Finished Hogwarts pillow

I finished the Hogwarts crest pillow last week, but I've been so busy I forgot to post the picture!  I promise I will put up the details soon, as well as pictures of a new Harry Potter related project I did yesterday.

What do you think? I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I put the background together hoping it would resemble a stone wall, but I wasn't sure how I liked the contrast of the light and dark pieces. It seemed too busy.  Once it was all put together though, I think it looks just as I'd hoped!  Detailing the shield in black was a good idea.

I'm in the process of moving, so except for catching up on photos of current and past projects, posting will go pretty slowly for the rest of the month.

Another pillow preview

I had really hoped to have the whole thing finished by now, but it has been slower going than I expected.  I'm finally at the point of putting all of the pieces together, though, so not much longer!

For the shield, I sewed the quadrants together and then ironed on the mascots and big H.  I covered the raw edges with fabric paint because that seemed to be the fastest and best way.  The alternative was doing a satin stitch over the raw edges (by machine) and then hand embroidering the articulation on each animal in matching thread, and I just don't want to take the time.

I wasn't sure if I wanted the contrast, but I think the black outlines work well!  It gives a unified look.  Ultimately, I might fill in the entire H with paint, to make it look more substantial.  Any thoughts?

New pillow preview

This is my attempt at e-mail posting with pictures, so please bear with me if the formatting is weird.

Here's a preview of my current project.  It's another Harry Potter themed pillow, this time with a Hogwarts crest.  The photo shows the back piece.  I designed it with castle walls in mind.  It has turned out busier than I'd like, but you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find medium gray fabrics.  I had only dark and light.  I wanted to use more than two fabrics though, so I got both and decided I'd see how it turned out.

What do you think?  More details soon!

hisashiburi

I know that I have neglected this blog, but I am determined to keep a more regular record of my crafty efforts. I will be going back to school soon, so I'm afraid that time for crafting may be irregular, but we'll see.

Most recently, I've suddenly taken an interest in quilting. To get my feet wet, I made a quilted pillow for a friend's birthday. I made the decision all of a sudden, the day before we were taking her out to dinner and to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, so I had to work and make up my mind quickly. I went with a Ravenclaw house crest design.

It was much faster and easier than I expected. Starting with a small, simple project was a good idea because it let me uncover my feelings about different approaches without getting mired in anything. For example, I have realized that I would rather sew my own hands together than spend forever figuring out how to piece intricate designs together. Appliques are the way to go. I often prefer the way they look and I think it makes things faster and easier.

I made it in 4 main stages: pieced together the pillow front and body, pieced and applied the shield, applied the eagle and trims, and then applied the banner.

For the shield background, I measured stripes, cut them with a 1/4" seam allowance, and pieced together a rectangle large enough to turn on axis and fit a shield pattern I cut out of thin cardboard. Initially I planned to piece together the eagle and background like stained glass, but in the end I did the eagle as an applique. To accomplish being pieced together, I'd have to make a piece to go between each feather, and THEN I'd have to piece together the stripes in each individual partition and make sure they lined up once sewn together so... there was pretty much no way that was going to turn out NOT looking like crap.

I started out trying to piece together the eagle (working from an existing pattern), even though by then I had decided to do it as an applique, and let's just say it didn't go too well. Not to mention, it was annoying as crap to cut out all of the tiny pieces and keep them organized. Then I realized I was being an idiot and could cut out the eagle as a single piece of fabric. From there, not surprisingly, it went a lot more easily.

The shield and eagle both I cut out as actual size. The raw edges of the shield are encased under the trim, and I covered the eagle's raw edges with a satin stitch. (I did this by hand, but I just realized that my much nicer new sewing machine can probably do this if I set the zig-zag stitch length to 0, although machine sewing around all of the points would be a chore.)

For the body of the pillow, I took quarter yards of fabric, cut them in half, then cut the halves into irregular strips. I pieced together rectangles large enough to turn on axis and cut out a 15x15" square. (This method generates a lot of waste, and I suppose I could plan a square with diagonal stripes easily enough, so that I could cut strips to actual length. But, the scraps are good for piecing together for borders, and this method allowed for more freedom. I could change the tilt of the stripes, and instead of having to plan the order of the stripes, I could just pick a color at whim while sewing.)

