More Progress

First of all, a few years ago, Samantha and I did a geisha makeover at Metrocon.  Here is one of my favorite pictures from it.  I am wearing the blue kimono, as the big sister, and Samantha is wearing the pink kimono.

Next - this weekend will be jam packed.

I was working on my stretcher frame, trying to get the pins bend so that they would create the hooks, and I realized that the pins I had bought specifically for this were way to small.  Luckily, I had some other pins that I could use, but then I couldn't find needle nose pliers.  That was solved when I found a pair of bent tweezers that I used to bend the pins, and I managed to bend about half of them.  So tonight I plan to finish bending all the pins and then, tomorrow, I am going to paint the kimono shell and sew the obi, as I finally bought my obi stiffener.

Also, I bought the fabric for the tatoushi, so I will try and get that done tonight as well.

On Sunday, I will be washing out my fabric, and then, during the week, I will be locking myself in my sewing room trying to get the kimono sewn.  I also need to sew the han-juban, but that will be very easy.

I have decided to not paint on the obi, as, if it is folded in half, I do not want the paint to rub off on the kimono.

My goal is to have the kimono done by mid-afternoon on next Saturday, the 26th, so that Samantha can come over and try it on.  It needs to be by mid-afternoon because I am having a chili cook-off with my mom and my sister's family in the evening.

I will have to work very hard, but I believe that I can get everything done.

Wish me luck!

Kristin

First Dyeing Attempt

Just finished dyeing the lining and han-juban fabric for the kimono. This is my first attempt at dyeing fabric using fiber reactive dyes.

I wwas nervous because the dye has more turquoise in it so you have to dye it on higher temperatures,  and was floored with the color I got. 

First dyeing attempt - successful!

Kimono Progress - Week 2

Weekend 2 is now over and gone, and I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but I did make some decisions that will make this project much easier. 

Things I got done -

• Measured and cut out all lining pieces
• Started overlocking lining and shell pieces - have 1 lining piece left (one of the body panels) and the shell pieces left
• Diagrammed what I want where in the sewing room

My week's plan (a.k.a. things I need to get done before the weekend comes) -

• Monday - 
• I may or may not be able to work on overlocking on Monday, as I am supposed to have a Praise Team practice at 7pm.
• Tuesday - 
• Move furniture
• Measure sewing room to figure out if stretcher frame will fit
• Put hinges on stretcher frame
• Wednesday - 
• Finish overlocking lining and shell fabric
• Thursday -
• Measure and cut out obi fabric
• Create test chemical water and dye concentrations and paint fabric samples.
• Saturate shell fabric in Soda Ash & the air dry them
• Friday
• Rinse out dye samples (first in running water, then in washing machine with clear detergent)
• Decide which dye concentration I like best
• Mark seam allowances of shell fabric with color patterns so they match up correctly.

And here are things that will make this easier - 

• Fixed the problem with my upper thread repeatedly breaking - I had to move the spool to the vertical position from the horizontal position
• Found a roll of fabric I had previously purchased that will be prefect for the obi.  It is an olive green, home decor weight fabric with a woven small basket weave.  It is the perfect weight and length for the obi and the obi won't have seams now ^_^ 

Sometime next week, I want to test out my fabric paints on scraps of the obi fabric.  Also, I found some parchment paper that is 14" wide.  My plan is to fold it down to 12" and create a stencil for the obi in 10" of the 12" (leaving 1" on each side) if I like the way the fabric paints look on it. Next, I would tape the underside of the parchment paper to the underside of the obi fabric to prevent slippage.  I will likely use painter's tape for this.  I would then put another piece of parchment paper underneath the obi fabric (to prevent bleed through) and, after putting the obi fabric on top, tape the top parchment paper to the piece under the obi fabric to secure the pattern to the bottom piece.

Well, that's about it for this week.

Kristin ^_^

Sewing Room

I spent some time on Friday setting up my sewing room and am super excited. We got a Japanese inspired folding screen for our wedding and I set it up in the corner to hide my fabric bins and the put an Asian umbrella on the top and my dressform in front of it. Loving it ^_^

Gradient Blue Satin Haori

So I was feeling rather stressed last night, and as a result didn't feel like doing much except sleeping, and my wonderful husband suggested that I do "sewey stuff."  I reluctantly ventured into my sewing room despite the fact that I would have preferred to just go to sleep for the night, which my husband (quite understandably) vetoed because it was 6:15pm.

When I got to my sewing room, right on top of my tub of fabric, was this lightweight, sheer if you hold it up to the light, blue bamboo patterned, polyester fabric that would look fantastic as the lining in a haori. This got my creative juices flowing and I dug through my stash and came up with a blue gradient dyed piece of middle weight satin that would pair wonderfully with the bamboo fabric for the haori shell.

