When you live in Japan, sooner or later you become an otaku (geek in Japanese). The more I sew/craft and the more I develop my skills, the more I prefer working with higher quality materials and tools. Lately, I have been focusing on needles and little by little this passion has transformed me into a needle geek.

My latest discovery is Misuyabari, a needle shop which has been in the industry since 1651. They were the official needle-makers for the Emperor's palace!


On their website alone, you can count 79 types of needles (there are more in the store), and after one hour of browsing I felt overwhelmed. I ended up ordering a kit with different types of needles. From right to left in the picture below: silk needles, tsumugi needles (for thin wool and cotton), cotton needles (for wool, cotton and hemp), okuke needles (for very thin fabric), a sashiko needle, dress-making pins and thread scissors.


The distinctive feature of Misuyabari is quite a wide eye. This picture from their website showcases an average needle (on the left) and Misuyabari one (on the right). This makes it easier to thread.

Source: http://www.misuyabari.jp/index.htm

Now, I want to go to Kyoto just to buy more needles! Meanwhile, I will be working with the ones from the kit and documenting my experience. Although Gillian won't see my sewing dare finished today (SORRY), I am using the silk needle to finish my dress.

The needles felt kind of lonely in their paper envelopes and begged me to make them a nicer house. Inspired by Kyoto, the needles' place of origin, I made this tiny needle holder.


I even dared to embroider the needles' names in kana and kanji!

These are the Japanese sewing needles which I sell in my Etsy shop

Allow me a few more weeks to work with more materials and understand the needles a little bit better, and I'll give you a deeper overview of these little darlings.

Is anybody else a needle geek? Or are you nerdy about something else?