Shichi-go-san, Kimono body

I'm feeling really good right now, I've completely finished sewing an awase kimono for my baby boy! I have to say, it looks really good~~ But, I will show it off in the next post, for now I will continue showing my process of how I made it. I'm going to divide it up into 2 separate posts, this post will be constructing the body panels.

Before I get started, a few things I'd like to point out. This is a children's kimono, so the proportions are a little different from adult kimono, and the collar is also different, but that doesn't mean that you can't use my tips to make an adult kimono! The only real differences is in the measurements and collar, which I will add a note to the collar section of my blog post for how you can do a collar for adult kimono. For measurements, I suggest using an existing kimono you have as an example, adjusting as you see fit.

Looking through my kimono collection, I see two ways that body seams are sewn:
1. outer layer and lining sewn individually and then join at the seams with long basting stitches. This is the typical way, and it allows for some movement between the layers.
2. outer layer and lining sewn simultaneously. My more modern washable kimono are sewn this way, as well as several children's kimono I have.

The first method, I think is preferred, but great care must be taken to insure measurements on both layers are perfect to make sure they line up correctly. The second method makes it more difficult to replace the lining should it eventually need replacing, but it is faster to do, and since I am on a tight deadline to finish this ensemble, I decided to sew my lining simultaneously. If you chose to do the classic method and sew the lining independently, you can still follow my construction notes, just sew the two seams separately and then baste them together.

I used a sewing machine unless otherwise noted, but please use your preferred method. Remember, this is more like construction tips than an actual tutorial.

1. Back Seam
*NOTE* This kimono is small, so I chose to do the back by folding the fabric in half and then sew the back seam, and then cut the . Please note that typically this step involves sewing two halves together, but I am using western fabric and decided to skip cutting the fabric completely in half.

I carefully measured my lining and sewn my hakkake lining (lower hem lining) to both ends of my lining, and press the raw edges upwards, towards the doura lining.

I folded both the lining piece and outer piece in half widthwise, right sides together (see note above, for an adult kimono, or when using a kimono bolt, you will have 2 lengths of each, place them right sides together). Mark the very center of the lengths, both lining and outer, this will be where the shoulder fold will be. Sandwich the fabric together outer fabric on top, and starting from where the shoulder was marked on the left, pin them together down to the bottom. (Note: for sewing a woman's kimono, the collar is set back more from the shoulder fold, so mark another pin 2-3cm lower than the shoulder fold mark and begin sewing the back seam from there.)

Sew the pinned edge (1cm seam allowance is typical.), leaving a short distance near the hem unsewn (for me, I stopped roughly 2.5-3 inches from the bottom, doesn't need to be exact, just make sure it is enough to easily turn under the hem). Back stitch to secure stitching.

Separate the two halves of unfinished seam near the hem, lining and outer. Sew the remaining length of these two halves independently, back stitch to secure.

The result is like the kanji for person, 人. Do this for all of your vertical seams. This will allow you turn in the raw edges and add padding for the hem.

With the layers still sandwiched, fold back the seam towards outer fabric half of the sandwich, and iron about 2mm past the stitch line. This will help form the kise fold (fold over of fabric that helps cover stitched seams) as well as train the raw edges to go in the correct direction.

Open up the layers and press the seam again, careful to not lose the kise fold. You can see through the fabric that the raw edges are to the right of the sewn seam when viewed from the lining side. 

At this point is when I decided to cut down the center of the rest of the length, which will become the front. Remember, typically a narrower kimono bolt is used, and this cut is unnecessary unless using wider western fabric. Also note, I did not cut slits yet for the collar - this is because I am using a brocade fabric that frays really badly, I did not wish for the cut for the collar to fray and lengthen while being handled before I get around to sewing the collar. Typically the collar slits would have been cut before now.

2. Side Seams
The side seams are done similar to how the front of the sleeves where sewn. I first ironed my shoulder fold to make this step easier. First, fold over the lining half at the shoulder fold, right sides together, than fold under the outer fabric at the shoulder fold (the outer fabric will be folded the opposite direction of the ironed crease).

