Kimono Jack at Deco Japan, part 1

Hello everyone~! I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful Spring! Today was a Kimono Jack gathering in Seattle! This time the Kimono Jack was held at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in conjunction with a special exhibition currently on display - Deco Japan: Shaping Art & Culture, 1920-1945.

This exhibit displays various items such as household items, handbills, kimono, and ceramics, from the art deco movement of Japan, which are distinctive with modern forms combined with traditional flair and technique. Those who love the glamour of the Taisho and Showa eras will love this collection. In particular, I enjoyed the images of the Moga, Modern Girls, Japan's version of flapper girls. You can see some examples of some of the items in the collection by clicking the link above, or in this Youtube video from when the collection was in NY: http://youtu.be/GbsixuOyHfo

My favorite pieces of the collection are an obi dyed in the theme of the Olympic Games, and a lacquered box for stationery emblazoned with a silver Pegasus! (squee!)

In addition to seeing the Deco Japan collection on display, today's Kimono Jack included a private reception which featured a kimono fashion show by Yu Ugawa and Kimono Art. This fashion show was especially exciting, as the theme was Retro Modern, showcasing kimono from the Taisho and Showa eras!

I decided to sew one of the kimono bolts that I had gotten as my Mother's Day gift, and knew that the tsuzumi drum fabric would pair well with a red and yellow Taisho obi that I own.

Here is my newly sewn kimono! (photographed before ironing, what can I say, I was pretty excited)

I wanted a green obijime so my coordinate wouldn't be all red and yellow, so I ended up making one! I had a bundle of vintage kumihimo-style braided rayon cording, so I sewed together two lengths of round cord to make the obijime.

This is such an easy idea for a casual obijime! But I recommend using very strong thread. I ended up redoing this with embroidery floss since I feared thread would break if pulled tightly.

Here is my coordinate:




The obidome is a converted brooch. I made the loops for the obijime to pass through using gold wire and attached it to the back.

I didn't get any good photos, but I also made a big yellow peony hairclip, and a rose embroided han'eri using the same rose pattern as the last one I made, but in the colors of orangey red, lime green, and yellow to match this ensemble.

I also needed a purse to go with this! Since I was a teenager I had kept this scrap fabric from an old 60s or 70s ladies polyester pants suit that had adorable bees embroidery. I had an eclectic sense of "fashion".

This scrap is a pant's leg, the embroidery was originally near the hem of the bellbottom pants.

Completed purse! I used a thick interfacing so it keeps it's shape, and added a board at the base so that it will not sag when filled.


The backside also has a few stray bees.




Lined in satin. I didn't add a clasp, since the top stays mostly closed and the opening is relatively small. If I had more time I would have liked to add some interior pockets, but I tend to not use those anyways.

Completed ensemble~


Super blurry... It was my one sad attempt to get a photo to show my han'eri. Ah well, you get the gist. 

I did my typical hairdo that I seem to do when I dress up: hair pulled back in a curly ponytail thingie (technical term). Originally I wanted to do a hairstyle inspired by the ladies in those eras of the Japan Deco exhibit, a Moga/Gatsby style bob! I recently donated 14 inches of my hair, so I've now got shoulder length hair that I get to experiment with. Here is my first attempt at a Moga inspired faux bob.

It would have looked very cute with kimono! Unfortunately I seem to be very sensitive to the extra heat to comes with even a small amount of hair touching my neck. I didn't want to be a miserable puddle of sweat during the Kimono Jack, so I had to go with a ponytail. Come Autumn when the weather is cooler, I think I will have to try doing this sort of style with a Taisho Roman or Showa Retro kimono style!

I've still got a lot of photographs to sort through of the Kimono Jack and Retro Modern fashion show. Part #2 is next!

Mother's Day Shopping

Happy Mother's Day! Today, I was treated with a kimono shopping trip in Seattle - obviously my boy's know what makes me happy, haha! Today happened to be the last day of the current Kyoto Art & Antiques sale (a warehouse sale that occurs twice a year in Seattle).

The haori selection was huge, and there were plenty of very nice vintage kimono and cheap prices, including several rare vintage black furisode.

This vintage black furisode is one I liked the most, because it had sections of grey near the shoulders. The kimono to the right is another black kimono that is kakeshita/hikizuri length. The most expensive vintage furisode I saw were around $210, wow! If I didn't spot a grey hair on my head the other day, I'd seriously consider saving up for one. People in the Seattle area, start saving up now! The next sale is in September (either Sept. 23rd or 25th, sorry I don't remember! You can sign up on their website to be notified of their upcoming sales) and many of these really nice ones will likely still be available then.

Sorry, blurry picture - Another vintage furisode. The rich purple color is so dreamy, this terrible picture doesn't do it justice.

This is the kimono that I was drooling over, a rich chirimen bingata houmongi. It was a large size, and boldly colored. Want!

There were only a few obi, this one was very fine quality.


Unfortunately, I have been very strict with my money, so no splurging for me. Here are some other things they had that caught my eye:


An ikou kimono stand.


A mikoshi.


Tall byoubu screen with sensu papers.


Massive tansu, and I mean MASSIVE. That tag said it is made of hinoki, so I am guessing this is a mizuya dansu for kitchen wares. I am not an expert, so that is just my guess.


A kyodai tansu. I remember that recently a couple of people on some Facebook groups were looking for kyodai tansu like this. The price tag was $410, which is typical for similar sized vintage kyodai tansu online.