I had never made a haori before, but I have used the now out of print Simplicity pattern for a kimono that comes with a haori pattern as well, but that pattern requires that you fold about a foot of the shell fabric on the front and back up into the lining of the haori, which, while it is the correct way to do it, I did not have enough of the satin to accomplish this.  With this in mind, I went on a haori pattern hunt on the internet and came up with a sad lack of tutorials that contained measurements, so I reviewed what I knew of haoris and their construction.

1 - Haori are made on the same size weaving frames as full-length kimono, approximately 12" wide.

2 - In order to accommodate for a variety of sizing, I usually make my kimono panels 14" wide.

3 - Haori usually hang to right about the top of the wearer's hip.

With these three things in mind, I hung the satin over my shoulder to see which way the gradient should go.  I really wanted the gradient to go from side to side, and, when I hung it over my shoulder, it hit right below my hip, which is good as I am only 5'4".

I folded the fabric in half, wrong side out, with the light side on the right and the darker side on the left, and then pulled out some 14" wide parchment paper and a white marking pencil and sectioned the light side off into two 14" sections, but when I went to the darker side, I realized that if I did four 14" sections, I would not have enough to make the collar as well.  Making a quick decision, I decided that body width was more important than sleeve width and shortened the sleeve width to 12".  I then used my quilting ruler to mark the sleeves 16" long and cut out all my piece of the shell.

Cutting out the lining was trickier as the fabric is very light, and the bulk kept falling off my cutting table, but I persevered and cut out the two sleeves and body pieces by pinning the shell pieces to the lining and then cutting them out.  I also managed to cut the sleeve pieces so that a line of bamboo was close to the edge, and that will be oriented to the open area of the haori sleeve.

Last, I found a matching color thread, wound my bobbin and started overlocking my raw edges on the satin.  Much to my chagrin, my upper thread kept breaking even after I adjusted the tension so I pulled out my bobbin and realized that the thread at the beginning of the bobbin had gotten pulled into the bobbin while I was winding it.  That bobbin got unwound and then rewound with new thread and I started up my machine with much less thread breakage.

Tonight, I have the rest of the satin (one body panel, one sleeve, and the collar) to overlock and then the lining to overlock to prevent fraying.  Then I get to sew the body, lining, and sleeves, figure out what I am making the tie on the front out of, sew the tie to the body, and then sew the collar on.

Then I get to find a model, or figure out if I want to model it myself, take and edit pictures, and put up my first item in my shop.

For the pictures, I am debating whether I want pictures of the haori with kimono, pictures of it with modern clothes, or a mixture of both.  I am leaning toward a mixture of both.

I am super excited that I will finally have a listing, and, hopefully, a sale within a few weeks!

Of course, in order to post the item, I have to have my shop go live, which means completing an About Page, Policies Page, figure out shipping costs, and deciding what I want to price the haori at.

But still...it will be my first listing!

YAY!

Kristin ^_^

Fabric Tatoushi Tutorial

So I was recently searching for a great fabric tatoushi / tatoshi tutorial that I had found several years ago and was aghast when I could not find the site (http://bangasakimono.blogspot.com/2010/01/fabric-tatoushi-tutorial.html) 

However, I managed to find a word document of the tutorial so I decided to post it for anyone who can benefit from it.  

I hope that someone can benefit from this.

Kristin ^_^

I did not create this tutorial.  I am just reposting it.

Fabric tatoushi

I've always wanted to make my own tatoushi , the traditional paper ones I find are usually quite fragile. The ones I own have over the years ripped or the ties have come off from the paper. This is one the reasons why I decided to make them out of fabric and to add a zip.

The fabric tatoushi are fairly easy to make, it uses a metre of fabric and you can use any type of fabric, though cotton will be the most easiest to use. Traditional tatoushi uses cotton ties to keep them closed, I have chosen to use a zip to fasten my tatoushi, It allows for easy access.

The zip I use is called a continous/chain zip, this is a zip which comes off a roll and you can cut it to your desired length, these should come with silders which allow you to zip and unzip.

The bias tape I use is cotton as I find it easier to sew then satin, you can find all of these supplys from your local haberdasery or ebay.

In this tutorial I have added the option of adding flaps to the tatoushi, this stops the kimono from being caught in the zip as you open and close it. This is entirely optional.

Materials:

1 metre of fabric

19mm cotton bias tape (L) 180cm x2, (M) 155cm x2, (S) 145cm x2

Continous Zip (L) 180cm, (M) 155cm, (S) 145cm

1 Zip Silder

Tools:

Sewing Machine

Iron

Scissors
Pins

Layout

Decide what size you want your tatoushi to be and cut out the pieces as shown in the diagram above. Also cut your zip and bias tape to the appropriate length. In the photos I'm making a large sized tatoushi.