My son was building his train set under the table as I worked <3

Half of the body is now sandwiched again with four layers, and two separate shoulder folds. I temporarily pinned the shoulder folds together to keep them even, and measured down the side where I wanted the bottom of the miyatsukuchi (armpit opening) and pinned the remaining length. The seam allowance will depend on how wide the back panels will be. I marked my seam line lightly with pencil, measuring the desired width from the back seam. Just like when sewing the back seam, stop sewing a little ways from the hem and then sew the remaining length independently, so that you will be able to turn under the hem - But, unlike last time, do the same at the top as well. Begin sewing a short distance (again, I did about 2.5-3 inches) down further than the first pin which marks the miyatsukuchi, and then come back and sew those first few inches under the miyatsukuchi independently. This will allow you to eventually match up the lining along the miyatsukuchi when it is time to attach the sleeves.

Do the same for the other side of the kimono. Fold the raw edge over towards the outer fabric side and iron about 2mm past the stitch line to form the kise, open up and press both sides again. I chose to trim the raw edge of the seam a bit, up until the miyatsukuchi just the reduce some bulk, but there is no real need to trim the seam unless desired.

3. Okumi panels
Now it is time to attach the okumi panels. At this point I needed to cut the slits for the collar, to help the kimono open up more for attaching the okumi panels.

This is a children's kimono, so the slits are cut directly on the shoulder fold. Woman's kimono, the collar slits are 2-3cm lower than the shoulder fold. It is difficult to determine how long this cut slit is from an existing garment, so for an adult woman's kimono, please cut 9.5cm from the raw edge (so, if the center back seam was sewn with a 1cm seam allowance, cut 8.5cm from the back seam). This is sized for a 3 year old, so my cuts were 4.5cm.

Okay, back to okumi panels! Sew the hakkake lining piece to the doura lining, press the raw edge up. The hakkake lining on the okumi is longer than the other panels. It should be a few centimeters longer than where you plan to have the collar end.

Now, the front panels of a kimono are more narrow than the back panels, so that means that the raw edges of the okumi pieces won't line up with the raw edges of the front panels. You can measure carefully and mark where needed, or trim the front panels so the raw edges are even, like I did. Not traditional, but it is a kid's kimono, and I want less bulk.

I measured and trimmed to allow a 1.5cm seam allowance. With right sides facing, layer, pin, and sew. Remember to sew the botton few inches independently to allow turning of the hem. Fold over and press about 2mm beyond the stitches to form the kise, open and press again.

Okumi panels are now attached! Most of the rest of the steps will have to be sewn by hand.

4. Hem preparation
Before sewing the okumi and suso hems, I like to make sure they are nicely creased. This makes it easier to insert hem padding before hand sewing. Unfortunately, it is time consuming, but prepping the creases before hand makes it much easier to do the hem without having to fuss over uncooperative hems when trying to insert the padding.

First, measure and fold under the free edges of the okumi panels, only to just past the hakkake lining. This is what I mean by time consuming: I first measure and fold under the outer layer, pinning in place, and then iron it flat. Then fold under the lining so that it is a tiny bit shorter than the outer layer, pin the lining down and then iron the lining flat. Lots of shuffling pins around, it can be a pain, but it looks nice. Be careful not to burn your fingers on hot ironed sewing pins.

Fold under and press the bottom hem, on the outside only.

When you get to the outside corners, the edge of the okumi hem goes over the bottom hem.

Next, start folding under the lining hem, matching up the seams. Leave a small amount showing, this is the suso-fuki, it protects the hem of the outer fabric, and it looks really lovely!

When you get to the corners of the hem, lift the corner of the folded over okumi hem...

...then pinch together the bottom the bottom corner of the okumi hem lining...


...and tuck the remaining lining hem inside. It might help to use a chopstick or skewer to neaten the inside so everything lays flat and even.

Iron the hems well, so that the lining's hem is nicely creased.

5. Hem padding
Now that the bottom hem is pinned together... it's time to take it back apart to insert the padding. Booo! After all that work, I know, sucks! But, thanks to that prep work, it will come back together easily, yay!

My padding material is cotton batting. You can get it in the quilt batting section of the fabric store. Typical polyester batting is too thick and airy for this use, but cotton batting tends to be thinner and more condensed. It comes in a rolled sheet for quilt making, so plan to have another use for the rest of it (I'll be using the rest as padding for a hifu vest), or you can use folded up interfacing. If you padding material is too short, you can cut two ends at 45 degree angles and join the pieces together with a rough stitch to make a longer piece.

 

Remove the pins from the lining hem and nestle the padding up against the ironed crease. Use pins to hold in place if needed. Do corners as pictured, leaving the corner flap free.

Hand stitch the padding in place. On the reverse side, take long stitches, I used my thumb as a guide.

