Vintage Yukata labels

I was asked if there are any more of the yukata labels from my last post to look at so I'm posting a selection.  They're all from a collection I'm selling in the shop. These photos would have been attached to bolts of yukata fabric to show how the fabric would look when the garment was made up. I think these are all post-war, many from the 1960's.

This last one with his unusually cheery smile is my favourite...



In Store...

A belated Happy New Year!  I know I'm slow getting started but I really do mean to post more this year.  Here are some items from around the shop to get  started.  We usually have some old china in the shop and this koi plate is one of my favourites...



I've started stocking some Japanese craft books. They're all inspiring and even though the patterns are in Japanese they shouldn't be too hard to follow.

I've got some quirly little kokeshi style ornaments including this pair of kappa. Kappa  are mythical water sprites who have a taste for cucumbers, among other things, which is why cucumber sushi rolls are called kappa-maki. They have bowl shaped heads which hold a magic liquid from which they gain their strength. They are not always malevolent but if confronted by a kappa you should bow low and when they return your bow the liquid will spill from their heads and they will lose their powers. I should note that there are varying versions of this story. 

I've been trying to sort out some of our paper and hope to be putting more out in the next few weeks...

Takashi put out some more chisels and saws over Christmas. The old Japanese tools are always popular. We had one family come in looking for saws  because a book on woodworking with children recommended Japanese saws for children to learn on. I guess they're easy to use because they have good solid handles and cut on the pull.

We usually have one or two 'haribako'  sewing boxes in the shop (lit. needle boxes) . This is a sweet  one probably from the 1950's  or 60's:

I'm not usually one for pinks and florals but I love the simple prettiness of this silk and I especially love the seersucker texture:

We have lots of these photo cards which were used as labels on cotton yukata  fabric to show what the fabric would look like when it was made up into a garment:



Season's Greetings

I can't believe the year is nearly over already.   I'll be taking a short break between Christmas and New Year and we'll re-open on Tuesday  3rd January. Thank you all for your support in 2011 and  I wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe Christmas - New Year.

I found this vintage Santa in a comic strip in the December 1934 edition of  'Fujin (housewives') Club' magazine...

'Kimono and Obi' 1960

These pictures are from a 'Kimono and Obi' supplement to  Shufunotomo ("Housewife's Friend') magazine from November 1960.

Customers are often surprised by the very fine wool kimono fabrics we have in the shop. They're often in great 1960's and 70's designs.  I'd love a bolt of this red and black marbling effect wool - though I'm not sure that the kimono is a great success with the model's sweet Audrey Hepburn look....

A couple more wool kimono....

And some wonderful coats...

A more traditional look for the young girls...



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.

10th Anniversary Exhibition - Part 3

Here are some more of the entrants in our 'mini-challenge' exhibition....

This is Chris Cook's 'scarf in progress' using silk 'yo-yos' made with one of the  templates that we sell in the shop.

Next is Janet Steele's ' Kanemizu - Nirvanic Water' . Janet wrote, 'while walking beside the confluence of two raging flooded rivers I saw a small area of peaceful water. Finding refuge within it were as many fish as it could hold'.



Margaret Armstrong's 'Rice Bag' is a lovely soft silk interpretation of traditional 'komebukuro' rice bags.

Elizabeth Banks' 'Japanese Iris' applique is stitched using old silk kimono threads.

In 'Whisper of Spring' Coral Tabart used shading seen in traditional Japanese silk embroidery on this very subtle piece of  old kimono silk.

I'm sorry that the photo doesn't do justice to the very fine work in this mini quilt by Myrna McHugh. The designs are from a set of floral kamon designs that we sell in the shop and are embroidered with multiple strands of old machine silk. The backing fabric is cotton kimono lining.

A long carry bag by Trish Reed made from vintage wool and blend kimono fabrics.

A shoulder bag  by Anne Gowans made from a mix of vintage silk and other kimono fabrics including a lovely piece of 'meisen'.

 This  'Forest Square' purse is a patchwork of subtle green kimono silks in an original design by Fern Sanger, age 15.



 Fern's sister Eden Sanger, age 11, made this silk trillium bag with a finely plaited cord.  Eden had seen a similar  bag  and knew it was made from triangles so she worked the pattern out herself in callico before creating this lovely version.

This 'Texture Journal' by Babette Moate is made from a selection of un-dyed kimono silks and finely overstitched ( it's a little hard to see some of the stitching in the photo).

Next are two 'fortune catchers' and a 'bell fruit charm' by Dolores O'Neill based on designs in Kumiko Sudo's 'Omiyage'.

Andrea Sharp's  intriguing 'Pinecone Bag' is based on a Japanese pattern and looks wonderful in these bright kimono silks.

Still more to come.....