New fabrics

I am now back in London after a fab week in Tokyo. The International Bazaar went well and I got to catch up with a few friends (sadly not all the ones I'd have loved to) and sampled all the wonderful food I have missed since leaving Tokyo.

Needless to say, I went pretty crazy with the fabric shopping too and came back laden with goodies. Here is just a little sample of some of the pieces I bought.

I love this Fuji-inspired print.

Who could resist a cute dancing ninja?!

The torii gates were a popular print last year and I managed to find more.

Red daruma dolls.

The scale of these yellow fans is quite large and would be great on a clutch bag.

Kokeshi dolls are so sweet.

Peg doll project

My nieces came to stay last night and I always like to think of something fun to do when they come round. This time we tried making peg dolls and I'm so impressed with their results. I love the choice of colours and fabrics each of them made. Flo's takes inspiration from the Japanese kokeshi dolls with their stylish black bobs, whilst Lila's takes inspiration from the neon trend that is so hot right now.

 

Flo's nod to the kokeshi doll aesthetic

Lila's use of trendy neons

These were the original instructions, but we altered them slightly to work with what we had.

Kokeshi family

I often mention my love of kokeshi dolls on this blog, and I enjoy seeing how designers have interpreted them in a modern, funky way (one of which you can see here). 

I have had a small selection of three of my own traditional dolls at home, and yesterday I bought a fourth one to make it a kokeshi family! I love the quirkiness of each one and the newest one has a fab top knot that I haven't seen on the dolls before.

Mooshoo

Since moving to Japan, I have become intrigued by the traditional kokeshi dolls. These are simple wooden dolls that were hand painted and given as souvenirs and are now found in antique markets around Tokyo. I love the way that many people have interpreted them in new and innovative ways, but kept the original aesthetic of a simple silhouette. This Etsy shop caught my eye recently, with its bright colours and simple design, and it has a fab name too - Mooshoo. I love the simplicity of the ninja doll, as well as the bright colour and pattern of the Eskimo nesting dolls. A perfect little family to adorn your shelves!

You can see more lovely items here.