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Kimono Project: Pink Floral Kimono

 The next kimono I made was Ruka Rengoku's pink spring Kimono. Making this a cosplay kimono. Currently, the kimono is unpainted. But I wanted to pause and admire the progress made since starting these kimono projects. 

Things that went well: 

  • All the major seams are French seams. I did it correctly this time! 
  • The collar was a bit easier to do this time. 
  • I put the chikara nuno in correctly this time. At least for one of them. 
  • I was able to do a blind hem by machine! 
  • It fits! 
Some things I learned: 
  • Matching thread color is important. Hot pink really shows up. 
  • This polyester silk is a bit more slippery than I expected. 
  • My Clover Seam Iron is hottest on the rod part and not the flat part. Burned a little hole! (I was able to hide in the hem.) 
What still needs doing: 
I want to paint the flower pattern onto the kimono. I'm trying to make stencils to help me with clean lines. But I'm having trouble with placement. It's really annoying that my only reference has been a purposefully grainy off-color image that's on screen for half a second and there are NO other full body references. (I did find some fanart which helps.)
Took a picture of my TV screen...y'all I feel old.

Actually this image makes it a bit clearer that they're just round petal flower shapes, kind of like Camellia...which is an appropriate flower for an April kimono. (It's April because of the cherry blossoms and pregnancy stage. Kyojuro was born in May.) 

I did a little "guessing" where to put the flowers and what colors they might be. (I will fiddle this for a time.) 
Another rough reference. 
I'll update this with the painted version. 

My plan for paint is acrylics mixed with fabric medium. But I'm going to watch a few examples of floral painting on fabric. 

Updated with Paint




I found some tutorials on "one-stroke" flower painting and leaves. I mixed acrylic paint with fabric medium. I painted a little bit at a time using an embroidery hoop to keep sections of fabric taut and easier to paint on. In some cases I put some fabric medium on the fabric first to kind of "pre-soak" it. I did use the stencils a bit but more for placement than shapes. Once I got into the rhythm of painting I didn't need stencils. 
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