Japanese cranes

Each year I design a Japanese-inspired collection for Makower UK. One of the most recent ones was called Michiko and included this crane design which comes on a vibrant red background.

The bag has a red zipper closure, is fully lined and lightly padded.

Use this gorgeous little pouch as a makeup bag, gadget pouch or pencil case.

The perfect birthday gift for someone special.

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Stunning storks

A while ago I mentioned a collection I designed for Makower UK called Kimono which was inspired by the kimonos of Japan and one of the designs I created was a stork design. In Asia, the stork is a symbol of happiness and eternal youth and in Japan it is a mystical or holy creature, symbolising good fortune and longevity.

This design has now been used to create some rather fab items for my Cheeky Leopard store!

It's so lovely being able to create the fabric designs and then use those designs to create items for my store. The storks come in two colours and I've made coin purses and glasses cases in both fabrics. This coin purse is big enough to fit small change, credit cards and earphones.

Storks and cranes are majestic birds and are often used in Asian art and design.

This glasses case makes a great birthday gift for someone special.

In China, cranes represent happiness and a soaring spirit.

The black coin purse is a little more subtle than the red one.

Both the coin purses have a light grey blossom lining.

The glasses case is also perfect for storing phones in. The phone in the picture is an iPhone 6S.

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Kimono crazy

Another collection I designed for Makower UK recently was called Kimono, based on the designs of Japanese kimonos. Having lived in Tokyo for four years, I built up a rather hefty collection of kimono fabrics and often use them as inspiration for my designs. I decided to do this collection in a vibrant colour palette of purples and reds and introduced gold elements to bring out the colours.

With many of the collections we do, we like to include a panel design. This time I incorporated Japanese ladies wearing kimonos, with other traditional Japanese images. I wanted to use young, modern women as opposed to the more traditional geisha ladies and each one wears a vibrant kimono with a contrasting obi belt. These panels can be used for many different projects. Some people choose to keep them as they are and just quilt around the edges of the squares to use as a wall hanging. Other people cut them up and use the squares as cushion panels or as appliqués for other projects. The actual size of this panel is 24" x 44".

It's always great to see my designs in stores and I couldn't resist buying some for my fabric collection. I chose the stork design and think it would make a great coin purse or glasses case. Watch this space!

Kimono scarf

Here's a little something to brighten your day! It's a stunning silk scarf made from vintage kimono pieces stitched together. For this scarf I chose gorgeous shades of pink, red and cream and the images include stylised chrysanthemums and striking storks. This scarf can be draped around the neck or used as a wrap around the shoulders and is the perfect accessory for a little black dress. Pair it with a Cheeky Leopard clutch bag or a funky kimono cuff bracelet and you're good to go!

You can find it in my store here.

Fabric finds

So, after a fabulous and manic trip to Tokyo, I am now safely back home. My case is unpacked, clothes are being washed and I am back at work. But I'm still going through the stash of fabric I managed to buy when I was there.

A big reason for going to Tokyo was to sell my bags at the International Bazaar, but another reason was to stock up on more fabric for my collection. Tokyo is great for its vintage kimono and obi fabrics that can be found at the endless antique markets and shops around the city, but it is also a haven for any fabric lover. Its supply of fabric shops, most of which can be found in the aptly-named Fabric Town in Nippori, would keep any fabric addict happy for a very long time! My favourite shop is Tomato, a haven that is comprised of five floors! Each floor focuses on a different fabric type, cottons on one floor, silks on another, with bargains on the ground floor - this is the busiest floor and some gems can be found there with a degree of foraging and polite elbowing.

These two cottons caught my eye for their vibrant colours and fun themes. Pineapples are a popular image and I liked the juicy turquoise ground and loose rendering of the fabric above. I loved the sunny yellow ground of the origami birds below, with the odd addition of pink to break it up.

Another sunny fabric is this blossom design below. You can't get much brighter than this yellow and red combination which has touches of gold in the centre of the flowers. It will work well on both clutch bags and cosmetic bags and I see a vibrant red lining working very well with this design.

This cat fabric below was a must. Cats are very popular and this fabric would be fab made up into cosmetic bags and coin purses, or even a tote bag. Here and there is a silhouette in gold.

On top of finding new designs, I also like to buy more of the designs that have been popular for me. One of those is the stork fabric below that I have used for clutch bags and cosmetic bags in the past. It's a furoshiki fabric and is a lovely graphic design of storks in flight. I will use a red lining to match the red of the stork's beaks.

The other fabric I often pick up is a furoshiki fabric with happi coats on. It's such a typical Japanese image depicted in a very fun, graphic way. This will also have a red lining.

Along with a number of stunning obi fabrics I bought, which I mentioned in a blog post while I was there, I also bought some pretty vintage kimono fabrics. These are much finer and softer than the obi fabrics and have a totally different feel. I tend to home in on the vibrantly-coloured kimono fabrics and this one below is such a fun one in vibrant reds, greens and purples, using traditional stylised images of chrysanthemums and leaves.

The kimono piece below is slightly more subdued for me, but I loved the design and combination of flowers and bamboo.

On top of the multi coloured kimono fabrics, I also like the black and white versions and picked up two pieces that I liked. The stylised chrysanthemum is a nice allover design and I like the touches of orange and mustard in the centre of the flower here and there. The butterflies would work well with a contrasting colour, maybe a vibrant obi fabric?! Watch this space.....

Japanese juiciness

There's a bit of Japanese juiciness going on at Cheeky Leopard!

I've been busy making some lovely Japanese-inspired cosmetic bags. Each one uses a fabric that includes an image associated with Japan. These purses could be used for storing makeup, or as a gadget pouch for storing chargers. I use mine as a handbag organiser to store all the pesky small items that get lost in the bottom of my handbag.

This stork purse is made from furoshiki fabric. Furoshki is a wrapping cloth, used for wrapping gifts or for carrying groceries. I love the simple design of the storks and matched the red and white geometric lining to the red of the stork's legs.

This bag is made from a tenegui fabric (also a fabric used for wrapping presents etc) and depicts a simplified version of a daruma doll. The daruma doll is seen as a talisman for good luck!

I love this sumo purse! The images are fun and depict different sumo moves.

I gave it a black and white spotty lining.

I've used this blue and white stork fabric a few times and love its graphic image. I used a red and white polka dot lining that matches the red of their beaks.

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.

A clutch of clutches

Here's a little clutch of clutches that I made at the weekend. The colours are more subdued than normal, but I love them!

I will be adding them to my Etsy store over the next few days.

One is just a clutch, two have short detachable chain handles, and one has a long detachable handle.

I love the simplicity of this black, red and cream kimono fabric. It fits across the body or over the shoulder.

This kimono fabric has a stunning stork motif. I gave it a mustard yellow kimono lining for a shot of colour.

I've used this pretty kimono fabric a few times and love it! I gave it a terracotta lining to match the blossom.

This one is a beautiful chrysanthemum design that was featured in a Fave Fabric Friday post a few weeks ago.