An Ichimatsu ningyou. She is in poor shape, and I sort of wanted to rescue her! However, I'm currently working on my own Ichimatsu doll project, so I had to refrain myself.


Probably the most unique tansu I've personally seen! With decorative sliding panels and attached hanging scales. Perhaps a specific type of merchant tansu? I have no clue, I can't find a similar one in an internet search.


The biggest new stock addition I noticed this time around were boxes upon boxes of brand new kimono bolts! Most of them were wool kimono bolts, with a few tsukesage kimono bolts mixed in. This is where I picked out my Mother's Day gifts!


I picked out two komon kimono bolts of light-weight wool, and a plain white ro han'eri for summer. Most of the wool bolts were typical scratchy tartan plaids and some kasuri, but I picked these two since they were nicer komon patterns and exceptionally soft. I was honestly surprised they were wool until I read the fabric info when I unrolled the bolts.


 I typically try to avoid small patterns like the tiny flower dots, but the tsuzumi drums are just too cute! Now I just need to get the time and motivation to sew them into kimono! 

Celebrate Asia 2014, part 1

Long time no blog, everybody! Last night was the third annual Seattle Kimono Jack at Celebrate Asia concert at Benaroya Hall! This event often includes several performances in the concert hall's Grand Lobby prior to the concert, and this year I was asked to participate. For the first time this year they held a Heritage Dress Parade, sort of like a fashion show. At this annual concert, the guests are dazzled by colorful traditional costumes worn by many concert-goers, and this year those beautiful clothing were displayed on stage!

Last year I wore furisode together with my friend Shannon - apparently I never blogged any pictures from last year's Kimono Jack, so let me share those now!

Kimono Jack 2013 @ Celebrate Asia

I wore my furisode that I bought at Kyoto Art & Antiques sale, and borrowed a gold fukuro obi from another friend. Shannon wore her awesome shibori yukata with my green fukuro obi.


We tied each other's obi!




It is very difficult to get a group shot, but the photographer did an excellent job!

It was so much fun! Okay, back to this year - When I was asked to participate in this year's Celebrate Asia festivities, I was asked if I'd be wearing furisode. I decided I wouldn't mind wearing the same furisode again this year. However, I didn't have an obi to match with it, since I borrowed an obi last year. Luckily I had just picked up a whole bunch of gold brocade fabric from the second-hand store, I could make my own obi!

Fine wave patterns with pink undertones, I knew it would pair well with many kimono. And there is a ton of it, for only a few bucks! I knew I'd be able to make at least a fukuro obi and a tsukuri obi out of the fabric, and since I would be dressing myself completely this year, I started making the tsukuri obi.

Here is the completed tsukuri obi! I wanted to make a musubi that was very high up, since I would never be able to achieve such a musubi if I tied it on myself. The tall musubi also makes it easier to drive, believe it or not! This musubi is called kachou, 花蝶, "flowers and butterflies". I used a stiff interfacing to help keep the shape, and lined it in cream bridal satin.

For last Valentine's Day, my husband surprised me with an embroidery machine, so I thought it would be nice to try making an embroidered han'eri!

I wanted to use the colors in the furisode. I haven't had time to shop for embroidery patterns to download, so I just used a stock design on my machine of roses and repeated the design to make it longer. The result is very girly~

(This is before I stitched it on my nibushiki juban)


The han'eri turned out very nice!

Here is the completed ensemble:

I wish I had a better camera for the actual event - I can't get such great quality pictures with my point-n-click or cell phone, but I'll share what pictures didn't blur too much in my next post!

Toddler Nagajuban and Size Adjusting

Originally, I was going to make a plain white nagajuban for my son's Shichi-go-san set, of plain untextured polyester, but I became very ill and didn't have the time to measure and cut it all out.

So I went through my fabric stash and found an old stained rayon child's nagajuban, that is white with a grape leaf rinzu pattern.

While not typically a motif sutible for boys (though I have seen it as a motif for boy Ichimatsu dolls), it is not flowery, so I felt I could use it in a pinch. It is plain and will barely be seen, and it passed approval with dad.

It was badly stained and discolored. I removed the lining to be used in a different project, and unpicked the seams. I washed it in the washing machine, and it came out a peachy color from the stain bleed. So I decided to bleach the fabric, which was a huge success. It turned from a peach color to a bright stunning white after only 8 seconds of being dunked in a weak bleach solution.

Here you can see the difference with the bleached fabric and a discarded patch of the same fabric that was from the lining hem. A big difference, there are no more stains!


I then reassembled the nagajuban, adjusting the sleeves to fit.


Bryan obviously liked it, he put it on right away and played around the house with it trailing behind him.


But I needed it back to finish it up, so I traded him his kimono, which he snuggled in like a blanket.


I sewed on himo ties of plain white polyester, and a brocade han'eri. I didn't want a plain white han'eri, and I felt this fabric would suit the ensemble well.



For a bit of color, I added a light blue silk date'eri. It is rinzu with a rangiku pattern. Underneath his hifu vest he wore a shibori heko obi that is the same color as the date'eri (you can see the heko obi worn with yukata here.)

I was going to write a tutorial on sewing the shoulder tucks and ohashori for children's kimono, but somehow I deleted the photographs. I apologize! I hope I will get the opportunity to do so in the near future, kids grow quickly.

After sewing the shoulder tucks and ohashori, the set is complete! Bryan had gone to bed, so his stuffed monkey kindly modeled for me.

Omake:

Wearing it kazuki style?? He likes his kimono.