Fabric Shopping in Tokyo

Ladies and gents,

If ever there were a time for one to lose their cool, it would be on the wrong side of the world with fabric money to burn. I'm so disinterested in the bright lights (and loud noises) of Tokyo that I'd only really really meticulously researched a couple of tap classes and a whole day of self-indulgent fabric shopping. Honestly, not much else. I also chose my hostel based on its proximity to Nippori fabric town. One track mind, you know?

Somehow my visit also collided perfectly with some sort of festival in Nippori where every shop was offering 10% off!

I'd arrived with the hope of finding some good jacket and trouser-weight fabrics (British summers, eh?) but had low expectations after feeling how sunny and muggy it was during my stay (late May, early June). I even spotted a few unlined suit jackets around the city. Let me tell you one thing, the Japanese LOVE stripes, I didn't realise how prevalent they were on the streets until after I'd seen so much for sale in Nippori. Then I couldn't unsee it on almost every other person in the city!

I saw a salaryman on the metro who had a plain white shirt on but the CF buttons changed colour as you moved down the placket - an idea I may copy in the near future. A wink of novelty detail.

Anyway. Fabric town. Fabric town in the rain with a sale on.

I prodded almost everything on that street! I needn't have checked my map when I arrived shortly after 10am as the first shop I saw (Momo) had a gaggle of women fawning over its remnants and bolts. Must be sale time. This shop had beautiful stock, some of which was imported from across the world. It wasn't the cheapest and I was sad to leave a beautiful green linen on the shelf because it was 1,500 JPY/m but only 100cm wide.

Pinstripe linen fabric (baseball vibe? Maybe I was thinking about baseball)

I went a bit loopy in the first 3 shops I visited, picking up some of the obscenely cheap stuff in bundles, and (hopefully) some better quality stuff too. A couple of times I had to warn myself to stay away from anything I could pick up in England for similar value. I mean, if you go to Japan and only buy European imports, you're kinda missing the point.

Turquoise cotton. I'm obsessed with tiling patterns at the moment.

Teal/Turquoise lining from a bargain bundle. I also got an ivory one but forgot to photo it

Cotton with a slubby/greyish background and wonderful colourful thumbprints.

There were a few cosplay shops, a few leather shops and some speciality knit stores too. The knits were mostly loose (like Girl Charlee's hacci sweater knit) so I wasn't too interested, but there was a lot of great sweatshirting around. I came away with some for another Nike hoodie.

Crinkle-effect floral sweater jersey. Navy/taupe colours.

Then there was Tomato. It was chaos! It took me  a while to figure out the system (bring a buddy, one waits in the cutting line while the other gathers bolts for cutting). Don't ask me how the floors/shops are split up. I have no clue.

Double-sided herringbone print stuff. It's really soft and quite fluffy, maybe somewhere between microfibre and brushed finish. Very strokeable.

Paper crane print quilting cotton. Probably for pockets.

Waterproof nylon. For that time I decided I wanted to make an umbrella.

White silk habotai. I got 5 metres because the price was good, but this is all that's left!

Oh for the love of novelty prints! You need a novelty print cotton for a very specific theme/item? Of course they'll have 3 for you to choose from here!

Dinosaur quilting cotton. Because why not?

To be honest, I had a better time in the smaller shops, I got pretty grumpy in Tomato pretty quickly. But I did find some good linings - one of which I have fawned over in Cloth House before.

I was expecting to find a bit more in the way of nice linings that I've coveted in Cloth House actually, but there were surprisingly few. This probably means more pining in Cloth House in my future...

After Nippori I headed to Shinjuku to visit Sekaido (art supply store - no real sewing stuff except for an infinite number of Frixion pens) and Bunka Fashion School. I missed their open day and show by a few days but was mostly there for the shop. After wandering around the campus trying to find it myself (looking like a complete yutz) I finally resorted to asking the security guard (using a system of mime, grunts and overly gracious thank yous). The keyword was koubai and it's in the basement level (main building, take a lift down, it's on the left of the cafe). I picked up some tools, cheap leathers and embroidery thread. I also prodded almost everything in this shop.

This is what's left of the leathers, they were used in  the patches on my merch bags 

After Shinjuku, next was Shibuya and Tokyu Hands flagship store. I was told to be prepared for "everything you can think of", which captures its spirit very well! Again, I wasn't prepared for it to be this massive! Sewing-wise I picked up some webbing and some elastics. Its sewing floor isn't particularly extensive, but the amazing thing about this shop is that it stocks almost everything else (except books). Peripherally I also got some tiny coathangers/buldog clips to hang patterns.

