I met Vicki Shiba of Mill Valley, CA last year during my first visit to the Arts of Pacific Asia Show in SF. She’s a soft spoken woman with a sharp intellect and a dazzling collection of antiques. She had several pieces worthy of mention in her booth, and I have chosen two that I…
Category: kimono
Awa Shijira-ori
Known for its distinctive crinkled, crepe-like texture, Awa Shijira-ori* is a cotton fabric ideal for making summertime yukata. The texture, similar to seersucker, does not stick to the skin in Japan’s hot, humid summers, and the openness of the weave allows for good airflow. Originating in the Tokushima Prefecture during the Meiji era (1868-1889), it…
Mini Poll #2 – Doll Kimono Kit Giveaway
More freebies! Going back to a project I started years ago, I’ve been playing around with beautiful fabrics and dolls this weekend to come up with a kit that you can do at home. Used for decades in Japanese schools to teach children how to sew, these doll-sized kimono make wonderfully portable projects you can…
Japanese yuzen
After listing two new panels of kimono silk recently, I realized I’ve never posted about yuzen. Yuzen as a technique was first developed by Miyazaki Yuzensai, a fan maker in Kyoto in the early part of the Edo period (1603 – 1867). Yuzen is still a very popular kimono dyeing technique today, one that enables…
short informal poll
Just curious… before I take my seam ripper to these two silk meisen kimono, do you think I ought to keep them intact, or cut up to sell in pieces? They have been sitting on the shelf just a little too long for my liking and I’d like to move them, one way or another….
Sumptuous pineapple cherry shibori
I disasemble a veritable bounty of kimono every year and figure I’ve seen some crazy fabric combinations, but this piece made me laugh when I first came across it. Used as a sleeve lining for an early 20th century kimono, this synthetic fabric dyed in bright yellow and vibrant red has oodles of cheeky charm….
Japanese Fishermen’s Coats from Awaji Island
Japanese Fishermen’s Coats from Awaji Island (Fowler Museum Textile Series 5) arrived on my doorstep this morning, just in time for a leisurely read over tea and breakfast. And what an enjoyable read it was! This slim volume starts off with an historical essay by Luke Roberts, Fishing Villages in Northern Awaji, about the life…
This is why I’m here.
After several weeks of moaning and whining about not being able to find my library of reference books in the dark cavern of my storage unit, I finally dragged myself there and dug through to the very bottom box in the very farthest corner. I kid you not, it was the least accessible place I…
If you’re in Ohio…
A friend recently alerted me to this exhibit at Ohio’s Canton Museum of Art which opens on February 9 and runs until April 26, 2009. Kimono as Art: The Landscapes of Itchiku Kubota opens at the Canton Museum of Art on February 9, 2009. This breathtaking exhibit features 40 giant landscape kimono of the Japanese…
The early bird gets… to wait.
Since moving in with my family in October I’ve had to adjust to certain changes such as scheduling time in the kitchen, among other things. It’s unsettling for all of us to change our routines for one another, but we manage. Since I’ve let my business drift for the past few months it’s been nagging…
Welcome September
Kumoricon was fantastic! Thank you to all of you who came by to say hello, new friends and old. It was great to meet you, dress you, and share kimono culture with you. I hope we meet again at Sakura-Con in April 2009! Lots and lots of changes have been happening here at Chez Kimono,…
August hangover
I suppose in some ways I’m really ready for summer to end. The heat, the dreary day after day boredom, trying to get work done when it’s too hot to think and there’s no one to talk to except the kids and they’re fighting again… yeah, I’m ready for school to start. We had a…
A love for both the common fiber and the extraordinary textile @KimonoMomo 