sayonara sale part III

a vintage japanese kimono is over in my etsy shop.

sayonara sale sunday part II

UPDATE: sorry, it's found a new home

how to make felt tutorial

my newly upgraded website finally includes a felting tutorial, under felt 101 on the top menu. it's the same instructions that i include in my how-to-make-felt kits, but now you can download the 2 page pdf to print and use at home, easy peasy. up with felt!

sayonara sale sunday

i am starting to get ready to return to the u.s. at the end of march. i am here in japan on an 18 month research exchange program, and the next step for me is to return to seattle and turn in my masters thesis. of course, i am both excited to go home, and sad to leave japan.

mostly i am just trying to get everything done-research, thesis, little trips, spending time with friends, and of course crafting!

and, as any crafter knows, a craft stash makes moving more fun! (just kidding). so in the japanese tradition, i thought i would hold a wee sayonara (good-bye) sale on this blog.

today's item: adorable wooden blocks from my favorite store-muji.

currently available sets are: countryside, hong kong, london, new york. they each come in a small cloth bag, and include distinctive landmarks/buildings/vehicles. the tallest buildings are about 10 cm, and the cars and animals are 1-2 cm. they are not safe for small children.

i'm asking $15 each, which includes international airmail shipping.
if you are interested, please send an email to feltcafeATgmail. thanks! hong konghong kong
new york

happy new year

new books for winter over at my etsy shop. the one on the left has amazing felt hats-i'm planning to keep it around for inspiration for years to come. the one on the right is scandinavian inspired felting--very cute! things scandinavian are trendy right now in japan, which makes sense, since a lot of northern european customs and aesthetics tie in rather well with zakka.
my gocco printed linen coasters also in the shop-bright red acorns seem good for winter, or maybe that's just squirrel logic!
my new wool muji slippers in orange. my toasty toes love them. (i couldn't resist and got the herringbone ones too! shhh. they're for guests;-)
here's the mouse from my last post-in honor of 2008, year of the 'nezumi,' or mouse, in japan.

takayama woodblock prints

i took a few days trip last week to gifu prefecture. i saw this store in takayama, that sells woodblock prints, mostly that have been made into paper trays.
the store is in a traditional shop house, which made it even nicer.
they also made these lovely stuffed animals (for all the zodiac years-2008 is the year of the mouse) from block printed fabric.

december

last weekend's handmade market it kyoto was the busiest i've been to yet.
so many shoppers!
a batik demonstration from my trip to indonesia last month.

ashley rose helvey, an amazing felt artist

ashley makes incredible and lovely felt dresses!! they are super pretty and inspirational. seeing her work reminds me why i love felt so much--one seamless wearable material.

i saw ashley's work on craft, you can see more of her work on her blog, and she's also showing her work at ambatalia, a sustainable fabric store in mill valley, CA that seems very sweet.

gobaishi

last month i went to another natural wool class at my favorite wool store in kyoto.
we dyed wool with gobaishi, a japanese gall that is created on japanese sumac (i think...it was a little complicated and hard to understand in japanese!!) with just alum and gobaishi, it didn't really change the color too much, but with iron, it turned a lovely heathery purple.
the gobaishi galls boiled for an hour in a mesh bag, they turned mushy
into the pot with iron added
the outcome.
if anybody out there knows more about gobaishi, i'd love to hear from you!

felt artwork by naro tamiya

this piece was on display at the tokyo design sight gallery. it's by naro tamiya, who is now working for the designer issey miyake. the figures are larger than the size of a human, and represent a fictional alien character. but how cool is all that felt!
there were also some people making felt (you can almost see them in the background of this second picture), seated, using felting needles next to what looking like a felted dome.

sewing with kitty chan

i've been feeling a real urge to sew recently, and gave in and bought a tiny sewing machine. it's pink and hello kitty and i've been running it through its paces.
my first sewing project: a bag made from tenugui-traditional japanese towels. my obsession with tenugui continues.

my lulu

finally, a photo of lulu, my wheel! japan is really really hot...last week we had the hottest day on record, beating the record set 73 years ago. so, it's a little hot for spinning. but lulu and i will have a great fall and winter, i am sure.

august handmade market

it was so hot! just a reminder, you can click on the tags of this post to see photos from past markets.

animal mascots made of wool-japanese needlefelting book

i think this book is the cutest japanese craft book yet. full of wacky and adorable needlefelted critters, including the postal donkey (below) which might be my favorite.
ISBN 9784277563109, it's in my etsy shop.

my first yarn

oh my goodness, i love spinning. so. much. and i love lulu, my wheel!

weaving in nishijin, kyoto part 2

earlier this month, i visited the nishijin textile center in kyoto. the nishijin weaving style originated about 500 years ago, when a group of weavers were introduced to silk weaving techniques from china, and lived in the western camp (nishijin) of a general at the time.the textile center is a large and has comprehensive displays, including looms.
spinning
mini dioramas of (i guess) traditional silk stores?in the end though, the nishijin textile center is a big souvenir emporium...it has a variety of mini cultural courses. i haven't tried any of their classes, but for anyone seriously interested in crafts, i recommend orinasu (from the previous post) instead just because the textile center is so cheesy.