I finally made it to Tokyo, and with only a two day stopover before heading off to Paris I had to hit Fabric Town. Yes, there is actually a place called that in Tokyo - Nippori Fabric Town. (click this link for a great map.)
When you get there just follow the signs, you can't miss it.
But it's a sleepy town old Tokyo and the shops didn't start opening until about 10am. And as we arrived in Tokyo on the hottest day in 100 years, seriously.... this fabulous cafe was a welcome haven, Cafe Bird. Especially since my husband Brad and I had our 5 year old Remi as a traveling companion. Best iced coffee i've ever had and it really gave me the zing i needed to tackle the fabric.
With limited time i headed straight for the mother of Tokyo fabric - Tomato. There's actually 4 Tomato shops all on the same street specialising in accessories, interiors and variety fabrics.
So i spent about 2-3 hours running around about 5 different levels of the main variety fabric store and the notions/accessories next door. They only take CASH, and minimum cut is 1 metre so be prepared. I had Brad and Remi helping me to start with, but they saw my eyes glaze over and left me to it. There was much to keep them occupied in the area.
There were amazing japanese fabrics in traditional and contemporary designs, as well as lots international favourites from america. It just went on forever........
Another handy helper i had was a zine i bought from www.askingfortrouble.org
It's an amazing shopping guide for Tokyo and has directions on how to get to Nippori Fabric Town, it was only £1 and was great as Tokyo can be quite overwhelming.
A lovely blog to read for hints and inspirations is Japan Craft Journal
(i'm actually in Paris, it's taken me a while to get around to blogging - too much strolling, eating and just soaking up the parisienne atmosphere, so stay tuned for more from tokyo and paris. We're off to the Loire Valley and Dordogne tomorrow...)