After this in one day I was pretty exhausted. One day of massively indulgent fabric shopping. Oh the greed. And as always I think I came away with nothing I'd planned on, while still ticking off a huge proportion of my list!

Keeping it all wrapped up for 6 days until coming back to the UK was excruciating, but loading it into my poor broken suitcase and dragging it home was brutal!

Wheel #1

Wheel #2

Repair in progress (shamefully still in progress)

(#noregrets)

One single day planned, done and dusted. Was this the best bit of trip? No, but I could enjoy the rest of my 2 weeks undistracted by textiles. Except for one very important pilgrimage...to the Nani Iro atelier.

Perhaps I didn't show enough decorum in its hallowed halls. Perhaps I should have looked a little more closely at the other shops in this arcade. Nope. Atelier Nani Iro was the destination and the staff were very polite when dealing with a sweaty, overexcited foreigner. I left with a beautiful haul and a very light wallet. It was good.

Five Senses print (see in the online store)

Shine Many Ways print (see in the online store)

SAAA SAAA Rondo print (see in the online store)

Poppy Trip print (see in the online store)

Bed Grass Cozy print (see in the online store)

Lei Nani - For Beautiful Corolla - Sea Hawaii print (see in online shop)

So that's it, what should I do with it all?

K

Internet resources used to plan fabric shopping

Cashmerette's day out in Tokyo
Tilly's trip to Japan
Japanesesewingbooks directions to Nani Iro
Daphnesensei's post about Bunka

Shape Shape again

Procrastination is an ugly thing.

I sat on this project for a year, then cut it out and sat on it for another year, by which time I'd forgotten everything about the pattern. In some mad and fleeting moment, I got it sewn up in a spare afternoon a couple of weeks ago.

It's the Sleeveless Scarf Blouse from Natsuno Hiraiwa's Shape Shape book, cut in a grey/blue chambray from La Petite Emelienne in Strasbourg (now closed down! :( ) the topstitching was just a random colour I had in my thread stash at the time, I think it's a midnight blue.

Having finished it, I can say the pattern is a little boxy and runs to the top of my hips. This was planned to fall into the category of "quirky but socially acceptable officewear", but it's a bit shorter and a bit boxier than I'd have liked.

The scarf neck is two pleated pieces of fabric attached at the shoulder, which should be artfully draped around your neck. I made my scarf from jersey and didn't hem it so it rolls in on itself a little.

I also switched out the buttons for some snaps because it seemed like they would suit the simplicity/minimalist aspect of the rest of the shirt. Big buttonholes seemed like they'd be a bit too heavy.

Incidentally, I'm experimenting more with sewing these on by machine. Generally I choose handsewing but machine stitching might be faster and more secure. Thoughts?

K

Yet more boring office sewing...

Hi everyone!

Another quickie make for you today. I'm fighting a war on officewear as everything I own that once was smart is turning to rags. You saw the recent capris, but I'm also working on some skirts too.

Meet my first attempt at actual flat pattern drafting.

Skirt

This was designed as a base to other patterns and could actually be called a wearable muslin (prototype). The skirt sits at my natural waist (which does feel crazy high), but it means that I can design stuff to sit lower in the future.

I'm currently using the whasijig as a glorified pinboard

It's also a very different shape to me...

The skirt is made from a quilting cotton called Wordplay. From a distance it looks like an interesting pinstripe, but it's actually supposed to resemble shelves of books. The lining is a polka dot remnant I had lying around.

Innards

Back innards

There is a lapped zip on the side, and I hand stitched the lining to the zip tape on the inside. In terms of finishing, I'm very happy with this! ( there's a peek n how neat the stitching is n the top left of the above pic, see it? )

I also added one tiny functional detail: a loop on the waistband to clip an office fob on to. Nice. Everyone needs these.

Loop and print detail

That's it really!

Bye!

Should have paid more attention in geometry class.

I've recently (read: the beginning of June) finished my first version of the Wiksten Tova and it got me thinking about stripes. This top was a really interesting exercise in deliberate cutting because I was working with scraps, not actual yardage. There were quite a few constrains on what could be cut from where. It's something I'm usually very lax about, so it got the cogs churning in my head.

Front

Back

Firstly, I wanted the front inserts to create chevrons from being cut on the bias, so folded along something like the CF line.

I see no chevrons. Whoops.

I also had a big issue at the back of having no single scrap long enough for the whole back piece , nor any scrap wide enough to cut a yoke on the fold. Once again, more chevrons and some flat piping to break everything up. Generally, I like the top, though next time I'll bring in the shoulders just a bit and possibly curve the hem a little. There's not much else to say about it really, there are hundreds of versions floating around the web so do go and check out all of the other lovely versions. Let's move on to something meaty.

