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Kimono Project: Men's Kimonos Red and Burgundy Progress

Over the past two weeks, I've worked on the male kimonos and got them put together. 
The ensemble is not quite finished yet, I am working on hakama for both of them. 

Color-wise they look similar, but you can tell they are different material. I've sewn the haori for the more matte red one. 
With the haori

As you can see, it's a very shiny haori. Needs a haori himo and some paint on it. But significant progress was made! 

Kimono and Haori

What Went Well

  • I did my French seams correctly! 
  • I figured out MY way of attaching the Okumi with French Seams
  • These did not take long to make
  • Pinking shears really help reduce fray
  • They fit!

What I learned

  • Took me a bit to figure out how to put on sleeves since there no opening. 
  • I did have to fudge some measurements because I was a little short on some of the fabric when I cut it and did not want to buy more. 
  • The collars were still kind of a pain to put on but I'm getting better at stitch-in-the-ditch. 
  • Blind hemming was not as clean this time. 
I will update this with how the hakama go. Right now I'm just putting off ironing in pleats for as long as I can. Only got the crotch seam sewn, made the himo, and started making the koshita (back board). Several parts of these projects involve sewing by hand and I've been putting that off. 

UPDATE:
I've sewn the hakama together with some difficulty. I had to repaint some of the flames on the edge and re-do the hems a couple times. However, the hakama fit. Still need to actually IRON the pleats in but I'm going to put that on hold until I do a photo shoot. Oh and I painted the haori too. Looks close to the image so I'm pleased. Even though it was messy. 
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