On the side that shows, take tiny little stitches, that can barely be seen. Be sure to put a tiny stitch through the kise fold of each seam. Do not stitch through the loose flap in each corner. You can now remove the pins holding the padding and pin the two sides of the bottom hem back together again, and tuck the corners back in like done previously in the hemming prep stage.

6. Hem basting
Before sewing the hems closed, it helps to sewing basting stitches along the hems first. This helps keep the layers together far more evenly than pins do, and makes hand stitching much easier to do without accidentally pricking yourself. The basting stitches can remain in the kimono until it is ready to be worn.

I don't really have a method for basting stitches. I wasn't too terribly concerned on making them neat. On the front is a long-short-long pattern, and the back is a short-short pattern.

Now that it is basted and pins taken out, turn on a television show and get comfy for a night of hand sewing!

7. Hems
The hand sewing isn't particularly difficult. I don't know the name of the stitch used, but basically you go back and forth through the folded over part like a zipper motion, being careful to not accidentally poke the needle out through the layer that would show the stitch. The stitch should be invisible, completely hidden.

It is time consuming for me, as I can only do one pair of stitches at a time. For the okumi sides, it helped to sew with the lining facing towards me.

When done properly, the only stitching you should see in the basting stitches.

But when the layers are gently pulled apart, the stitches will look like this, a back and forth zigzag.

For the bottom hem, it helped to face the lining away from me. And I could take slightly larger stitches for this part.

That's it for now! I'll cover sleeve and collar attachment in the next post!

Lottery Kimono from Furicle

Recently, I received a package from Furicle, containing a kimono won in their weekly lottery! For those who haven't heard of Furicle, they are an online kimono store. They offer secondhand kimono items at reasonable prices, and every week they offer a free kimono item in a lottery. Please check out their website or "like" them on Facebook.

Apologies, I didn't have anyone to take my pictures, so blurry mirror pictures it is! The kimono is the color of Autumn, ochre and orangy-brown. To be honest, I completely forgot what the kimono looked like after I had entered the lottery, so when it arrived it was like opening a mystery present! Maybe that is just me getting old! Since I hadn't prepared anything ahead of time to coordinate, I decided to do a sort of monotone ensemble, thinking about the colors of the changing leaves outside.

I do not know the flower. At first I assumed it was nadeshiko, but it has 6 petals instead of 5, so I do not know. I used a cream nagoya obi that has gold stripes and orange and green karabana, and green accessories, obiage and buckled elastic belt, to echo the little bit of green in the edges of the flowers in the kimono and in the obi.

(I did not take out the basting stitches yet, since I am not wearing it for an outing. I will remove the stitches before I wear in public) My handmade yellow tabi actually paired well with the ochre in the kimono, but the camera didn't pick it up very well. My new orange Kinwashi-in zouri fit very nicely.

The color feels like autumn. While I do not know if the flower is nadeshiko, it think it is probably a type of dianthus flower.

Shichi-go-san, Kimono sleeves

I have begun working on my son's kimono for Shichi-go-san! I have completed sewing the sleeves. Again, I took pictures of the progress. While I have done repairs and alterations to awase kimono, this is the first time I've completely made an awase kimono from scratch. I was concerned that it may be difficult to figure out with the lining, but the sleeves actually turned out really really well! I am pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as scary of an undertaking as feared. The only challenge I face is that I am using western fabrics that fray really badly, you will see in my pictures.

Again, this isn't much of a tutorial, but I did want to share how I did things, for any who are curious or planning to take on a similar challenge of sewing a kimono. It is a nitty-gritty description, not a full tutorial by any means. Typically, all of the markings of where to sew are done prior to sewing, using a special iron with a flat tip. I do have a Japanese iron that is used in silk flower making that has removable shaped tips which is perfect for this task, but it is in storage, so I opted for my usual method of measuring for each step and marking with pins. I will not be including measurements, sizes can vary greatly, and this is a child's kimono, so I encourage using an existing kimono for sizing reference. Okay, on to the progress photos!

1. Sode-guchi, 袖口
The sode-guchi is the wrist opening. I used a light weight polyester for the lining, since the kimono fabric is heavy. I didn't want to add too much weight. The material for the edge of the sode-guchi is a pale mustard crepe, a little longer than the intended sleeve opening. It is sewn on by hand along three sides.


Next, put the sleeve and lining pieces right sides together, and sew (I used sewing machine) the sode-guchi together, only as long as the desired sode-guchi length, backstitch the ends to secure the stitching.



Turn and press.

I love the contrast at the sleeves and hem, so I like to press with a decent amount of the lining showing.