For the banner with the house name, I cut out a piece with 1/4" seam allowance and embroidered Ravenclaw on it. I have never done any letter embroidery before, so I just kind of winged it out of stem stitches and back stitches. It was not the most professional looking embroidery you'll ever see, but it turned out looking as I wanted. I hand appliqued the banner, sewed the front to the back, and voila! Ready for stuffing.

I had originally planned to embroider "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure" on the back, but then I wound up doing embroidery around the eagle on the front, so there was no time.

Here's the nearly finished front:


And here are some progress pictures:
The front piece, looking slightly washed out, but you can see the metallic details of some of the fabrics.
The back (which has different fabric).
Front before eagle.
With eagle, partially embroidered.
Detail of the Ravenclaw piece. (the lack of uniformity in the letter size & placement is intentional)

So that's that! My first quilting project. This week I'm going to make another Harry Potter pillow, this time with a Hogwarts crest.

new year and new kimono

I have some semi-recent kitsuke outings to post about, but I just haven't had a chance. Two of my resolutions for this year are: actually do something with this blog, and get more wear out of my kimono. I've sworn off buying kimono until I wear everything I have at least once. It's a little hard, because I can really only wear them on weekends (days off work). And if the weather is bad, or my planned activities aren't compatible with kimono, or if I'm just no in the mood... well, it narrows the window considerably.

But this time of year really is perfect for kimono wearing, so hopefully we'll have more learning adventures in kitsuke to discuss.

I said I've sworn off buying kimono, but...

I have a large tax return coming my way, and I've been scheming about how to divvy it up. I thought it might be a good chance to get a rarer, nicer kimono item. I saw an obi today at Ichiroya that I really, really liked, but reined in my mousing finger... which worked out for the best, because browsing the catalog dug up this old Taisho kimono that I've been checking out for ages. Nice obi come and go, but a kimono like this that's wearable, in good condition, and affordable only comes along so often. Now it is mine!



That's actually a relatively informal kimono. Standard "out and about in public" clothes. The pattern is just striped/banded, but you can see that the blue bands also have a yabane (arrow) pattern.

Taisho is the period from 1912-1926. The designs are notable for being bold and bright, but this trend actually extends a little before and after the Taisho period proper [1]. Basically, from the end of the 1800s until WWII, with Taisho being the peak. With the Taisho period came the introduction/popularization of synthetic dyes, which is what allowed for the brighter colors. Of course kimono since then have continued to be bright, but the Taisho design sensibility and color palates are unique. Art Nouveau and Art Deco influence became very evident in some kimono design, and I think you can see it in the flowers on that kimono. (The general consensus is that they're peonies.) Also, these days, brightness is a matter of taste (gentler kimono seem much more popular), whereas in the Taisho period, it seems as if everyone [2] wore bold kimono, because it was such a radically new thing. The jazz age wasn't limited to the west!

This gallery has many splendid examples of Taisho kimono, so you can acquaint yourself with that aesthetic.

Bold and colorful kimono had existed before, but the dye range was more limited, and for probably at least a century before the Taisho period, "iki" had been the height of stylishness. Iki is understated cool. Why wear a bright red kimono when you can wear a simple, navy and grey striped one lined with bright red, so that it will hint at the color as you move? It's a very Japanese concept -- never come out and say it, just suggest it.

Now, to find a matching obi!

--
[1] Naturally. History, of course, doesn't begin and end with dates set according to particular individual's life spans.

[2] Everyone who was anyone, anyway.

Nara: Sep 2006

I decided that I would like to have all of my travels from Japan collected in a single place. I figure that anyone who is interested in the other intended subject matter of this blog -- kitsuke and Japanese textiles -- may also be interested in Japan travel. I no longer live in Japan, but I have many photos to share.

On my last vacation before leaving Japan, I spent a day in Nara. I didn't see everything, but I did see the high points -- mainly, Toudai-ji, Kofuku-ji and Horyu-ji (which is not actually in Nara city, but a couple of train stops away, further out in the countryside).

If you only go to Japan once, you should absolutely count Nara as one of your do not miss spots. I cannot over recommend it. While it's true that you can see temples everywhere, those in Nara are of particular historic and cultural value. It's less than an hour outside of Kyoto, and the train fare is inexpensive (around $20 for the round trip), so "I don't have time" or "I don't have much money" are not excuses. Toudai-ji (literally, Great Eastern Temple) is the largest wooden structure in the world, and is among the oldest establishments in Japan (even if the building itself is more recent). It also houses some of the most important and oldest wooden statues in Japan. Horyuji has the oldest wooden structures in the world, and also has an impressive collection of significant ancient artwork and artifacts. If you've ever studied Japanese history, you will recognize a lot of the collection from your text books.