1: First fold your body piece fabric in half (check diagram) and iron in a fold.

2: Serge the edges of your flap pieces or sew a zigzag stitch around the edges.

2: Split your zipper in half, so now you have the zipper in 2 pieces. On one of the zipper pieces, cut away 2.5cm of the fabric tape. Not the teeth!

3: Place the flap pieces to the body and pin 2.5cm away from the ends, check photos.

Then pin one side of the zipper on top of the flap piece. Make sure the zipper teeth are facing inward and is the right side up. (check photo)

4: Using your zigzag foot as a guide, sew the zipper and flap onto the body.

6: When you get to the corner, stop sewing 3mm from the end and leave the needle in the down postion.

Turn the fabric and the zip 90 degrees and continue sewing.

Continue sew all the way round the edge till you get to the fold line. Backstitch and leave the excess zip for now.

7: Repeat for the other side. It should look like this when your done.

8: Now sew the bias tape around the edges, just like the zip. Your goal is to hide and encase the raw seams, it should look like this when your done.

9: Now you need to use the zip silder to join the two zipper parts together. Here is a video to show you how.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_71RzEqTE

It should look like this.

10: From the folded edge, sew 7cm in. Do the same for the other end.

And your finished.

This is my 1st time writing a tutorial, so if you have any problems, let me know. Also if you make one let me know how you got on. Thanks.

 

 

Kimono Progress - Week 1

My goal is to have Samantha's kimono and obi done by Halloween so that she can wear it then. So far, I have finished the stretcher frame, overlocked, pre-washed, and ironed all the fabric (9 yd - rayon twill, 2 yd - rayon twill, 1 yd rayon twill, 9 yd - rayon voile), and cut out the pieces for the kimono shell based upon the base measurements from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~weyrbrat/Japan/yukata/ and the measurements from Samantha. (The last one was a bit difficult because I was using a 4" x 14" quilting ruler to draw my lines for cutting).

My next step is overlocking all the edges for the kimono shell and cutting and overlocking the edges for the kimono lining, and then I get to mark the patterns so that they line up. As I am hand dying the fabric, I am rather skeptical of whether the washable fabric marking pencil will actually come out. This is because of the fixative used to set the dye mixture on rayon. There are two methods of using the fixative.


In the first method, the dyer would mix urea (thickener), water, and soda ash (fixative) to make chemical water and then add the powered dye to the mixture to create the paint solution. The only problem with this method is that, after a few hours, the soda ash starts reducing the vibrancy of the dye, so, if you need the colors to match, this will not work unless you exactly measure the dye or do all your work in a few hours. I do have a very exact kitchen scale (from when I was weighing all my food) so this method could work well, but I am still torn between this method and the second method.

In the second method, the fabric is pre-saturated with the soda ash and water mixture, which enables the dyer to just make a large mixture of urea, water, and dye and then use that each time. The problem with this would be making sure that the soda ash and water mixture distributes evenly across the fabric to prevent the dye from taking unevenly, and that if you leave the soda ash on for a long period of time, it can harm the fabric.

I am thinking that I will likely use the first method, because I don't want to harm the fabric, and there is less chance of the fabric marking pencil setting into the fabric with that method. Also, since I have the kitchen scale, I can fiddle with the dye mixture until it is the color I want it at and replicate my results if I want the same color later on. In addition, as I am going to do some test paintings on scraps of the rayon, I can record and correct the consistency of the chemical water by adjusting the amount of urea to thicken or thin the mixture, and then replicate that later on as well.

Even though I am using the first method, though, I am still planning on only marking the fabric in the seam allowance.  I will need to make both the marks for the design and marks to indicate which piece of fabric I am dyeing (body, collar, sleeve, panel, collar reinforcement), orientation (up/down), and location (left/right, front/back).

As for where I am going to be dyeing, I was thinking of the garage, as I would have to do some serious furniture moving otherwise.  It might be worth the furniture moving just to avoid the garage in September in Florida.  Also, if I were dyeing in the garage, I would need knee pads.

The lining will be interesting because I want to do a gradient dye and just have the outside edges be dyed.  I was thinking of dyeing the whole lining, but I am worried that, as part of the kimono shell design is left white, if I dye the whole lining, the lining color will show through.  I could always make the lining less vibrant as well.