Next, I tacked the ends of the sleeve opening together.

Fold the wrist opening, right sides together, and do a couple securing stitches in the two halves of kimono fabric, right where the end of the previous sewing ends.


Then do the same for the lining. Secure and cut the thread (unless you are sewing by hand, and plan to use the thread for the next steps).

2. Sode-shita, 袖下
Next, is sewing the front and bottom seams of the sleeves. The outer fabric and lining are sewn at the same time. To do this, the seam allowance directly below the tacked sode-guchi opening may need to be fussed with a little bit.


Sorry, blurry picture. Turn the lining out and lay it flat on top of outer half, both folding right sides together. The way it is turned now, you will have two shoulder folds, one each for outer and lining. I put temporary pins along the shoulder folds, to make sure everything stayed nice and even while I pinned the front and bottom raw edges. This is were the "fuss" part comes in - the seam allowance of one side of each lining and outer halves will be pulled back on itself directly below where the wrist opening is tacked, due to how it is folded over. It wasn't difficult for me to push as much of the seam allowance flat, and secured with a pin, but it may help to iron it if the fabric doesn't cooperate. So long as all 4 layers are sewn through, it will be okay. IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure to fold the second sleeve in the opposite direction, so that the two sleeves are mirrored. The difference may not be apparent, but when the sleeves are eventually attached to the kimono body, it is important which direction the seam allowances are pressed.


Like I said, my fabric frays A LOT! I marked my curve lightly with pencil, but you can also do your markings with a flat head iron (mine is in storage) or other marking method that doesn't leave marks. This is for personal use, so I don't mind using very light pencil.

Sew the front and bottom, minding the curve starting from the end of the stitching of the sode-guchi. I used sewing machine again for this step. Along the bottom seam, do not sew all the way to the end. Stop far enough from the end to leave room for folding in the hem of the back opening of the sleeves, and backstitch to secure those stitches (so if you fold under a 1 inch seam allowance for the back sleeve opening hem, stop at least 2 inches or more from the raw edge to accommodate the next step. Stopping halfway across the bottom seam should be a safe bet.). Then put together the remaining length of the bottom hems, lining and outer fabric separately, and sew the remaining length independently. I forgot to get a picture, but the best I can describe it is, the bottom seam will diverge, sort of like little legs, or the kanji for person, hito: 人, with lining and outer fabric being the two "legs".


Don't turn it right side out yet, but when you do, it'll look a little like this, minus the pins and turned under hem, as I was preparing for the next step in this picture.


Next, is the curve. Sew a couple of running stitches along the outside of the sewn curve, pull taught while forming over sleeve curve template (you can purchase one made of plastic, or use a cardboard cutout), and secure. Press all of the seam allowances over, 2mm past the sewing line. This will help form the kise - Kise is difficult to explain in English. If you look at a kimono, all of the seams are not pressed flat directly at the stitching, there is an extra amount of fold over, called kise. It is important as it hides the stitching and also reduces the amount of stress that is put on the stitching.

Turn everything right side out and give it a good press.

Inside of the sode-guchi. It looks really good! This is children's size, so the opening is really small.

3. Furi-guchi, 振り口

Only thing left to sew on the sleeves is the furi-guchi, the back opening. This is sewn by hand sewing.


Fold under and press the furi-guchi hems, pin and press well - I folded under the hem of the outside first, pinned and pressed just the outside, then I folded under the lining about 2mm more, pinned it to the outside and pressed lining and outside together. Mark the end of the furi-guchi, where the sleeve will eventually be attached to the body, with the last of the pins. Making sure both sides are even, sew the lining carefully. I tried to search for an explanation of the hand stitching used, but I'm not having much luck. There are tutorials of hand stitching used for kimono sewing, I will try to link to later, but the best I can describe at the moment is that you sew through the folded under seam allowance being careful to not sew through the outside layers. It does take practice! I like to begin sewing from the bottom seam and work my way up, one side at a time, that way the bottom doesn't risk coming out uneven.


Finished furi-guchi, pressed. At this point I carefully reached inside and trimmed up as much frayed threads as I could.


Two finished child kimono sleeves! My fabric is staying nicely pressed, but I will probably sew some basting threads along the seam and hems to make sure everything stays nice and flat.

