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November 2004

Today I made the big mistake of watching an A&E program on geisha girls. It was a very interesting documentary but it was rather unhealthy for my sewing sanity. I have been wanting to make a kimono for ages. Not just any kimono of course, but the black one from Titanic. I have all the materials, it's just one of those projects that has continued to be pushed onto the back burner. After watching geishas for a few hours I couldn't take it anymore. I must have my kimono this Christmas!!!

And another sewing adventure begins... I'm using a pattern (wow I know), Butterick 6698. I will be adjusting it, of course, but overall it looks like a good pattern. I have lengthened the sleeves 17" (to be floor length), lengthened the actual robe 7" (to puddle on the floor like a wedding kimono, lengthened the facing to create built-in ties (like my FM version) and will add some darts (also a copy of the FM doll dress). The fabric is a black silky rayon I've had for ages. It is definitely a synthetic but it drapes like a dream!

I am planning on adding embellishment as well – the gold paisleys, beading on the ties & tassels – but not right away. I'm going to make up the kimono and then embellish it at my leisure. It will be an on-going project to work on when I don't have any other handwork to do (like now). I haven't finalized the paisley designs but they will be a mixture of embroidery and beading. The original is gold but I'm leaning toward bringing in some primary colors – red, blue, green. We'll see. Those paisleys will be appliqués I think, stitched on lightweight interfacing. The tassels and tie beading will be applied directly to the garment. I'll probably start with those, in plain black beads I think.

This project is actually much simpler than it sounds. The garment is super simple, even with my adjustments. It's a good project for the holiday season.

Nov 19
I managed to squeeze in some sewing time yesterday, so the kimono is cut out and; ready to go.

I ended up using about 7yds (60" wide) on the garment, mostly because I lengthened everything so much. I did have quite a bit of "waste" left over but the patterns were too wide to fit together better on the wide fabric. I've already made a skirt out of this fabric and there is still almost 5yds left so I'm not worrying about it! I'm so used to scrimping on fabric it was actually rather fun to be extravagant with my fabric use for once! :>

Dec 3

I worked on my kimono yesterday and today. The garment was initially very simple to construct but it took me a while to put together because I used French seams. Finished seams were a necessity as this rayon ravels like mad and it's the type of garment that will be constantly taken on and off.

The problem with French seaming is that if your garment needs to be adjusted at the seams you have to take out twice the work. I used French seams, therefore I, of course, had fitting issues. When I tried my kimono on for the first time I discovered that the shoulder piece was way too long. Kimono type sleeves are supposed to fall below the shoulder but this one was like halfway down my upper arm. That made the... oh what is it called… anyway the part of the sleeve where your armpit is… it was way too low. Made me feel rather ridiculous actually.

The best way to fix this would have been to remove the sleeve, shorten the shoulder piece and re-attach the sleeve. Because of the way the kimono was constructed however, that would have meant taking the whole thing apart. Yep, every one of those French seams. Can anyone say "AS IF!"? *takes deep breath*

So I tried to come up with a more creative solution. In the end I decided to take the excess fabric up in the center back and center front. I was already a bit unhappy with the shape of the front. I found when I tried it on that I didn't really want the cross-over front (like an authentic kimono) but something more straight edge to edge, (like the FM version). I had planned on adding darts at the back waist anyway so I just extended those darts all the way up to the neckline.

I took the shoulder up about 3", gathering the excess fabric at the neckline. I then smoothed out the front, creating a more tailored opening. In the back I took two large darts on either side of the center back, beginning at the neck (where the shoulder seam was) and ending a little below the waist. I did all the pinning right side out so, when I was happy with the pinned darts I turned the kimono inside out. I then marked along the pinned seams with chalk, being cartful to mark both sides. Once I had taken the pins out I laid the back out flat, marked the center of each dart and pinned wrong side out.

After I'd sewn the darts I tried it on once more. I'm pretty happy. I kinda like the way the darts give fullness to my rump area while still being tailored through the back. Perhaps my little "snag" was serendipity after all. :> I re-pinned the front to give a bit more ease. I may re-sew the back darts to give the back more ease, as well. It's very fitted right now, good for a corseted figure but perhaps not terribly practical. :> We'll see.