Beyond that, Nara has a very different feeling from Kyoto and other places in Japan. It's in the countryside, and the city itself is quite small and quiet. If you go during the off season for tourism, as I did, then I think you'll find it very peaceful. The city is in the central valley, but once you get through the main town area, the rest is a large, organic temple complex, containing many facilities and gardens. And of course, Nara is also one of the only places in the world with a free roaming, protected deer population. It's certainly a unique experience to admire ancient places while petting wild deer (or fending them off, as the case may be). There are also many burial mounds in and around Nara, representing one of Japan's oldest cultures.

When I arrived in Nara, I didn't know where to go, and I didn't have an agenda beyond seeing the deer, seeing Toudaiji, and seeing Horyuji. As it turns out, that's pretty much all I had time for, but if you took a less leisurely pace, you could probably see more. I went into the tourist information center to look for a map, but left with a volunteer guide. This was my guide. She was very helpful and knowledgeable, and it was also nice to have a local to chat with while walking around. The first place that she led me was this pond in Nara Park, which features a famous view of the tall pagoda of Kofuku-ji. To her amusement, I was more interested in the pond and its population of millions of turtles. I think this picture captures the best of both:

Next, she led me through the Kofuku-ji temple complex, to the pagoda itself. This is the second tallest pagoda in Japan (the tallest stands at Tou-ji in Kyoto), and its presence above the trees has become the symbol of Nara. Kofuku-ji was established in the 8th century, and is famous as the family temple of the Fujiwara family.

As we headed further away from the town center, we encountered more and more deer. Lots and lots of deer. Buddha says to be friends with the deer, so I was friends with the deer.[1]

Approaching the south gate of Toudai-ji, a monk begs on the bridge. During peak seasons, this avenue is packed with people. Nandaimon, the Great South Gate, is a national treasure. The original was -- surprise -- destroyed in a typhoon in the Heian era, but the existing gate was built in the 12th century,

Housed in the gate are the Nio, the two kings. The Nio -- called Agyou and Ungyou -- are protectors who are found at the entrance to pretty much all temples. These particular statues were completed c.1203 and are the most famous Nio.

Along the way to the Daibutsuden there are plenty of snack and souvenir stands. You can buy packs of deer biscuits, and feeding usually creates a frenzy. (Keep your bags closed, because inevitably, at some time during the day, a deer will stick his head in it.)

The scaffolds in front of the main temple represent the former location of two seven story pagodas, which were destroyed in an earthquake some time ago. They were probably some of the tallest buildings in the world, in their time.

Toudai-ji's roots go back to the 8th century, but the present Daibutsuden was completed c.1700. Unsurprisingly, it was burned down during Japan's warring states period. The present building is actually 30% smaller than the original temple, I think due to lack of funding to rebuild at full size, and it's still the largest wooden building in the world (reportedly).

A few pieces of the original temple complex remain. This lantern has been a part of the temple complex since its birth in the 8th century (although I'd assume this is actually a copy, and the original is somewhere safe).

At the top of the steps you meet Yakushi Nyorai, or the Buddha of healing. It's said that if you have some ailment, rub his body in the same place, and your ailment will be cured. If you've ever wondered why you aren't supposed to touch anything at historical places, just take a look at this guy. The particles you take with you with a single touch begin to make a dent after millions of touches. His legs were restored not so long ago.

When you enter the hall, you're immediately in front of the Daibutsu. His face is always hidden in shadow. The statue dates back to the original construction of the temple -- in fact, building it bankrupted the country for a long while -- but the actual present parts date from various centuries. The body could be original, but the head is the newest, dating from the Edo period. For scale, each curl on the Buddha's head is the size of a human head. A finger is about the same height as a person.

All Buddhas are not created equally. They represent the Buddha at different stages. This statue represents Birushana, or the "true" Buddha. He is the enlightened body of the Buddha (as opposed to the historical body, Shakyamuni, or a celestial body, such as Amida).

At either end of the Daibutsuden stand two guardians.

