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I’ll get to the Japenese sewing in a bit, but let me start at the beginning…

It all started with Martha Stewert and the guy cooking the Japanese hot pots.  Then, by chance, I found that Japanese Hot Pots cookbook in the library so I used it to make the yummiest beef sukiyaki I’ve ever had.  (Which I had to rename “Sukiyaki Western Django” because I liked that movie so much-especially the costumes.)

I was so enamored with the Japanese hot pots, that I decided to stop at the huge Japanese supermarket Mitsuwa in the Chicago suburbs this weekend and purchase the hard to find ingredients for more hot pots.  Then on the way out, we stopped by the Japanese bookstore and I bought 2 Japanese sewing magazines. (Y’all know I’m addicted to magazines, right?)

I think my life may have just shifted a little bit.

I’ve been in love with Japanese food since I was introduced to it 14 years ago while I was pregnant.  We frequently went to the Japanese market for food.  I’ve even seen Japanese Zakka sewing projects and loved them. 

But this was different.  These are MaGaZINeS full of Zakka sewing.

May I introduce to you my new pals, Cotton Friend and Cotton Time…

(I feel a little bad showing photos of the magazines which have their own copyright, but since you can’t easily get them in the USA, and because these photos are less revealing than you flipping through the magazine at the newstand, I don’t feel too badly.)

These are not just magazines.  They are full of projects complete with full size patterns, step by step instructions and full color photos of the assembly process.  Many craft and fashion magazines had freebies inside them.    Cotton time included a bit of fabric so you can make the project on the front cover.  (how cool is that???)

Let me start with Cotton Friend which is geared towards clothing. I really like the simple style of these clothes in linen.

There is a big, fold-out sheet with all the patterns for all the clothes in the magazine (in one size). But all the pieces are printed all over each other. You might need a degree in cartography to figure these out. Reading Japanese would also help.

The Cotton Friend magazine is more geared towards sewing crafts and smaller projects.  Look at this embroidery & applique pattern on the very first page…it is so adorable.  They include the stitch diagram too.  Loving this.

Even though I don’t speak or read Japanese, their photos are enough to catch on and figure out the steps for most projects.

This page below made me think of Charissa’s gift wrap blog which is often inspired by Asian aesthetics.

Oh deer, what a cute satchel you have there.

The two photos below look like they could be straight out of Country Living Magazine or something, except for all the Japanese writing all over the place.

Here’s another freebie stuck in the Cotton Friend magazine.  It’s full of tools and techniques for crafting children’s food.  Have you ever seen food look this cute?

You paper junkies will love this.  Want to know how they get the faces on those rice balls?  They have craft punches and they use it on a sheet of nori, which is a dried kelp used to wrap sushi.  It comes in sheets like paper, so they punch designs and decorate the food.  Upon further research, there is a whole flickr group for bento boxes if you want to see more like this and source the face punches.

That’s enough photos for now.  I’m in love with these magazines even though I can’t even read them!

Before I go, I’ll leave you with this little earworm.  It’s been singing in my head for days – so maybe passing it to you will help me shed the Vapors one-hit-wonder from 1980.

(Tip – play the song while you go check out the photos of zakka sewing from google images and bento boxes on flickr.

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