As for the obi, I know what color I am going to dye it, I just have to figure out what embroidery I will put on it, if I want to embroider some on my sewing machine (if so, I will definitely be testing this on scraps first), how much I want to embroider by hand, and how I am going to hide the seams (I am making Samantha a Darari-length obi, which will be about 3-4 yards when completed, and Samantha agreed to let me piece it as I bought the last of the fabric that they had and the last 3 yards were broken up into a 1 yard piece and a 2 yard piece.)  My thought is that, if the machine embroidery works, to do a pattern throughout that just happens to line up exactly with the seams.  It will take some experimenting though to make it all work out.

Another obstacle with the obi is that I will have to put the dye mixture in the washing machine and then set a timer so that the machine doesn't drain out to lengthen the time that the mixture is exposed to the dye.  Also, do I want to sew the obi together and then dye it or dye it and then sew it?  If is sew it then dye it, there is less of a chance that my seam will show, however, the fabric could become wrapped around the agitator in the washing machine and could tear.  If I dye it and then sew it, there is a chance, however slight, that the seam could show.  My thought for this is to use a kise (a seam that is not visible because it has a slight overlapping piece of fabric - there is a good diagram in the web page I cited) and then embroider over it, which should take care of any chance of there being a visible seam.  I will likely dye it and then sew it - a visible seam is easier to overcome than ripped fabric.

I am planning on making the skirt portion of a naga-juban, and I have several fabric choices to choose from for that.  I will probably wait until the kimono is done to select the fabric, but I have one that I think would look really good with the kimono, but it is a bit of a heavy fabric so we will have to wait and see.  If I didn't make the naga-juban so it wrapped around so much, and only made it wrap around about 1.25 or 1.5 times, it probably wouldn't be too heavy.  It still might be to hot though, so I might make one out of a lighter fabric too and see which Samantha prefers.

I am unsure now if I will be making the top part of a naga-juban or a han-eri.  The naga-juban would be nice because it would give a proper lining to the kimono, and keep sweat from getting on it, but the han-eri would be nice because it could be washed separately.  I may make both, as would be more proper, but it really depends on how much time I have left after assembling the kimono and obi.  The amount of time I have will probably affect a whole lot, actually, as I want to make  a fabric tatoushi to store the kimono.  (It looks like it is a good thing that I saved that last tutorial, as I can't seem to find it anywhere now.)  Fortunately, the tatoushi doesn't look like it would take much time. 

So far, here is my approximate schedule to be on time for Halloween kitsuke:

Week 1 - Pre-wash, iron, and cut out fabric (still need to cut out the lining and obi)
Week 2 (9/21) - Cut out lining and obi, overlock all raw edges, paint/dye/embroider scrap fabrics, move furniture to accommodate stretcher frame, and finalize dye and chemical water concentrations
Week 3 (9/27-28) - Day 1 - Paint/dye kimono/obi/lining and wash out and iron obi - Day 2 - wash out and iron kimono/lining, sew obi, begin embroidering obi
Week 4 (10/5) - Assemble kimono/lining (machine sewing parts)
Week 5 (10/11-12) - Day 1 - Embroider obi and hand sew kimono collar - Day 2 - Finish embroidering obi
Week 6 (10/19) - Han-eri/naga-juban/tatoushi
Week 7 (10/25-26) - Finalizing/error checking

I will try to make weekly updates.

Kristin ^_^

Frame to Dye Kimono

So I have, for about a year, been sitting on some bemberg rayon twill and dye from dharmatrading.com needing to get the stuff together to make a frame to dye said rayon before sewing it into a kimono. Another reason I have been holding off is that my sewing machine has been behaving very badly and making loops on the underside of my fabric even with my tension so high it breaks my thread.  Well, in February, my machine gave up the ghost and I just got both a new machine and the materials to make the frame to suspend the fabric panels so I can paint/dye them.
I was planning on buying am adjustable frame from Dharma Trading but their supplier was having manufacturing issues so I started researching how to make one. I went through several sites and forums before finding one that met my needs: http://dakini.ca/silk-painting-frame-tutorial-1.html
I did some calculations and was originally planning on making four frames to accommodate the four different panels that I would be making before my husband pointed out that I would be able to use the largest one for the smaller panels if I used more elastic so I am now making one frame that is 12' x 2'.
Next I was worried about how I was going to get two 12' pieces of wood into my 2007 Prius, but my friend for whom I am making this kimono (who has the patience of a saint and paid me for it right before I bought the fabric) suggested making it 6' and from that idea I decided to put hinges on it so my total area is still 12 x 2, but it will fold to 6 x 2 for transport, which is still unwieldy but not nearly as bad.
I have one half of the frame put together, screw eyes and all, and will hopefully get the other side together tonight and be ready to paint on it by the weekend.
^_^
I'm really excited!