'Vintage Japanese Textiles' Exhibition

My interest in old things probably began as a child when I often spent weekends at auctions  with my parents who have collected all sorts of antiques over the years.  They have stopped collecting in recent years but my  mother is the curator of the Channel Heritage Centre at Margate   -  where there is one section devoted to my father's camera collection ( http://www.channelheritagecentre.org.au/CHC/Norton_Camera_Museum.html ) . The centre has a space for  community exhibitions and for the rest of this month they are hosting a display of textiles from my collection.   These are all from my personal collection (sorry, not for sale). You've probably seen some of these pieces here before - and some such as the sarubobo and shibori juban I will feature in future posts. 

 

 

Shibori-dyed  nagajuban undergarment:

Koi carp design panel of  indigo katazome :

19th century patchwork juban undergarment:

Spinning wheel for cotton or bast fibres:
 

19th century haribako sewing box (the top one):

 Sakiori rag weaving  worker's jacket
:

 
19th century sashiko vest:

 Sashiko furoshiki wrapping cloth:

Cotton gin for removing seeds and silk reeling wheel:

Indigo shrine banner (1861) and boro futon cover :

Taisho period girl's silk chirimen crepe kimono:

Patchwork uchishiki buddhist altar cloth:

Obi made from chirimen crepe kimono fabric:

The items in the case haven't photographed well... old thread spools,  shimacho weaving sample books and wooden lasts for children's tabi:

 

Edo period  oshie padded applique: 

Sewing accessories:

Sewing books and sarubobo monkey amulets and dolls:

If you live locally please drop in and have a closer look ( open every day 10am - 4pm  - entry by donation).   The museum is worth a look  - even if you can't make it this month - with interesting displays on life and work in the the Channel area, and of course my dad's camera collection!

Silk Skis

Customers often ask what others  are using our kimono silks for and they are usually  surprised if  I tell them that one of my  customers is using them in snow skis!  Here are a few photos and I'll put links below so that you can get in touch if you're interested in carrying your love of Japanese fabrics into the ski fields!

These first ones are using quite old yuzen  silks:

The ski on the left was made with an unusual and very  bold 1970's design silk:

Many thanks to Ian  from Black Jay Skis for letting me use his photos. You can contact Ian  on  Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/blackjayskis    or email  ianwhaley@bigpond.com  

Gallery - Aukje Boonstra

Aukje Boonstra is a well-known Tasmanian dyer, stitcher and all round textile artist who has been using fabric from our shop in some of her works for many years, and has taught workshops here in the past as well.  You can see some of her works and learn more about her workshops and other events on her website:  aukjeboonstra.webs.com  Here are a couple of her wonderful creations made for exhibitions earlier this year using remnants and paper from Wafu Works.

I was really excited to see this amazing outfit which Aukje made  from kimono remnants, natural dyed silk and a pre-used skirt  for the Wonders of Wearable Art  at the Chocolate Fest in Latrobe.

And equally amazing is Aukje's  'Book to Kimono' for the Burnie  'Paper on Skin' exhibition earlier this year. This is made from antique paper  which we sell in the shop and is  taken from various old Japanese books.  It's lined with black tissue paper and stitched with a traditional Japanese running stitch.  The mini kites on the back were  made by Aukje's late husband  Mal.

 

 

 

Gallery: Zyta's Sashiko Hanten

This is a truly amazing sashiko hanten jacket  that my customer Zyta Cwalinska has created using patches of antique indigo cotton from our shop.

 Zyta only began sashiko last year and her first piece  was one of the viewers' choice winners in our exhibition in October.  Zyta's hanten was inspired by traditional sashiko stitched and patched fishermen's hanten. She has  beautifully stitched the lining as well  but somehow I forgot to get photos so I'll add them later if I get a chance. 

 

 

Zyta's sashiko reflects what I love about a lot of old sashiko. It's a very individual piece which is full of character and shows the hand of the person who created it.  There is a warmth to Zyta's stitching which has been lost in many modern sashiko projects. We think of sashiko being traditionally done on plain indigo but it was often stitched on patterned indigos such as kasuri (ikat) as well. The floral  katazome panels wouldn't have been typical on fishermen's hanten but give it a more feminine feel and look stunning.  The combination of the fabric pattern and the sashiko pattern makes each panel in the jacket unique and gives another dimension to its character.  Many thanks to Zyta for letting me share these photos of her amazing work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibition Part 5 - Special Exhibit

We were very honoured to have this special project incorporating fabric, paper and other items from Wafu Works as part of our 10th anniversary exhibition. Emily Doi did this project when she was in grade six at Princes Street Primary School in 2009. It's in the form of the album of a Japanese war bride who moves to Australia  with her serviceman husband whom she met during the occupation.  She made her war bride a seamstress and  used items such as old needles and thread  from the shop in her album.
Emily entered her project in the 2009 Australian National History Challenge where she not only won the overall state and national awards for the grade 5/6 age group but also  the state and national awards in the 'Asia and Australia' and 'Museum Display Model' categories. Emily was named Tasmanian Young Historian  of 2009 and the album  was displayed for some time at the Australian National Museum in Canberra.

This final photo shows the beautiful piece of meisen kimono silk which Emily used to cover the album.  It was an extraordinary achievement and I'm very grateful to Emily for letting us display it as part of our exhibition.

10th Anniversary Exhibition - Part 4

Here are some more colourful entrants in our exhibition.....

Sandra Champion's 'Vintage Fragments' combines original mended fragments from antique kimonos with her own stitching.

Jill  Dixson's 'Japanese Fabrications ' uses a selection of vintage kimono remnants.

Also made from old kimono remnants is  Aukje Boonstra's 'Old Kimono'.  You might need to click and enlarge it to fully appreciate the lovely embroidery she has done on the lining.

More stitching and  old kimono remnants in an untitled work by Merran Franken.

Helen Ducker's 'Wafu Boxes' was inspired by the 'Time and Again' quilt by Susan Briscoe.

Helen Morrison's 'Style of Japan' is a traditional 'kinchaku'  drawstring bag made from 1970's woollen kimono fabric.

Connie Naotsuka's untitled work uses a freehand style of hitomezashi sashiko for a warm rustic effect.

This is Wendy Davey's  komebukuro/rice bag  in a mix of kimono remnants.

This is a detail from Kerri Batten's chain of 'sarubobo'   (lit. baby monkey) dolls. Antique sarubobo are a passion of  mine and I'll be writing more about them in future posts.

Next is Elizabeth Chaffey's  crazy patchwork 'Crazy Bag' .

Shaz Harrison-Williams is well-known for her colourful fold up hats which she sells at Salamanca Market. Her hats were  too big for the A4 criteria of our exhibition so she put one in a little bag....  Both the bag and the hat are made from old woollen girl's juban (undergarment) fabric and a heavier wool 1970's kimono fabric.  Here's the hat...

And finally Jan Janssen's  fun 'Geisha Seuss-she'

That's all the entrants in our exhibition. A Huge thank you to all of them for sharing their very varied talents and for all their hardwork.

 In my next post I hope to have one more 'special exhibit' using fabric, paper  and other items from Wafu Works.