Recent projects and Korean dumpster diving with friends

My mother in law is visiting and I haven't had much time to devote to personal sewing. I did want to share a small table runner that a friend pieced and I recently finished quilting. When it is completely done it will be donated to a fund raising event on base. I'm still an amateur at the quilting process but I did see improvement from sewing the first star to the last.

The other project is a mitten that I have been working on and off on for months and struggling to finish. I'm torn between just letting it become some sort of art piece and working on its mate so I have a full pair. The yarn is a cashmere and wool blend, very soft and densely knit. This was also my first pair of adult mittens. I wanted a challenge and I got one. It wasn't very difficult to knit, just tedious.

I am so glad most my friends are free spirits at heart like me. After knitting group last week my friend C and her husband were giving me a ride home. We barely pulled out of the alley when I spotted a stack of mannequins lying in the middle of the road. I questioned aloud whether they were for trash pick up and C responded they probably were, proceeded by "did you want one?". Without hesitation we stopped the car and I rushed to the stack and grabbed not one but TWO mannequins- a male and a female. Arms were falling off as we shoved and pushed them into their small Hyundai. 

When we got back into our driveway I decided to stick them in the back of J's pick up truck for him to haul upstairs before he headed to work in the morning.

Gunther and Frida

In their former life they were models for Puma in an athletic wear store. Now they guard our apartment hallway Home Alone-style. 

J asked if I expect to ship them back to the US with the rest of our stuff in a couple of months. Truthfully, if I can't find a good sewing related use for them I will re-chuck them. But for now I consider them a part of the family.

Happy Quilt makes me HAPPY!

I've been back one full week from my SE Asia trip and today was the first opportunity for me to hit up Happy Quilt. To my *extremely* pleasant surprise I found the new Bryant Park collection from Khristian Howell in the stacks and stacks of fabric. I picked up all the prints I could find in my favorite color combination. I bought more than enough fabric for a king size quilt and some other smaller projects, I can't wait to use these fabrics! Also available were new Vera Bradley prints, my favorite is "Sittin' in a Tree".

Bryant Park collection

Sittin in a Tree

On the sewing projects front: I am going to re-focus my energy on perfecting some samples of pointed collar corners and sleeve plackets. I want to add to my portfolio and these smaller projects won't need too many sewing tools, which is a good thing because I need to start packing up for our move in May. Have I said how much I am going to miss living in Korea?

I still have one blog entry to write about my fabric shopping experience in Cambodia. Unfortunately being in Vietnam during Tet put a large damper on most of my shopping. China was kind of a big bust too but I knew the areas where I was staying were lackluster in the textile arena. I am trying to get to Shanghai/Hangzhou/Suzhou in April, I expect to be much luckier bringing silks from these areas back with me.

Fabric shopping across Manila and Singapore

The more I am traveling across Asia the more convinced I am that Dong Dae Mun is the best place for fabric shopping. I have had some nice surprises here in Singapore but prices here are astronomical! Great quality, but boy it can hurt the pocket books.

I had a couple of pleasant fabric buying surprises in the Philippines, once at a local fabric market in Batangas City and another at the Mall of Asia in Manila. Cotton Depot at MoA was a serendipitous find while wandering through looking for another shop. I picked up some cotton lawn for about $5 USD/yd. Quailty was decent and they said it was Japanese cotton. The store at MoA had a small storefront, their main location is at Glorietta 5 (3rd floor). 

Cotton Depot, Mall of Asia, Manila

There are quite a few fabric stores at the SM Megamall in Manila, as well as Glorietta 5. Many of them had fancier fabrics for formal dresses and prices were fairly reasonable. I guess there is a bigger home sewing market in the Philippines than in Korea. I never made it to the big Divisoria market, maybe next time when I find a local who knows that place well. Apparently there is a lot of petty thefts at the market, foreigners are targets.

Singapore also has had some wonderful fabric shopping areas. An online Singaporean sewing friend kindly met up with me and showed me her favorite haunts on Arab Street and Chinatown. A lot of the Italian silks were absolutely gorgeous, at $75 SGD/meter and higher, I decided to skip buying any. The money I "saved" there came in handy when I was taken to Nicole Xavier in Chinatown. WOW. Hello there, Liberty of London cotton lawns.... I was in love!

Nicole Xavier, Chinatown, Singapore

I picked up a couple of yards of a beautiful cherry blossoms print, oh how I wanted to get more. With the exchange rate and meters to yards conversion the fabric was a little more than what I am seeing from online retailers in the US, but I am so in love with my piece. I researched more on Liberty of London when I returned back to the hostel last night, really look forward to getting more of this stuff in the future.

I returned to Arab Street today and came across a sale bin where I picked up an Italian silk charmeuse end piece for $10 SGD/meter. It was pure chance and a welcome cheaper price tag. Arab street is lined with vendors of fabric, most people buy their textiles here and then take it to a tailor to have garments made. So many beautiful silk prints in this area!