I'm also working on finalizing the paisley design. This black blob definitely needs some embellishment! I've decided to go with black beads, gold beads, gold sequins and a few green beads to accent. I know, green and old - how Jenny right? I just happen to have tons of gold and green beads in my stash that I'm tired of looking at. Not that I won't have to buy more beads at some point I'm sure. This is going to be one of those huge bead-sucking projects.

Oy. What have I gotten myself into!!

Oh yes... sorry about the lack of quality on the pics. My camera doesn't like to take pics of shiny black rayon apparently. Stinker!

Dec 4
This afternoon, I re-did the back darts a bit, to give a bit more ease to the kimono. I sort of miss the super fitted feel though. Maybe I added too much ease and should fiddle with the darts again... Ummmm. I also hemmed up the sleeves, so they are all finished. Next up is to cut out and attach the facing/ties and the hem. Then it's on to embellishment.

I have a finalized paisley design, although I still need to trace a "clean" copy to work from. I'll post a pic of it once I have that clean copy finished. I'll have to test it of course; paper beading designs are only theory after all. :> I have check and see if we have any lightweight lack interfacing. I suspect I'll have to buy some. All this will have to wait a few days though. We are off tomorrow morning to Williamsburg for a few days of holiday family fun!

Dec 7

I hit the jackpot at the Bombay outlet store in Williamsburg yesterday. I found some great beaded tassels - they had exactly the sort of colorful, "Bohemian" beads I wanted for the kimono tassels. They were a great price, much cheaper than buying the beads at a craft store (if I could even find them there). I bought two tassels and took them apart the minute we got home. I'll use the beads for both the tassels and for a bit of texture in the paisley design.

Speaking of the paisleys, I finished the "clean copy" of the basic outline late last night. I'm very happy with it and I can't wait to start testing the design. Although I have ideas of which beads go where, all that will change once I start testing. It always does. For sure, the center "eye" of the design is where I'll place the Bohemian beads though.

Dec 9
I cut out the kimono belt today, along with some other things.

Very exciting I know.

Dec 15
I have been super bad about updating this week. Do forgive me. In the holiday madness something eventually must give. It's been a case of either work on projects or update the diary. The calendar's looming deadlines have me slightly freaked out right now so working on the projects seemed the better way to go...

I started work on the tassels on Sunday. I got one tassel almost complete at my babysitting job that evening. The little girls I was watching were quite fascinated with the process. :> The second tassel took a bit more effort than the first. I really don't know what my problem was. I had to redo three of the strands twice, and one of them three times. I kept dropping them or Nefret wanted to play with them or something. I think I spent almost as much time picking beads up from the floor as I did beading. I was really beginning to wonder if the darned thing was cursed! :>

I did mange to finish both tassels though and I took a series of pics to show how I made them. I'll post those on my site sometime this month. It was really easy; I basically followed the way the original tassels (from the Bombay outlet) had been put together.

Today I finished up the sewing on the kimono and attached the tassels. I ended up taking the back darts in a bit more in the end. I just liked the more fitted feel.

The facing was surprisingly easy to attach. I ironed each edge under, then ironed the belt in half (widthwise). I then pinned the facing to the neckline of the kimono, so that the neck was in between the two folded edges. I top stitched everything in place. The bottom hem was rather sloppily machined (like anyone will ever notice) and the tassels were sewn on by hand.

So, the kimono is essentially done, except for some hooks and eyes. And the beaded embellishment of course, but that is a long term project. I'm really happy with it, although the ties are too long to leave just hanging in front. I wish I could have the option of criss-crossing or leaving them hanging but I have to make a choice. For now I'm leaving them as is (I really don't feel like taking the tassels I just put on off again) but I may shorten them eventually.

Dec 19
I added the tutorial on tassels to the beading section, Beaded Tassels. Enjoy!

Dec 29
I've added a new page, Research, to this dress diary. It was helpful for me, compiling all my notes & thoughts on the original kimono so I thought I should share the wealth here. Enjoy!