Golden clutch bag

Check out this stunner! It's a cute clutch bag made from a vintage Japanese obi fabric. The obi is the 'belt' that goes around the kimono and often comes in vibrant colours and bold designs. This one is no exception with its stunning geometric motif and terracotta and metallic gold colours.

The clutch bag is the perfect size for a night out and is big enough to fit phone, keys and makeup.

It has a zipper closure to keep everything safe and is lightly padded to protect its contents. It's lined in a burgundy cotton fabric.

This could also be used as a travel bag or handbag organiser, to store smaller items in your bag.

This clutch bag makes a great gift for a Japan lover. All items are gift wrapped in pink tissue paper and can be sent straight to their recipient with an optional gift message included.

 

Tokyo - Day 2

Another gorgeously sunny day with bright blue skies, but pretty chilly! After a warming coffee at the Starbucks overlooking Shibuya crossing, we headed off to Shinagawa to check out the Sony archives.

It was really interesting to see how much influence Sony has had over technology over the years, such as the Walkman and the Discman. I especially liked these 1960s radios.

From Shinagawa, we headed round on the Yamamoto line to Nippori. I'm afraid a trip to Tokyo is not complete without a trip to Fabric Town in Nippori.

I started with a visit to Tomato, a fabulous fabric store on 5 floors. 

I bought some fun modern cotton fabrics there, and then crossed the road to a vintage kimono and obi shop.

I nearly always find at least a few items there and this time was no exception! I came out with three fabulously blingy obi fabrics and a beautiful kimono which will all be made up into clutch bags when I get home.

After a much needed lunch break at Mos Burger, we walked through Yanaka, visiting some of the temples and enjoying the atmosphere of Old Tokyo.

I love the calmness of the area and the serenity of the small graveyards, there's also an amazing choice of food options.

From Yanaka we got the train to Kuramae where I went to my favourite clasp shop.

The shop has been around for about 80 years and sells everything to do with bag-making. I stocked up on some more of the clasps that I use for my cosmetic bags.

After another much needed rest at the apartment, we headed out to Omotesando to meet my friend Michiko.

We ate scrumptious tempura washed down with warm sake. Yum!

A new addition

Cheeky Leopard has a new member of the family - this little kimono fabric handbag!

It is a simple envelope style, using two different kimono fabrics and with a hidden metallic snap closure. The strap is made from a vintage gold obijime and is long enough to be worn over the shoulder or across the body. You can find it in my store here.

 This bag is made from two different kimono fabrics. One is a red and cream stork design and the other is a multi coloured chrysanthemum design, which has been used on the flap of the bag.

I decided to use bright pink cotton for the lining, for a bit of fun.

The gold of the obijime looks fab with it!

The obijime is used when wearing a kimono and is the sash that is tied around the obi belt, to keep the obi on, but also as an added decorative element. They often come in vibrant shades and you can also add a further decorative element using an obidome, a small brooch which is threaded onto the obijime.

This image above shows how an obidome can look. I love the fact that an aqua theme has been used here. The kimono has water swirls and fish printed on it, the obi is a gorgeous turquoise colour and has reeds as week as dragonflies embroidered onto it, and then the obi dome is a fish design.

The images above and below show the last two steps of me having a kimono fitting.

I had a wonderful experience of being shown how to wear a kimono, not long before I left Tokyo, by an experienced kimono teacher and her apprentice. The teacher chose a stunning blue and white kimono, multi colour obi and turquoise obijime.

You can read about my kimono experience on my Tokyo blog here.

Kimono lesson

Yesterday I had the chance to try on a kimono properly, just days before leaving Tokyo for good! I feel very honoured to have had the opportunity and you can read about it here.

I just had to mention the colours - they were stunning. Anyone who knows Cheeky Leopard bags, knows that they tend to be bright and vibrant, so when this kimono and obi were brought out for me to try on, I was in heaven! Note the beautiful way they tied the obijime.

Furoshiki wrapping

The other day I ended up kimono shopping in Jiyugaoka, a small town near where I live. The kimono shop I went to is tiny and one that I've been to a few times. I always find a gem or two there. The women who run it are lovely and always accommodating. This time they wrapped up my purchases in a beautiful furoshiki.

 My friend Rachael took a beautiful instagram photo of the wrapped items. 

Below are some of my purchases - mostly Japanese obi pieces.

New fabrics to play with

On saturday I went to a rather manic kimono sale which you can read about here. 

Here is a taster of a few of the pieces (mostly obi fabrics) that I bought. I'm looking forward to having a play with them all. Watch this space for some new clutch bags soon!

In celebration of autumn

Autumn is not quite here yet, but after a hot and humid summer, the cooler air of autumn will be greatly appreciated. In anticipation of this, I recently created a clutch bag made from a beautiful woven obi fabric with silver maple leaves woven onto a vibrant orange ground. I added a mustard yellow lining to add to that fall feeling.

You can find it on my Etsy store here.

Indigo and mustard

My blue and white clutch bag was recently featured in this gorgeous 'indigo & mustard' Etsy treasury by FoxandBrie. Click on any image to find out more.

UrbanBirdandCo $28.00	HelloVioleta $40.00	sleepyking $36.00	cheekyleopard $70.00
sweetpeaceandc... $15.00	CoyoteMarmalad... $22.00	SpectrumCosmet... $3.00	FineThreadz $39.00
minthome $325.00	orchideaboutiq... $99.00	JillianReneDec... $38.00	shadowjewels $15.00
branchbound $22.00	auntTeak $29.00	MovieStarMoon $70.00	spectrayarnand... $32.50

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Simple black and white

After focusing on the vibrancy of the obi fabrics for a while, I have decided to return to the more subdued colours of the tengui fabrics that I love.

Tenegui fabrics are something I discovered soon after moving here and was intrigued by. They are lengths of fabric that are sold throughout the year, but become more popular in the summer when they are used as head bands, napkins, or as gift wrapping for a present. There are hundreds of variations on design and colour, many of them depicting typical Japanese scenes or foliage. I love the fact that each of these pieces is also hand printed in the traditional technique. 

Needless to say, I have a rather large selection and am looking forward to making more clutch bags like these. The bottom one combines tenegui with a gorgeously simple coral pink and grey striped obi. You can see them here.