Friday Finish - Drawstring Bag

I made a simple drawstring bag out of a piece of shibori fabric.

Front flat

Back flat

Drawstring pulled

Shibori Museum in Arimatsu

I originally planned to visit this museum and take the shibori class over a year ago, but that was when I broke my arm, so I had to cancel.  You have to make a reservation ahead of time, but you can do it online and in English here.  The first floor of the museum is a showroom, the second floor is the museum and classroom areas.  The sales clerk spoke English, but the Shibori teachers, well, not so much. I chose to make a "table center".  The class involves stitching and tying. The teachers thread the big sharp needles and have them all ready to go. They do the dyeing after the class and mail it to you later.

After the class, I took my time looking around the museum.

If you are in the Nagoya area, I highly recommend the musuem and the class! 

I have already received my table top piece in the mail.  It looked like this when I pulled it out of the envelope.  

After taking out the stitches, it looked like this.  

I followed the instructions and rinsed in cool water and let it dry, but did not iron.  

I like it!

Arimatsu

Arimatsu is a charming traditional Japanese town, known for its shibori since 1608. I felt like I stepped back in time.  If you visit, I highly recommend staying at Guesthouse Mado, like I did. It's about a five minute walk from the Arimatstu train station and about five minutes from the Shibori Museum.  The owner speaks English and really went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and happy. The whole place was exceptionally clean and the breakfast was delicious.

All of the buildings in Arimatsu have these four shibori panels that spell out A-Ri-Ma-Tsu in Japanese.

This is the Shibori Museum

Come back tomorrow to see photos of the museum and my Shibori class!