Bags

Saturday while housecleaning I came across a couple of patchwork bags I've made in the past. I haven't really made too many bags in all my years of patchwork but I know many Japanese women do and there are loads of books for making bags of all sorts in the bookstores and libraries. In fact there is a whole genre of books called kindergarten bags in Japan.

All children when they start kindergarten in Japan need to have numerous bags to travel to and from kindergarten. Early after being accepted into a kindergarten the mother will be given instructions to buy (heaven forbid!) or make bags of certain dimensions. Now most Japanese mothers will go about this with great enthusiasm and I was no exception. This is a visual way to show the world what a loving and devoted mother you are! So books are are acquired and mothers (sometimes grandmothers) go about sewing up some bags that are going to make their child just thrilled to trot off to kindergarten!

So, just what sort of bags...? First a fairly large tote bag for carrying things like an extra change of clothes and towels and luncheon mats (all matching in my case!) Then there are the smaller bags. These are necessary for carrying a lunch box, sometimes with a separate bag for chopsticks, and a bag for a drinking cup. There are bags necessary for the toothbrush and also for the indoor school shoes. Sometimes another bag is needed for carrying home borrowed library books...

With Takumi I remember appliqueing felt pieces of cars and trucks onto the homemade tote bag. For Leiya I needle turned a pink Sunbonnet Sue like creature. I'm surprised at my handwork when I look at the pictures because I don't think too much of the colors or the fabrics that I used but I remember being quite proud of them at the time though I don't know about how the kids felt. Probably with Leiya we browsed the library books together for a pattern. (picture from 1993!)

When children get to elementary school age they are going out into the real world with store bought bags but still there are the gym clothes bags, the indoor shoe bags, the cups and toothbrush bags and the library bags. (No more lunch boxes.) Not to mention the very expensive leather randosel backpacks that are required. Poor children look so loaded down on Monday mornings!

I ought to use my old bags now that they are out and photographed. They never seem to hold enough or they sag so badly with all the weight I carry around...