The other day, Julie W took and I visited a remote, humble factory where cotton
yukata and
tenugui fabric are printed and dyed, and where she knew we could purchase seconds for a song. She hadn't been here in years and was hoping it was still standing! It was - but with far less fabric up for grabs - but it was still well worth the drive and a day's outing!
For me, it turned out to be one of those rare glimpses into real Japan - far outside the urban modernity of Tokyo - and one of the most memorable experiences I've had in Japan. I only wish I spoke enough Japanese to have been able to ask questions!
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| wow. |
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| Making arrangements for us to have a little tour. |
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| Digging out some of the seconds for us to see. |
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We start sifting through the pile of seconds... some good stuff here!
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| Some of it stained - but no problem - can be cut away at home. |
A brief tour begins... and frankly it was hard to know where to train my eye! It was very dark and hard to take pictures...
We watched two gentleman work for a few minutes. Our guide spoke no English and Julie and I speak such minimal Japanese that the only communication was basically "WOW!" on our part... and polite giggles on our guide's part!
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| Stencils, painting on the resist. |
And as Julie and I browsed through the fabric, our guide and her helper got back to work:
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| In the background you see the giant spinner, where the rinse water is spun out of the fabric. |
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| The printed, dyed, and rinsed fabric is steam pressed on this roller. |
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| We loved some of this fabric but seconds weren't available. |
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| The pressed fabric is then neatly rolled up. We each got a roll of this pretty tenugui fabric. |
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| Finished orders. |
What a great outing! Thanks Julie!!
Back home with my haul... dumped right by the washer. The hot pink was a last minute gift from our guide. She had so much of it and might just have wanted to get rid of it!
It took a couple of days to sort and thoroughly wash all the fabric (there was a definite presence of cats at the factory!) using many color-catchers:
I hung it all around the apartment...
And I've started to press and fold it all.
Miss K (daughter #2) is visiting from NYC, and next I'll show you a project we whipped up together using some of these irresistible
tenugui fabrics!
