squares at the center and a border made of vintage obi (kimono sashes). I spent months searching out the perfect obi for each square, both in terms of color and variety of pattern. In addition, I needed a different trim for each pillow to cover the juncture where the quilt block met the obi. For this blue one I was lucky to have some antique French velvet trim, another of those purchases made years ago (in this case in Paris at Port de Clingancourt) with no clear use in sight.

The odd colors in this square, a golden honey and pale seafoam mixed with burgundy velvet center and corners proved challenging, but this large-scale repetitive obi pattern proved perfect.

For the varying shades of chartreuse and green in this pillow I went with a pale obi, thinking it would make a nice contrast.

Somewhere along the way I pulled out this old embroidered Chinese patch and paired it with a kaku-obi (men’s obi). While the other pillows would have log cabin corners, I planned for this one to make use of the graphic stripes in the kaku-obi and have mitered ones.

And there was one in a completely different colorway, which I could use in my bedroom with a plain velvet border and pretty ribbon trim.

After numerous broken needles on my sewing machine, I decided professional intervention was necessary. Therein begins the story of the receipt. On a trip to Hong Kong in September of 2007 I brought them to my usual seamstress and asked her to make the pillows, along with some curtains for my house in Tokyo. I paid her and left, sure I would see them within a few weeks. The curtains came promptly, but somehow the pillows never came. I called her repeatedly in the beginning, but she could not seem to get any of her regular workers to make them. I offered more money, but she wouldn’t take it. She just kept saying she would get them done.

In the months that followed I remembered to call intermittently. Over time, the calls became further and further apart, until I had just about forgotten entirely about them. Then an article in the January 2011 Martha Stewart Living about log cabin quilting, in particular the photo of throw pillows below, reminded me of them and made me determined to get them finished. As Hong Kong was a stop on our evacuation-vacation last spring after the earthquake, I visited the tailor yet again, persuaded her to complete them and left my very kind friend who lives there to follow-up.

I am not the first to use obi to make throw pillows. Many designers and pillow makers take advantage of the heavy brocades and gorgeous colors and patterns available. More often than not, the obi is run down the pillow vertically, bordered with trim and fabric on either side, much like these from Stephen Miller Siegel. And having seen the price tag on these babies, I am all for the DIY or semi-DIY version – these would not be at all difficult to make – as the obi could be sewn on top of an existing pillow.

Here, an obi has been used on a chair in a similar long fashion, reminding me a bit of Muriel Brandolini‘s signature chairs. Just a gorgeous application!

In other cases, the long narrow aspect of the obi is used to make a bolster shaped pillow, often without any additional trim, much as in this iconic 1969 photo of Cecil Beaton’s London home.

My friend D has recently whipped up these similar obi pillows, adding the perfect accent of color and comfort to her deep sofa. It took her no time at all as obi are double-sided and hollow – all she did was cut, stuff and sew up the short side seam with an invisible stitch!

By far the most beautiful obi pillows I have ever seen are these in Candia Fisher’s New York library. I can’t imagine the room without them. Be sure to note the amazing Japanned linen press – by the time I get around to writing that post I have long been promising I will have used all my photos already. More photos of this amazing apartment can be found at Elle Decor or Habitually Chic.

As for my pillows, thanks to my ever vigilant friend, they finally arrived finished. It took me a few months to find some down pillow inserts here in Tokyo, but even that is now complete. The question that remains is where to use them, although in the meantime I have deployed them to the Chesterfield. I love the way the sawtooth edges, which look almost like pinwheels, pick up on the angles in the kilim rug. Click on the photo to see the details up close – they really are spectacular!

And here is the pale pinky one on the velvet settee in the master bedroom.

And speaking of pillows, we have chosen a winner for the ZAK + FOX pillow giveaway. Drumroll, please! The lucky entrant is number 8, none other than Angela, a reader from Belgium who loves all things linen and all things Japanese. Congratulations!

Image credits: 1, 3-7, 13-15. me, 2. via Get Creative, 8. Martha Stewart Living January 2011, photo credit: Ditte Isager, 9. Stephen Miller Siegel via 1st dibs, 10. via Eclectic Revisited, 11. Architectural Digest Fall 1969, 12. Elle Decor November 2009, photo credit: Pieter Estersohn

Mar 30, 2012 By tokyojinja in DIY, Interior Design, Textiles 7 Comments Tags: japanese antiques, Japanese textiles, obi, obi pillows, pillows