Next I need to sew a kimono to attach them to! I will probably take a few days off before I start, as I'm recovering from a bad allergy attack I had yesterday (dust, I did some fall cleaning chores and ended up sneezing away my voice!). I'm impressed with how well it's turning out! I know I've always been intimidated to try sewing an awase kimono, but so far it is going great! I encourage my sewing friends to also try sewing awase kimono someday!

Brand New Zouri

For me, I think one of the bigger holes in my kimono collection are non-formal zouri. I have a few pairs of nice formal zouri, one pair of summer zouri, and a ton of geta of all types, but not really any zouri for less formal ensembles.

Now I found two new pairs of zouri in my local second hand shops! I kind of feel like I struck gold!





The blue pair only have minor scuffs from the surrounding knickknacks at the antique store I found them in. The hanao are really tight, and no wear on the bottoms, I don't believe either pair have been worn except perhaps indoors. The orange pair is slightly glittery, and is labeled Kinwashi-in (キンワシ印), a famous brand of zouri makers! I think I got a pretty good deal for nice quality zouri for only $10!

Finding zouri for me is a big deal! I'm sort of type of collector in this hobby, in that I rarely, if ever, buy things online. To my memory, the only kimono items I've ever bought online are my husband's and my wedding kimono sets, and a heko obi for my son. Everything else is stuff I've hunted for locally in secondhand shops or have been gifted to me, or handmade by myself. Kimono is an expensive hobby, so I am happy, and lucky, to be able to give a second life to secondhand items.

This is a good shopping season for kimono related items in secondhand shops, since Halloween is around the corner. Thrift stores and antique shops are putting out things that can be used for Halloween costumes, included cultural clothing and accessories. I have seen several yukata in the last few weeks, but have passed them up due to staining or size. I did pick up a new pair of geta, because they were also unworn condition and had cream colored hanao (red is sooo common!). I didn't think to check the size before I bought them, since any standard small size hakimono will fit me, but these turned out to be 25.5cm, and are way too big on my feet!


Large geta and zouri are difficult to find, so I was surprised. I know that not all areas have decent secondhand shops, but if you do, this may be a good time of year for going treasure hunting. Persistence is my advice, as most trips don't yield any treasures. Aside from the secondhand costume racks, yukata and kimono can sometimes be found with the bathrobes, and I've found many obi hanging with the table linens. Good luck, and happy treasure hunting!

Shichi-go-san, Completed Toddler Zouri!

I've finished making toddler sized zouri! They are not perfect - it is handmade, without the help of precision cutting machines, and glue is really tricky - but I am happy with how comfortable they turned out. And my son loves them, so I can look past the little flaws, because they do look pretty darn cute on his little feet.

I don't really have the time to do a detailed tutorial, but I did take pictures to share how I did it, for anyone who may be brave enough to attempt making zouri! Consider this a rough tutorial, I suppose. A warning though, it is a little difficult (a lot of work), but don't be discouraged! It took me about 3 days to make these. Also, these (probably) aren't made in an authentic way - I followed my own way of doing things, please feel free to do as you please to get the results that you hope to achieve!

First - Materials:
For the core material, I wanted to use something flexible that I can curve into the appropriate shape (curled upwards a bit at the toe) and knew that chipboard glued in layers would work great. I like chipboard, it is a very useful type of cardboard that I use use a lot. Poster board is very similar and would get the same result, you can find poster board in big sheets for less than $1 where ever you buy display boards for school projects - people also use poster board for garage sale signs and things like that. Since I am on a tight budget, most of my supplies I used are things I had laying around the house. I decided to recycle and use old chipboard food packaging! Its a good enough reason to save cereal boxes, haha! 

I had leftover black pleather from a Halloween costume my sister had made years ago, but I couldn't find it in storage, so I picked up a small amount for $1 and still have plenty leftover. You can use brocade fabric, laminated fabric, or what ever you like. For the sole, I couldn't find any thick leather or suede, so I got a small sample of impact absorbing foam from the upholstery supply store (ask if they have free samples). Sometimes people use it on the bottom of furniture to prevent scratching hardwood floors, but I wasn't too impressed with the foam - it looks and feels exactly like cheap craft foam from the children's craft section, so I think even that would be a good cheap option. The foam seems to not deteriorate badly when walked on, I've seen cheap sandals made of this stuff, probably about the same feel as the rubber soles on geta.

I also cut out some polyester quilt batting to pad the tops of the zouri, so that it would be extra soft on Bryan's little feet.

