Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Umami Bag Book

Japanese craft books make up about a third of my book collection.  In years past I was lucky enough to be a frequent traveller to Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Top of my agenda was always to fit in a visit to Kinokuniya, to spend a happy couple of hours perusing the latest crop of Japanese craft and sewing books. Many are a nice compact size and I always came away with a couple to slip into the homeward-bound luggage. The severe aesthetic of the page design, the ethereal prettiness of the models, the luminous photography—these factors all kept me coming back for more. The shelter versions, such as Come Home, are especially riveting. The layouts always have multiple pages of teeny tiny photos of tiny perfect homes that illustrate the wabi sabi concept of perfectly imperfect.

Today, though, sewing is our subject. Home-sewn bags from Umami by Yoshimi Ezuro, from this publisher

The bag featured on the cover was fascinating to read about and mull over the schematics of the construction technique, but it's sheer size and flopsy bottom didn't make me want to get out the fabric and scissors. This would look perfect flung over a slender 20-something's shoulder on her way to ballet class.

Next, a bag that I smiled at the first couple of times leafing through the book; but now has me reaching for the scissors.
A simple canvas tote with a flopsy indigo/black bloom that would look as good hanging on your wall as on your shoulder.
The technique to build the flower looks simple enough. 2 or 3 cuts of the same amoeba-blob with slightly varying lobe lengths, stitching them down in meandering U-shapes so the petals flutter just the right amount. Like.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

DId you paint the charming rock with the rose? Nice posts btw!

bc said...

at Geninne's, remember the pic of the pyramid of rocks? will look it up for you on her flickr