Poking around YouTube today, I found these videos featuring sashiko. Each one is only a few minutes long, and helpful if you are just starting out, or want to see how others hold needle, thread and cloth. Despite finding very particular directions in every Japanese and English how-to book on sashiko, I’ve found that each…
Tag: textiles
Tsuzure Ori
I was warned years ago that if I started studying Japanese and didn’t have many opportunities to speak the language, I’d lose it. This has sadly come to pass. Taking a few steps away from my kimono-focused business over the past few months, the words have been gradually slipping away from me. Conversational Japanese went…
Where did the time go?!
Is it really June already? I’ve been avoiding this blog for a while. Nothing personal, just been busy working on two different businesses; KimonoMomo, and The Word Sniper, my writing/editing business. Letting go of KimonoMomo has been my intention for quite some time now, but it’s an ornery process, one that keeps dragging me back…
Kimono or yukata sleeves too short? Modify!
When this floral-patterned shibori yukata caught my eye, I just couldn’t say no. I’ve been collecting vintage clothes my whole life (starting with hand-me-down baby clothes when I was an infant) and as some of you vintage collectors know, there are items that have a marvelous vibe to them, as if the previous owner imparted…
Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part VIII
Home at last. The little fellow arrived shortly after my previous post, but I had mixed feelings about his restoration and it’s taken some time for me to sort things out in my head to where I felt comfortable writing about it. If you’re just joining this series, click here to read part 1 and…
Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part VII
The little fellow is coming home! At long last, our boy is ready to fly! He is packed and double boxed. His kimonos are clean but the outer one is oh so fragile. The dyes and fabric were held together by years of dust. The black edging around the inner one has been replaced and…
October news
The weather is cooler, leaves are starting to turn, and I’m still catching up with all the photos I have to edit of new stock, vintage fabrics, and more kimono than you could shake a stick at (but why would you?). To keep things moving as we turn towards Autumn–and Halloween!–I’m offering free shipping on…
Stitch n’ Bitch
Now that I have a dedicated studio space, several sewing machines and a living room all to myself, I’ll be hosting a weekly Stitch n’ Bitch in the San Francisco East Bay area. If you’ve got an urge to get crafty on Tuesday evenings and would like to join in, RSVP and let me know…
It’s my birthday, and I’m in Stitch!
Pick up a copy of Quilting Arts Magazine’s special Fall 2010 issue of Stitch, turn to page 69, and there’s a new sashiko project in there from me! It’s a birthday present from me to you. Today I’m packing up orders that came in over the weekend, and updating the shop with new and vintage…
Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part V
A very welcome email arrived in my box early Friday morning from Anne Weaver: I will speak for the little guy. He is now being made whole again by filling the missing surfaces of his body. The clothing is the biggest challenge due to years of dirt and aging. His face is in the early…
Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part II
Loading the doll and his glass case into the back seat of my car, I wedged the case in between some blankets and a sleeping teenager. Another teenager, surly and tired from waiting in the car while I’d chatted with the shop assistant and owner, looked over from the front seat. “Can we go now?”…
Sashiko, shibori, and everything else
With all the craziness of packing, painting, a family wedding, kids getting out of school, etc., I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by all the other things that needed to get done and ended up ignoring things like, oh, my shop and this blog. Whoops. I logged on this morning to check a few orders…
A love for both the common fiber and the extraordinary textile @KimonoMomo 