The Fabric Shopper: Nani Iro

Showing posts with label Nani Iro. Show all posts

What I Love About... Matatabi Fabrics

In a new feature here on The Fabric Shopper, we'll periodically take a look in the lovely shops of some of my sponsors. Periodically I will show you around the shop and what they have to offer. We'll start this feature by looking at Matatabi Japanese fabrics and what I'm loving in her shop (fabrics at top of post, Snow White and Elephants in 3 different colorways):

Large selection of polka dots, including Lecien's Color Basics.

Naomi Ito's Nani Iro Spring 2009 collection, above 2 are cotton/linen blends, but she also has some double gauze as well.

Really cute Christmas fabric, from top: Christmas border fabric from Cosmo, snowmen on canvas, bottom two are both Junko Matsuda Christmas fabrics.

Where to Find: Nani Iro 2009

Nani Iro 2009 for Kokka is the latest collection from designer Naomi Ito. In April I wrote a post about Nani Iro and Double Gauze, at the time Nani Iro's 2009 (double gauze) collection was just arriving in shops. Now that it's here, I thought I'd do a "Where To Find" post for these breathtaking and original fabrics.

Duckcloth (Australia)

Kelani Fabric (Australia)

If you know of any other sources (of Nani Iro 2009), please leave a comment and I will add it to the post!

Inspiration - The Long Summer Dress

It's the time of year to start thinking about warm days and outdoor living (at least in this hemisphere - I know you Aussies are looking to sweaters and cozy things just about now!) Where I live, summer is short and warm weather fleeting, so we spend every moment we can outdoors when weather permits. I love the idea of the long summer dress, flow-y and dream-y, perfect for outdoor music festivals, afternoons at the park, evening barbecues and days at the beach (lovely as Lake Michigan is, it is always too cold for me to swim in!)

Inspiration: courtesy Anthropologie, Pieced Gauze Dress by Wendy Katlen. Somewhat Bohemian, but not too much. Flow-y, but not in a "is she pregnant?" sort of way.

And some ideas for make-it-yourself long summer dresses:

Simplicity 2642 looks like the perfect fun, flirty long summer dress, although I might worry about the waistline on this being too puffy. It would, however, be perfect with the new Nani Iro Fuwari 2009 double gauze fabrics (found at Matatabi). The different patterns on the fabric would look really cool with the tiers.

Although not flow-y, this Simplicity 2587 by Cynthia Rowley looks like a perfect long summer dress. The pattern calls for woven fabrics and it would be a great opportunity to use some of the fun new prints just hitting fabric stores now. Above left is Pucci Flower in Kiwi by Anna Kennedy for Timeless Treasures (found at fabricworm Etsy) and above right is Medallion in Spring by Josephine Kimberling for Robert Kaufman (found at Fabric Supplies).

McCalls 5624 looks so breezy and light! Pattern calls for faille (definition from Mill Outlet Fabric glossary: A somewhat shiny, closely woven fabric of silk, cotton or synthetics, characterized by flat, crosswise ribs. It can have a stiff or a soft finish) or lightweight broadcloth (definition from Mill Outlet Fabric glossary: A fine, tightly woven fabric in a plain or twill weaves with a slight horizontal rib). Above left is Beijing Dots silk faille (found at Vogue Fabrics). Above right, lightweight cotton floral (found at Gorgeous Fabrics).

Vintage patterns could be fun, too, like this McCalls 5564 from Your Pattern Shop. Pattern calls for lightweight cottons like London Calling Cotton Lawn SunFlower (found at Fabric.com) and Marimekko Leaves and Roses (found at Fabric Fairy).

Nani Iro and Double Gauze

There has been a lot of talk about double gauze lately, thanks in part to Heather Ross' new Far Far Away fabric collection in double gauze. Japanese designer Nani Iro has released fabric collections in double gauze for years and her Spring 2009 fabrics should be arriving to online fabric shops any day now (Matatabi has 2 designs in stock as of this post).

Superbuzzy has written the definitive post on what double gauze is: Fabric 101: What is double gauze?

Let's look at ways others have been using double gauze:

Women's Clothing:
According to the Superbuzzy post, double gauze is embraced as an ideal summer weight fabric.

::Above left:: Pam of Flint Knits made this Simplicity 4077 pattern with Nani Iro double gauze.
::Above right:: Nani Iro fabric as seen on the streets of Tokyo by Jennifer of Moving Hands

::Above left:: Tunique Japonaise from Charotte Carotte's flickr photo stream, shirt pattern is from a Japanese craft book (click over to her flickr stream for ISBN #)
::Above right:: Michelle from Green Kitchen models her shirt, Simplicity #5197 made with Nani Iro fabrics.

Children's clothing:
Jennifer from Moving Hands has made many beautiful clothes for her children from Nani Iro double gauze fabrics. Take a look:

All photos courtesy of Jennifer of Moving Hands
::Photo on left:: Vintage McCalls 2434
::Photo in middle:: Pattern from Japanese craft book "Basics for Girls"
::Photo on right:: Simplicity 4206

Quilts:
Double gauze makes for very soft quilts. Ashley from Film in the Fridge is in the process of piecing a quilt with Far Far Away double gauze, read about her experience here: quilting with Heather Ross' Far Far Away

::Photo on left:: Kimono Quilt by Hilary of Wee Wonderfuls
::Photo on right:: Quilt for baby nephew by Kelly of Superbuzzy

Find free patterns on Nani Iro's web site. Instructions are in Japanese but many of you may have no trouble just following the diagrams. Here is a sampling of the 26 projects available from this year's release alone: