Tenugui

I have gotten really obsessed with tenugui lately. Tenugui are Japanese cotton hand towels that are typically 35 by 90 cm and often printed with really cute interesting patterns. I became obsessed with them by shopping at the Marukai 98 cent store where they sell some cheep (made in China instead of Japan) but still cute tenugui. Here are some dish towels that I made by piecing together different tenugui that I got at Marukai 98 cents.



But then I found this book at a Japanese book store in Torrance and became really obsessed with the patterns on the tenugui that mostly can only be found in Japan.



It's just ridiculous how cute some of the patterns are. Anything from fruits and vegetables, to any kind of animal, to weird stuff like test tubes and beakers. There is one place that I have found in LA though that sells the really nice tenugui, tortoise in Venice. The only problem is they are $12 a piece. I'm starting to think they might be worth it. Check out this owl one they sell there.



I've made a good number of random things with the Marukai tenugui. Like this bag.



And my favorite this apron.



I just realized that I posted pictures of this apron in two blog entries in a row. I just really really like how it turned out.