The hole in this pillar is cut to the same size as the Daibutsu's nostril. If you can fit through it, supposedly you'll be blessed with enlightenment in this lifetime. I gave it the old college try, but it was a tight fit on my shoulders, and the pillar is thick enough that I would've had my hands and feet off the ground at the same time, leaving me to kind of inchworm through. That made me claustrophobic in a hurry, so, alas, this is as far as I made it.

After leaving the Daibutsuden, we headed up the hillside behind it to the February Hall. It's a popular tourist spot for the view it offers. We enjoyed the view for a while, and then I headed to Horyuji, which I apparently do not have any pictures of.

There are a few other pictures in the gallery, also with notes, so check it out. Also have a look at This travel guide, for its many lovely photos of Toudai-ji and Horyu-ji.

--
[1] Actually, this sign doesn't say anything of the sort. As far as I can tell, it's listing safe places for children.

to boldly go...

The weather is beginning to cool off, at last, which means I can finally begin to look forward to fall, instead of feeling like I'm trapped in some kind of sweltering limbo.

It also means I can finally begin to look forward to kimono wearing, which has been pretty much out of the question (apart from yukata) since May. Even on cooler days, there's no way I'm taking the chance of wearing a fragile garment that's damn near impossible to clean in sweaty weather. My kimono are all regular weight, which is a good reason to not wear them in summer, but I'm even hesitant to buy silk summer kimono. Polyester, washable wonder fiber that it is, will have to do, I think.

The more time I spent around Japanese fashion online communities, whether for kimono or for street fashion, the more I'm amazed at how much more conservative foreign enthusiasts are. Not that no one in Japan takes a conservative approach, but sometimes it seems that the Japanese the only ones willing to experiment with their own styles. Wouldn't you think it'd be the other way around? It's especially weird to me when people approach street fashion as highly regimented. You can say that, "these are common aspects of [x] look," or, "You need [x] components to be recognized as this look," but otherwise, it's ridiculous to say, "You must do [x]. You cannot do [x]." Isn't the whole point of street fashion is that it obeys no rules?

Kimono is a bit different from street fashion, of course. These days, for the average person, kimono are little more than ceremonial clothing, much like tuxedos and evening gowns. Most people won't need to wear them more than a few times in their lives. In that case, a conservative approach stands to reason, to suit the occasions. But in the last decade or so, more and more young people are beginning to take an interest in kimono as a living fashion, something you can wear out with friends, and not just for special occasions. Thanks to the interest, they're finally Just Clothes again, and with that comes the need to experiment and personalize their style, just as they would with any clothing.

These young kimono hobbyists have become known as Kimono Hime, apparently after a fashion magazine of the same name. This magazine shows you ways to wear "antique and cheap" kimono stylishly. After all, new kimono are expensive. On the cover of the issue linked, a young lady wears a funky vintage haori and kimono with pumps and a retro-looking hat.

Yukata have also become quite popular and fashionable in the last decade or so. Perhaps owing to the extremely casual and festive nature of yukata, and also to the fact they get far more wear than more formal varieties, fashion designers and young women are more willing to experiment than ever. One of the key trends in last season's yukata was lace trim. This year's are using rhinestone ornaments and colorful belts over the obi. More designers, especially funkier and more subcultural ones, are making mini yukata to be worn with petticoats and heels. For example, two of this year's trends (images found online):



So, despite the relatively small number of kimono hobbyists in Japan, I think it's alive and well as a fashion. Many younger foreign hobbyists, such as myself, are willing to throw the rule book out the window and wear whatever, but a lot of people have a surprisingly conservative approach. Not that you have to have a wild sense of fashion to be interested in kimono, but people who do otherwise have a wild sense of fashion tend to wear utterly boring kimono. At least, until they've been at it a while. I guess because there is so much to learn just to be able to put the damn thing on, a lot of emphasis is placed on the rules. No one wants to go out looking like an ignorant fool, I suppose.

On the other hand, foreigners, I think, have certain other freedoms that Japanese hobbyists seem to lack. For example, in their choice of kimono style. Kurotomesode are quite popular among western kimono enthusiasts, despite the fact they're among the most formal and limited of all kimono (to be worn by married women on very particular special occasions). But the thing is, because proper wear of kurotomesode is so limited, there are tons of them available second hand. Most women probably need one at some point, but no one will ever wear one until it falls apart, so they're all over the market. Where do they go? Abroad!