Modesty's Costume Closet

 All the fabric I need for this project has arrived! So the plan is to make this a casual everyday, but nice kimono. And I loved the colors of these roses and wanted to do something with purple roses as a dress of some kind. So I decided to make a kimono out of this fabric.  Got this in a polyester silk. It feels so nice!  Kimono Parts The main body of the kimono will be a female cut kimono with tomesode length sleeves. (About 49 cm). It will need a juban underneath it and I plan on making a nagoya obi that I can tie into an O-taiko musubi. In order to tie this particular knot, I require an obiage and an obijime.  Nagoya Obi This is what the more formal, wide obi are called. They're usually about 4 meters long or more. I got a black taffeta damask fabric with a little felting on it to really get into the Victorian goth style. The plan is to follow the construction style according to the Nagoya Obi construction available on Billy Matsunaga's Patreon. So most of the obi is folded

Everything came together! Lookit how cute he is! The eyes are very expressive and show up so well on camera. It is inconvenient to put on. But my korin belts helped Made with elastic, a plastic slide, and pacifier clips.  Here's the turn around of the outfit.    Here's how I hide my arm to manipulate the puppet.  I stuffed an opera glove I had and safety pinned it to the sleeve of the hanjuban. Then I pinned the sleeve and hand to Goro's backside.  And here's what it's like all together. Some close-ups of Goro: 

 My first kimono project is to recreate Ruka Rengoku (Luka in the english dub...ugh...) blue flower kimono from the anime.  This one! So some quick analysis.  What kind of Kimono is it? Going through my "design tree" I have these main questions to answer: Who is wearing it, what's the occasion/formality level and what time of year is it? Who: A middle aged married woman. This means that the height of the garment is my full height and the sleeves will be shorter.  Occasion: Sick in bed. So this will be a very casual kimono...even though it's pretty. They're pretty pajamas basically. The screenshot doesn't show it but she's not wearing juban, the sleeves are horizontally and vertically short, the obi is not very wide.  Season: Summer based on the colors and floral designs. Based on this information, I deduce this is likely a yukata. (Or possibly a sleeping kimono.) Either way, I will be making a yukata which means:  short sleeves A hanhaba or heko obi cotton

 My plan is to make a total of 4 kimono. 2 are cosplay kimono and 2 are original designs.  I am taking a different approach to these (and any future kimono) than I did with the Wisteria Fox project. Recently I sent images of it to fellow kimono stylists for feedback and got some helpful advice. I also got access to a Patreon video for tailoring kimono from bolt to finished product. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, been busy with Halloween and Dance Comp dress which I finally got in the mail! I'm sure it will give me even more insight than I have now. But, I need to get this post out of my head and onto the digital paper.  So, first, if you want to make a kimono, These are the 3 videos I recommend you start with from Billy Matsunaga Ultimate Kimono Measuring Guide (video) Make an Authentic Kimono (the easy way) - Video ( Men's Version ) How to Put on Kimono by Yourself - (video) From there, it makes following these patterns and sewing tutorials a bit easier:  How to M

 A personal flaw of mine is being very discouraged in reaction to mistakes. It's taken years to realize the root of this issue. And oddly enough, costumes have helped me heal. I'm learning how to make happy mistakes or at least embrace the process. And all this flowery intro is how my process in learning how to make a kimono is going. My hindsight (that now feels a bit embarrassing) and my current process plan and hopefully resources for anyone to have a better foundation than me getting started.  Here were the challenges I had on this project:  I rely on patterns. When it comes to brain load, measuring and understanding why the shapes work is often a lift I can't make easily. The patterns available are a mix of authentic and more Western approaches to sewing. (Something that I only recently learned is the variation of seamstress traditions between cultures.) Technically, you don't NEED a pattern for kimono, but although I knew the pattern shapes, I did not know how to

One of the most frustrating things is learning a better way to do things after the fact. Like, I found a better more authentic kimono pattern after I cut the pieces. I am learning a lot about kimono styling and construction lately. I plan on taking a class even. Along with the course on knitting project management.  (I have a problem, but I'm taking steps to fix it.) Note : Technically, there is no "pattern" for kimono, it is all rectangles cut at specific lengths and put together. I use pattern or template pieces that have my measurements because wrestling fabric in my small space is hard enough without having to measure for each piece. Also lord help me I can't cut a straight line without a guide.  Let's start with the Juban.  Juban/Hanjuban When I originally started this project, I knew that juban was a thing you wore under the kimono. I have one from the yukata I got years ago. I knew it could be different colors to peek from under the kimono. The patterns I h

Time for a new series! Haven't done one in awhile. It's my plan to share what I've been collecting in my mind for my Hakama. This is stuff to the best of my knowledge which to be fair is based entirely on what I can find in English. I did learn a lot but I don't want to go too in the weeds...like I did when I was looking for info. So, I'm not going to get into history or things like that per se unless it is relevant.  I also limited to the things I wanted to make or thought I was going to make.  There are 4 variations of hakama for this series:   Ando Bakama - this is what I'm wearing for the fox caretaker Hibakama - the miko stuff I'd been studying Hakama - martial arts style, I'm sure it has a specific name...maybe Tatti Hakama, but I don't want to go back to Wikipedia at the moment. 😅  Mompe Hakama /Karusan-bakama - Gathered trouser style hakama, could be used for Demon Slayer cosplay.  Here are the general things I was researching for my costum

  Yes, change colors again. Now that I've had a little break, I'm ready to jump back into this project. It's gone through a few more revisions.  1) I departed from the Miko style and started leaning more into just Kimono + Hakama. I was starting to get tunnel vision with color choices and making sure I was picking the right colors. This way relaxes cultural/religious connotations which were starting to make me feel weird.  2) I changed colors AGAIN. But finally saw something on pinterest that I felt hit all the right marks for me and decided to borrow the color theme. I'm also going to put a pattern on the kimono and possibly on the hakama too via applique.  Other than that here's the plan: Study While writing this post, I landed on this YouTube channel and it's helping me so much! I know I'm super cheating and still doing thing costume style.  She also has sewing tutorials. 🎉 But watch just parts of her videos have already helped me with things like how to