Arab Street, Singapore

I still have Kuala Lumpur, Cambodia, and Vietnam to hit up in the next few weeks. I wonder what other delicious textiles await me. :)

Secret Santa gifts unveiled

Last night my knitting group had our holiday gift swap. I ended up taking on two people because we ended up with an odd number of participants. 

For one partner I made another knitting yarn holder from McCalls 6256, and then altered a quilt  table runner pattern from online for the other gift. I've been teaching myself how to free motion quilt and loved practicing on these projects. I don't know why I didn't actually get more into this whole quilting business before; I love using the sewing machine more than the cutting and piecing aspects so machine quilting works out perfectly.

I am very happy with the button Stephanie and I found at Gwangjang last weekend, it was 800W and a perfect match for the yarn holder.

My second partner received a quilted yoga mat bag, an Amy Butler freebie. I also quilted the main panel, another excuse to practice my free motion work. Partner two also received a canister of Godiva Dark Hot Chocolate.

I received a pair of cabled fingerless mittens from my Secret Santa, it came at a great time because I've been losing steam working on my mitten. It was a really fun evening but I'm glad those projects are done and over with because I still have quite a bit on my sewing plate for December.

Internal spending cap

Lately I've been un-interested in adding more fabric to my stash... I see really cute stuff but it's taking a lot more to push me to open the wallet and actually buy it. Prompted by a recent thread on Pattern Review asking what everyone has spent on fabric in 2010, I went into our extensive budget spreadsheets to do a tally.

$3576.42

Aigoo!

That's even excluding other sewing items such as notions, patterns, magazines, books, and machines this year.

Do I feel guilty? No, not really.

Why? I don't have other luxuries and we live a relatively simple life without big extraneous expenses. We don't have debt and are financially responsible. Sewing is a productive and creative hobby and I really don't expect to be in the same spending arena once we return to the US. Guess I'm grabbing life by the reins and taking advantage of what's available to me here.

Have I mentioned lately how much I was going to miss Dong Dae Mun?

I am truly grateful to be able to live such a lucky life where I don't have to worry all the time about money. We're not well-off by any means, but being responsible with your money sure offers a lot of peace of mind and opportunities.

Fabric and notions from Tokyo!

We spent Thanksgiving in Tokyo this year and had a really great time. I had a sewing supply buying agenda, as usual, and went out to Shinjuku's Kinokuniya bookstore right after we had dropped off our luggage in the hotel. 

Book 1 of 5

I had been eyeing Bunka College's English translated textbooks for a couple of years now and what better place to pick up the series than in Tokyo at the Kinokuniya's flagship store... If they had it. A really sweet girl named Imee helped us out for about 20 minutes trying to locate these books. They had a few at another location in Japan but it would take a week for transit. That wouldn't work.

In the end we headed to Bunka College on Thursday and found the entire series in their bookstore. I picked up some other stuff too, including pressing hams and blocks, drafting tools, ironing pads, and some other knick knacks for my sewing use.

Hand sewing needles, bobbin holder, Chacoliner refills, pressing and pattern tools

Pressing hams and pads, drafting rulers, fabric from Nippori's Textile town

We made our way to Nippori to check out Textile town, it was easy to find after getting off the subway thanks to the English signs. Shopping wise, Jim spent money on fabric for pocket squares before I found something I really liked. That's the second time my husband has purchased material before I have... this monster is my own doing so I can't complain.

I was pretty disappointed at the selection they had there. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fabulous place to find stuff. I've just been spoiled by the selection, amount, and prices available at DDM. 

Speaking of prices, WOW. Overall we expected Tokyo to be pricey but to actually see the price tag of some things really made me do a double take. Let's just say my shopping spree at Bunka ended up costing a little more than my ticket to Japan, and we upgraded to business class on the way there. EEK. But if we apply shopper's math, I *saved* at least $90 on the books alone than if I had to order them from Kinokuniya online.

Checkout at Bunka College bookstore (my books are on that stand to the right!)

There were a few leather stores along the main street in Textile town. I saw some beautiful pieces of hide that made me want to start sewing purses. I reminded myself I was there to primarily pick up notions and I really didn't want to hoard just to have it sit in stash for years. I don't know price ranges for leather but what I did see felt reasonable.

Beautiful leather pieces big and small

One of the Tomato stores on the main strip

I did buy a few yards of fabric with traditional Japanese motifs, they will eventually become a quilt to commemorate our first trip there. While there were lots of natural fiber fabrics (cottons and linens), there wasn't much that really appealed to my garment sewing interests. Not a big deal, I'm no where near lacking in textiles for my projects.

