I Found Heaven!

.... fabric heaven that is.

Five floors of fabrics and notions. Five floors! I swear my heart was racing. I arrived and methodically looked at each floor, dying to grab bolts, but forcing myself to wait until I'd seen everything they had to offer first. My heart rate then rose even more when I realised that I didn't have a lot of cash on me, that the store didn't take credit card and I didn't know where to find an ATM. I made myself sort that out quickly and then returned to shop. And shop I did! I'm very proud of myself for coming home with only just over 40 meters of fabric.

I'm planning on opening an Etsy store in April, just after I return from a brief trip to Australia. That gives me plenty of time to stock up on fabrics and papers to sell as well as make a bunch of new bags, cards and other items to sell. I think I may sell some of these fabrics on eBay in the meantime, it gives me the perfect excuse to go back to the shop again.

Of course, if anyone is interested in any of them, please feel free to contact me.

For now, here's some of what I bought.....

Some gorgeous vibrant fabrics with traditional motifs. Don't you just love that fish on wheels toy in the first one and the babies in a couple of the others!


Some simpler, more subtle fabrics with traditional motifs. The fourth one, black with the spider lily, I'm thinking of going back and getting some more to use with my Amy Butler skirt pattern.




I finally found some fabric with the Maneki Neko, lucky cat. I get a lot of requests for some and haven't been able to get any until now. They also had this print with a black background and another with dark blue.



Some gorgeous, super cute, kawaii fabrics. It's a bit hard to see as some of the prints are small, but there is a sweet Little Red Riding Hood in there as well as a few different Japanese fairy tale prints.



This geisha fabric is just a large single print. It was the only one. I think I might use it as a front panel on a skirt.



The Hina Matsuri, the Girl's Day doll's fesival, is coming up soon. This fabric, especially released for it, is really cool. On one side of the panel are patterns to make softies of the royal couple and their attendants and on the otherside is a print of the tiered steps that they are usually displayed on. It's a big piece so this is an image of only part of it. I grabbed one for myself and one for the eBay store.



I didn't forget about the boys either. They had some really funky fabrics with dragons, shishi lions and temple gardians.

The dragon on this fabric is so large and bold. I think I'll keep this one myself to make a satchel.

These are four different thick canvas fabrics that I snatched up as well. I think they'll make great boy bags. What bags do boys like? My husband has a really cool collection of satchels and other sling bags (I think he may have more bags than me!), but I'm not sure how many guys carry bags around outside of Japan. The fabrics would make some really cool unlined totes, but do boys carry totes?

And finally, last night I started sorting the fabrics. I took each metre, cut it into half so I have one piece about 50 x 100 cm, then cut the other one in half again to make 2 fat quarters, one for me to keep. From my fat quarter, I then cut a little piece and filed it away in a postcard file. It's an idea I got from some one on Flickr and I really wish I could remember who... once I find them again, I'll link them to this post.

Well, I must dash, I have fabrics calling my name......

Indigo Textiles of Northern Vietnam

Traditional Dress of the Black Hmong people, Sapa, Vietnam

Well, this post has nothing to do with kimono fabrics, but I have just returned from my three week trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Our trip began with what turned out to be the hardest but one of the most rewarding parts of our travels, Sapa in the northern mountains of Vietnam.

With an interest in traditional costumes, textiles and indigo, I was really hoping to see some of the Black Hmong people native to the region. On the trip up the winding, wet mountain road, I desperately wanted to get our driver to stop each time I saw someone in the traditional wear, fearing that they may be the last I saw. I shouldn't have concerned myself at all. The moment I hopped out of the minivan in the Sapa township, I was adopted by two teenage Hmong girls who took it upon themselves to be my guides for the duration of our stay.

The Black Hmong are famous for their very dark indigo fabrics embellished by hand embroidery. The indigo plant is native to the Sapa region. During my two day trek, my guide picked some indigo plant leaves for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm sure it involved something blue. What I was handed however was a large, very green looking leaf. I added the leaf to the other wildflowers children had put into the top of my bamboo walking pole. By the next day, the leaf had begun to wilt and give away a few of its blue secrets.

Many of the women in the villages are involved in the long dyeing process. I found this information on the technique;

Indigo plants are cultivated in neat plots on the hillsides near the houses. The
plant grows to about 60 cm high and can yield 2 crops each year. The dye is
contained in the leaves which when allowed to ferment and then oxidise produce a blue powder that is insoluble in water. This can be stored as a paste or powder. There are various ways of preparing the Indigo vat with substances that make the Indigo soluble. The urine of children, particularly boys is a common additive as well as lye, lime and rice wine. When the dye bath is bubbling strongly it is ready to use. The fabric is emersed in the dye vat and worked for about half an hour then hung up to oxidise into the distinct blue colour. Subsequent dippings and oxidations will darken the colour and the black of the Hmong fabrics is achieved by repeating the process twice a day, each day for a month.

The page I sourced this information from has detailed information about the textiles and costumes and is an interesting read here.

Hemp spinning, the only light was supplied by a gap in the thatched roof above

Our trek took us through one of the Hmong villages and while I wasn't lucky enough to see any of the dyeing in action, I was taken into the home of a hemp spinner. The room was very dark and the floor was uneven, hard packed dirt. There was no electricity or running water to the house and cooking was done over a fire in the middle of the floor in the kitchen. The spinner was working on with a large wooden frame with the only lighted supplied by a hole in the thatched roof above.

The hands of a Black Hmong girl

The hands of many of the Hmong girls and women are permanently stained from the dyeing process.

Wayne having fun buying from the girls

Over the course of the three days in Sapa, I bought many Hmong textiles, mostly in the form of pillowcases and bags. I will treasure them forever remembering the hands that made them, hands that live in poverty but yet in such a rich culture.