にっぽり繊維街- Fabric Wonderland

I am actually surprised I haven’t written anything about Nippori Fabric Town, or ‘Nippori Sen-i-gai’ (にっぽり繊維街) before. Especially now, that we live just a walking distance from there. Anytime I’m in need for some kind of sewing supply, I can just have a stroll to the other side of Nippori station to fabric wonderland – just like today, when I was in need of some lining for a skirt I’m revamping.  Nippori Fabric Town is actually a street packed with fabric and haberdashery stores next to each other, at least 85 of them.  The area was established during the Taisho era (1912-1926), and has both retail stores and wholesale stores that sell to retailers. The street is great especially for inexpensive fabrics like printed cottons or fabrics for toiles, but they also have more expensive good quality fabrics, sewing supplies, leathers, patterns etc. available.  If you ever decide to go or have a chance to go, Tokyo Craft Guide has kindly uploaded the fabric town map on their site. The map is also available at the fabric street stores. Most stores close at around 6PM and are closed on sundays.

 Momo is a small, but atmospheric fabric shop. They have a beautiful selection of fabrics with a touch of uniqueness to them.

Tomato is a favorite for many fabric street goers, as it is basically a fabric department store in 5 different buildings, with very inexpensive fabrics -sometimes for 100yen/meter. I like it too, as I can always find stuff I need for toiles in particular, but also some nice silks, silk chiffons, chirimen cottons, Sou Sou prints etc. My personal favorite in the fabric street is however a little shop called Momo, peach.  They have a good selection of various kinds of cottons, silks, linen, hemp etc, often with interesting dyes and beautiful colors. I also like the tranquil and somehow rustic atmosphere in the shop – unlike the crazy hustle and bustle that goes on in Tomato.

And so, did I find the lining I was looking for today?

I sure did, and plenty of other things too. That’s the danger of this street – you may go there thinking you’re only going to get one small thing, but end up going home with bags full of fabrics. I think I was very reasonable though, as I didn’t spend a fortune, and it’s all of nice quality. Got some sewing supplies for ridiculously cheap (100yen/bundle), some discount chiffons for summer tops and my skirt lining. I also bought some unbelievably soft and comfy grey cotton jersey and some dreamy, light, cotton silk from Momo. I’ll do some home dyeing experiments on the cotton silk one of these days.

My catch of the day!

P.S. I also just noticed that HandMade in Japan Fes 2014 is on at Tokyo Big Sight from July 19th to July 20th. Might go!