For those who are visiting the area, the biggest fabric and notions stores in the area are the "Tomato" stores. I remember seeing at least two. One building was two stories (pic above) where they had linens and cottons geared towards garment sewing, and the other store was five stories with a couple of floors for quilting fabrics, a couple for sewing home decor/bags, and one for silks, wools, fancy fabrics for garment sewing. The first floor of the larger Tomato store had a 200 Yen/meter (about $2.40USD at the time) section. Much (if not all) of the bolts were cotton quilting fabric, which could be used for clothing, but the weave on some of these were not as fine as the more expensive stuff. Average prices were $4-15/meter for cottons, depending on the weave. The silks were around $20/meter and wool fabrics averaged $10-$20/meter. The whimsical Japanese printed cotton fabrics started at about $10/meter, most of which were a broadcloth or canvas weight, suitable for making bags and the like.

I looked at some of the notion prices on the fifth floor, Clover brand supplies cost just a little less than online or at DDM, so I skipped on stocking up.

Today is the first day of December, my mega sewing month. I also need to prep a lot of my sewing room to be shipped back to the US. I don't want to deal with packing headaches when I return from my Asia trip. And yes, I will be visiting fabric markets all across the continent starting in January.

Fabric shopping in Seoul at Dong Dae Mun, Part I

Seoul is any shopper's paradise for retail goods. Fortunately for me, it's also a place to find raw materials for my crafting hobbies. Dong Dae Mun (a.k.a. DDM) shopping area is where wholesalers go to buy their ready-to-wear merchandise. These malls and markets are also open to the general public and the area is most famous for its night markets (open until 4 am for the hardcore consumer).

My favorite area at Dong Dae Mun is the fabric market. If you want to go by the name on the buildings, it's Dong Dae Mun Shopping Complex. Here's how to get there by subway- you can Google for a full picture of the Seoul Metro system map. I've never driven there and only took the bus once so traveling underground is my usual MO:

Subway Line 4 (light blue)
Dong Dae Mun stop, Exit 9

Do not get off at the Dong Dae Mun History and Cultural Park stop. If you do, exit 13 will be the closest one to DDM and you will need to walk about 5 minutes. Refer to the picture (click to enlarge) for the general direction of where that stop will spit you out in the area.

Once you've arrived:
Coming up the stairs of exit 9, you will find building C of the shopping complex to the left of you after you pass a small newspaper stand and the edge of the surface parking lot of DDM. You can enter from a "main" entrance right next to the information booth, or find one of many other entrances along the buildings.

Navigating the 4 interconnected buildings with floors for shopping:
Building A- basement to 5th floor

Building B- basement to 5th floor

Building C- basement to 5th floor
The only 2 elevators in the market are in this building, the 5th floor of C does not have vendors, follow the signs when you get off the elevators to get to the 5th floor of Building A and B. I think this building goes higher but they are all offices beyond the 5th floor.

Building D- 1st to 4th floor (I'm pretty sure this building doesn't have a basement, at least I haven't been to the basement of D if it exists)

These 4 buildings are interconnected either by a "bridge" or with open walls to each other. If you aren't paying attention you will go from one building to the next without realizing the change. Each vendor has a sign over their stall that includes the shop's name, their phone number, and their identifying stall information. This is the format: the building letter, the floor they are on, and the actual vendor stand. In the picture below you can find this vendor in D-3-1811: building D, floor 3, area 1811 (all on the top left hand corner of the blue sign- click picture to enlarge).

Most of the time these stalls are in numerical order, but not always. As long as you have a general idea of where you are you shouldn't have to walk too far to find where you need to be. In the main aisles of each floor there are usually signs hanging from the ceiling to point to where 2 other buildings are in relation to you. Most of the time they are accurate but in my earlier trips I ran into a few that took me to no man's land. If you can mentally map out the layout of the 4 buildings you shouldn't have a problem hopping from building to building.

There are stairs in the middle of each building, some of the buildings have escalators too.

Operating hours during the week: 9 am -5 pm, 9 am -3 pm on Saturdays, closed on Sundays. On Saturdays the 5th floor vendors stay later than 3 (maybe up to 5 pm?) but most people on the lower floors start packing up around 2:30 pm. 

Things to be aware of when shopping:
-Old men (ajishis) carrying wooden racks filled with bolts of fabric on their back. Steer clear of the way when they are moving up and down the stairs or in the aisles, they will push you if need be. I can't blame them, bolts of fabric are heavy!!
-Space is tight and it's always busy. Bring a backpack if need be and I would wear it in the front for easier manipulation when moving/turning around tight corners.
-Any floor above the 1st floor will be quite warm in the winter. Wearing layers is essential to staying comfortable. The buildings are air conditioned in the summer but it can get warm too. 

-Restrooms are readily available by the stairs on each floor but most are squat style for the ladies, BYOTP- bring your own toilet paper.

-Filtered water from coolers is free on all floors, also usually found by the staircases

-The elevator button pushing ladies have *gorgeous* uniforms!!! I personally would kill myself if I had a job that involved pushing buttons all day long, maybe the cute clothes are supposed to help make it bearable. (I found this picture on Google)

With this information you should be able to get to the fabric market. How to find anything there will be covered in an upcoming entry, along with a quick run down of places to grab some food before you shop. I also want to tell you about the fabric shopping at Gwang Jang market, a great place to find cheaper remnants from DDM.