this is . . . me taking a picture of myself in the mirror with my favourite accessory

Phew! What a mouthful!

I wouldn't say that Olive is necessarily my favourite accessory (I do have a rather serious bag fetish) but at the moment she is my only and constant accessory. The sling that I carry her in has definitely reached the status of favourite baby accessory, too. It was completely indispensible in Tokyo, where we abandoned all use of the so-called "small" pusher that we had bought in Australia before we left. Baby carriers are so common in Japan, in fact, that public toilets have cubicles with a high chair on the wall that mothers can unstrap baby before relieving themselves. There now, isn't that exactly what you wanted to know? How do I get myself so side-tracked?

Back to the topic: I like to carry Olive with me wherever I go. It keeps her happy because she's close to me and it means that I'm much more mobile than using a pram. I keep thinking that Olive will be too heavy to carry soon but my muscles seem to be growing at least as fast as she is. Maybe I should make myself another sling using more interesting fabric but hey, I live in Melbourne - the black has served me just fine.

I heart ... toadstools

I have already come to realise that the "look what I made today" formula may become a little dull so I thought I'd introduce my own post theme, each time looking at a motif that I am particularly fond of. Today is toadstools. I only wish I'd taken some photos of the fungus sections in some of the larger food stores in Japan. They were amazing!


Toadstool fabric from Japan. I would also have a picture of the beautiful Japanese toadstool fabric currently on sale in Spotlight but I have already used all that I bought. Time for another trip...


Toadstool darning tool to help mend my holey tights.


From a little pencil case I picked up in a 100 Yen shop.


Gorgeous wool/linen shroom by little birds.



My very simple toadstools on bodysuits. Hmm. I really must learn to iron before I photograph. I definitely don't heart ironing, I'm afraid.

fabric shopping in Japan

Apologies (mainly to myself) for the lapse in blogs as I have been in JAPAN!!! for the last two weeks.
Before I left I checked the web for details of where to find the best fabric stores so now I shall do my part and add what I have learnt:
Yuzawaya seems to be the largest crafts chain store. You can find their locations on the website and their buildings have a red knitting sheep on the outside. I went to the MinamiSenzu store but actually wasn't that impressed by their fabric selection. But I do suspect that it may have been one of their smaller branches.
In Tokyo, Nippori (on the JR Yamanote line) is the place to go. From the station, signs will point you to the "Textile Town", a street where almost every store sells fabrics, each with a "Textile Town" flag flying out the front. The best of them is Tomato, with so many sections and floors that I didn't get time to explore them all. The minimum cut for most of their fabrics is 1 metre and they only take cash.
In Kyoto, Nomura Tailor has two small stores jam-packed with ultra-cute quilting squares for just Y105 each. I went to the store closest to Kawaramachi subway station. From the intersection of route 24 and Shijo-dori, walk westwards on the north side of the street until you reach the second covered walkway. Turn in. Soon after you walk past the first intersection with another covered walkway you will find Nomura Tailor on the left.


Quilted fabrics from Tomato and Nomura Tailor.









Plastic-coated fabrics from Tomato and Nomura Tailor.









Cotton fabrics from Nomura Tailor and Yuzawaya.










Cotton fabrics from Nomura Tailor.










Small cotton squares from Nomura Tailor.