An ocean of notions

I admit it, I have a problem. I am completely and totally obsessed with bags. For years, I would only have one purse and when it wore out, I'd buy another one. But now that I can make my own, I've become a bag-oholic. Really, how many bags can one person have? Rob even built me my own purse shelf in the front hall closet, and it's piled and piled with bags of all sorts. I think some of you can understand - the bag you bring to a bbq isn't the same one you'd take "to shopping", right? And I'm always in search of the perfect everyday bag: comfy, not too big, and easy to access.

One of the things that has always frustrated me in the past is the lack of purse notions around here. The only color of webbing I can usually find is dark blue or black. So I made sure to keep my eyes open in Japan for any interesting bag handles or webbing.

At the Toji Temple Market in Kyoto, I found a little stand that had linen fabric, webbing, and yarn. This is what I got from them (and at a steal - 10 meters of webbing for $2.50!)


The place where I found the most notions was the supermarket in Takayama. I think it was because it was so small I could find everything easily. At the bigger fabric stores, I was so overwhelmed by the fabric that was all I could concentrate on. I found different kinds of webbing for some future tote bags.


They also had a fantastic assortment of leather purse handles. I've been coveting these ever since I got my first Japanese craft book. So cute!


I got some other things too, including a few buttons, some thread on cute spools, and some trim.



At Linnet, they had beautiful trim. Some were simple:

while others were fancy!


When my niece was 2, fancy was her favorite word. Speaking of my niece, I wanted to share another craft book I bought in Japan. I have no use for a book of girl's clothing (my niece is growing so fast that I think anything I make her would be too small in a matter of days) but I just had to buy this one. I realized later it was because the little girl looks like my niece (albeit with makeup and curled hair).


Girls' Clothing (ISBN 978-4-529-04437-0)

The clothes are so beautifully presented and shot. I love this book!







Here's a page with all of the patterns included.


I'll save this book to make clothes for some little girl someday (of course, all of my pregnant friends are having boys!)