Glue chipboard pieces together:
I glued the cut pieces of chipboard, with the printed food packaging sides glued together - it would be awkward if one day the zouri eventually fall apart and the inside says "Friskies Cat Food"! I just used Tacky Glue for this step, as I didn't want to go out and buy expensive adhesives for little zouri that will likely only be worn a few times before his feet grow too big.

There are three layers for the type of zouri I did - the bottom, a heel piece (which is half the length), and a padded top piece. These zouri are only about 2cm tall at the heel when finished, so I used 6 layers for the bottom, 6 layers for the heel, and only 2 layers for the top. With the quilt batting added, all of the pieces equaled roughly the same thickness. I only have small office clips to hold the layers together while the glue dries, thicker core pieces will require larger clips or clamps.

The curved toe should be form in the chipboard during the gluing process before clamping everything together. It can be bent afterwards (and I did end up bending it more after this) but at this point it is easier as there is less resistance.

Cover core pieces in outer material:
On the bottom and middle heel piece, the material is only seen on the outer edge, so I cut thin strips of pleather, applied glue around the top and bottom edges (don't put glue on the outer edge that will be seen) and clamped it until the glue dried. For the top, I wrapped a rectangle of pleather over the padded chipboard, glued along the edges on the underside, and held it in place with sewing pins. Office clips or clamps would have left permanent dents in the material.

A quick note about glues - Always test your glues and adhesives before you use them. You can use the This to That website to help figure out what glues to use for your project, but the option it gave me ended up melting the pleather. I ended up using two types of tacky glues, Tacky Glue and Loctite for vinyl. Loctite also melted the pleather a little bit, but not too badly. The pleather has a polyester fabric backing, even though Loctite said it worked on fabric as well, it worked on the fabric backside about as well as spit and bubble gum. So for this step I used Tacky Glue as well, as it was the only thing I had on-hand that held the fabric side of the pleather firmly.

As I mentioned, I padded the top with quilt batting. This made it incredibly plush! But it also made it wrinkle a bit where the toe curls upward, but I could live with that since I knew it would be very comfortable - that's the mommy side of me making decisions!

Hanao:
Up until it was time to make the hanao straps, I still didn't know what fabric I wanted to use. I had a bit of black velvet I would use for the underside, and I ended up just settling on doing the top of the hanao with scraps of the same fabric I would do the kimono.

I sewed the two pieces together, inserted a strip of very stiff interfacing for structure, pinched the center together and sewed it in the center, then lightly stuffed the inside of the hanao (on the velvet side only) with poly-fill stuffing. The hanao are very soft and plush as well, again I was concerned with comfort!

I just used plain old craft string for the attaching strings. My son said they look like moths! I thought this was a very cute thing for him to say, as recently we had the opportunity to watch the metamorphosis cycle of a moth, so it was a happy memory.

I carefully cut holes in the underside of the top piece, but only cut slits in the pleather for the hanao to go through.

I guess I didn't take a picture, but I glued the heel piece to the base using Loctite glue and clamped it until dry using office clips - I mentioned earlier, Loctite does melt the pleather a little bit, so I had to be careful to not get it on the pleather that shows, but it was also the only adhesive I had that would hold pleather to pleather, so it is what I used for this step. Also not pictured, I added a bit of batting at the end of the heel piece, to soften that slope.
If you have a drill, it would probably work great to drill holes for the ends of the hanao to pass through. I couldn't use a drill since it would wake my son from his nap (my craft time) so I had to use an X-acto knife. It was hard work, I don't recommend it!

To glue the top on, I got the hanao situated how I liked it, passed the strings through the holes in the base, and hovered the top over the base while I carefully applied a layer of glue, then I carefully pressed them together. Again, I couldn't clamp the pieces together since it would dent the pleather, so I held it down as best as I could, and even stood on them. A tacky, fast setting glue is best for this purpose.

Next, I tied the hanao strings underneath. Moon Blossom of Kimono Tsuki has a good tutorial on how to do that. I will be honest, I was lazy and just glued the cords of the toe separator firmly under the top piece.

Then I glued the foam to the sole. The foam was tricky, as none of my glues would hold it, it was too porous. I ended up having to use a hot glue gun, after reading tips from cosplayers. It held well, but was messy, and I wish there wasn't so much glue that had seeped out. I may touch it up later, but for now I can live with it, since it is only an eyesore when viewed up close.

(this is prior to the glue setting completely. The glue dried clear)


The foam was also tricky to cut out, so I found it worked well to file the rounded edges with a nail file, to get rid of jagged cuts before gluing it down.

He found them after waking up from his nap. They got the Bryan Seal of Approval.