I see a lot of suits everyday and it's had me pondering about stripe matching and manipulation in tailoring. Firstly, for stripes to always match over a shoulder seam, the shoulder seam angle compared to the CF/CB must be the same for both front and back bodice pieces. Okay great, so what? As long as your pattern placement is careful, your stripes will always match.

But what if they don't? Shoulder seams vary in placement and angle on several axes, which means you could have a style designed where the shoulder stripes NEVER match, no matter how careful you are. More importantly, you could feasibly achieve a point of fit (perhaps with forward sloping shoulders) where the stripes never match. Couldn't you?

Will shoulder darts throw off the stripe matching?

Secondly, I've been thinking about the CB line on tailored jackets. It sounds thrilling, I know. Stay with me, I'm about to spin off some mad thoughts. Please jump in with counterpoints if I'm waaay off the mark because it's mostly anecdotal.

CB seams aren't necessarily straight like the CF appear to be. I think this might be to do with our bodies having a more regular curve across the whole of our back compared to some odd lumps at the front, or perhaps the need for ease in the shoulders. That's beside the point. If you have a curved CB seam, your stripes will need to meet/splay out at some point.

Oval. Oval. Oval.

I guess this is a trait of RTW and industrially produced jackets: you add extra ease in the shoulders by curving the CB seam to create more room. Simple, and works well with plain fabrics.

Bus many industrious sewists know that the traditional norms dictate vertical lines are good. Good fit is the grain running perpendicular to the floor. Since men's jackets don't really have darts, logic says that these stripes should run vertically and if they're a bit curvy, that's probably not a good thing.

The curve on this CB seam is quite gradual

But, I think good tailors can get around this. There are techniques to steams and shape suit cloth to add room at the shoulders while essentially maintaining straight stripes at the CB seams. This will obviously only work with certain fabrics, more likely a wool than a poly for example. It's also obviously more time and labour intensive. This will be reflected in the price.

In fact, appear straight from afar...

So here's what I'm wondering now:
- Are curved stripes generally an indicator of an industrially produced jacked while straight/vertical ones an indicator of a bespoke/artisanal suit?
- Where's the tipping point between these two methods?
- What can you know about a man's background, socioeconomic status, financial resources, outlook...etc just by looking at his suit? (Or just the angle of his suit stripes)
- Does this apply on a large scale? (ie: changes in the garment industry towards certain production techniques?)
- Can producers of these jackets manipulate these expectations? Can they make an inexpensive poly suit look expensive by creating patterns and establishing a process with vertical and parallel lines? Can a Savile Row tailor make a bespoke suit look industrial by cutting a suit to fit industrial characteristics?

Is this a barmy discussion point, or is there something to it?

To finish, I wanted to leave you with a dynamic shot of the Wiksten in action mid-boogie. They came out a bit blurry.

Until next time...

Don't get shirty with me!

I decided to do a bit of a Robson & Jerome today so here are some pics from up on the roof.

Possible future picnic location...

I decided to test out the Twist & Drape Blouse from Natsuno Hiraiwa's Shape Shape. I love the stuff in this book, partly because I'm hoping I won't need to adjust any of the patterns, falling squarely into the S category.

Front - bad choice of undershirt...but hey

Back

I love the fact this can be worn both ways around too.

Back to front

Front to back

All the seams are flat felled, with a little bit of blue topstitching too. Part design feature, part thread shortage.

I tried a new interfacing with this shirt, which is a lot lighter and softer than the one I've used previously. It's absolutely fantastic, definitely going to be used in a lot of facings because it doesn't distort the drape so much. I've heard a lot of people go on about using the right kind of interfacing but  this is the first time I've actually understood why.

The fabric is an embroidered polycotton I got in a swap with Lisa at Small Things. It has been sat in the stash for a while but since the wrong side is on show a lot for this blouse, it works really well.

Instructions in the book are minimal. One BIG thing I'd draw attention to is the instructions for finishing the raw edges. I think they're overly fiddly and really didn't lend themselves well to my style of finishing. It would be a lot easier to bind/finish the whole edge before adding facings. I got a bit lax and fudged it, thinking it would be fine. Unfortunately the dodgy area below is slap bang in the middle of the drapey bit so it's going to pay to be a lot neater next time.

Now, the question is...how on EARTH do I style this? Colours? Jacket/hoodie? Grey's not my strongest colour so what can I do? Ideas please...

Right, now to take some finishing work and tea to the park

K

(Yesterday's meetup was fantastic, but I'm suffering a bit of a fabric hangover...more comprehensive post to follow! Massive thanks to House of Pinheiro for organising, we met so many amazing people!)