Busy winter evening in kimono

I often cooperate with local Cultural Centre at my neighborhood and this time they invited me to prepare Japanese evening. I was telling about my kimono passion and about secrets of Karyukai, next I showed how to put a kimoo of course:)

Cause of great frost and  severe winter weather outside I decided to wear my soft grey chirimen komon with lovely frozen flowers motif. To warm up the look I used my deep rose fukuro obi and  played with obijime shape creating rose flower with a handmade brooch.
I think the audience were glad and I am happy taking experience based on by best passion even if showing kitsuke on model was tough job.

Tsumugi awase

I really  like tsumugi silk. It is so versatile and durable. I`ve finally found something interesting for my only one tsumugi kimono for neat and interesting ensemble. Lovely metallic ochre yellow and brown fukuro obi is perfect and the most beautiful subdued obijime I`ve ever had, newest purchase from ebay.
Putting on this kimono is real challange for me, it`s too long to skip ohashiori fold and too short to do it perfectly, uffff. I wasted about 1.5 hour to do it more or less as I like it:P

Museums Night

The all what  happened at the night exceeded my wildest expectations. Culture Center RYBA survived the siege, which the owners can not remember. A lot of work!

I`d would like to thank all who attended for the warm words I heard during the opening and a huge thanks to Grażyna, Ania, Nina for invaluable assistance in the implementation of the Evening and the Honourable organizers!.

and so it looked like:

I helped my origami master Grażyna in workshop

I told story about kimono kitsuke tips

Thanks to Nina and her game on Yakumo-goto we commemorated the victims of the tsunami in Japan in March

We did small kitsuke show

and the evening finished at 1 a.m. Tough job!

Last minute for awase

I made my husband to catch last opportunity to show this homoungi awase before hot days come and I will be exploding during tieing obi or so:)

blue iromuji

Yesterday I went for charity meeting organized in our Lodz Music Academy.

We listened classic music played by students of academy and take part in small auction. All means were raised of cource for Japan help.

There is Shoko san -she often leads kitsuke show in our town.

I put iromuji I combined with tsumugi kimono as donuki and nagoya obi with heian lady motif. After this event I got many details comments from Shoko about my ensemble. She was shocked that I used to tie obi in the front. She promised to learn me as to do it in the back to avoid destroing of seams symetry on my back.

First steps in kitsuke show

 My friend asked me to show some of my kimonos on christmas sale event. It was so interesting occassion so it changed in kitsuke presentation.   I was standing  the first time  almost in the negligee on stage :) And for the first time I had the opportunity to test my kitsuke skills  publicly. I was invited  by my two wonderful friends, Randi and Iza  to give a slightly exotic show the event  at winter  craft bazaar in ower town.
It wasn`t too perfect and professional but I did my best to say something interesting about kimono and show how to put it on more or less properely. I had a lot of questions from audience.

Tieing the obi in the back and twisting it to the front was surprising moment for many people. I had a lot of fun with it.
I think I love showing beauty of the kimono, I hope there is chance for next time:)
I`m sorry for quality of photos.
I was nervous as hell,  because I`m using the tieing technique at my front-   regarded by some as difficult. But everything ended up in its place according to plan :) But for a moment I had in my mind the image of flames, in which the smoke of a shame, for example, the belt was stuck, or the pattern found somewhere in the middle of the road :)

Even such small things I had of this show a lot of fun and satisfaction. The first cats behind fences ....

too much pink....

Finally, finally went through pretty pictures in a kimono, because my husband needed a model to make proof to another proffesional session palm house, I was objekte under some important test session.

Lady in  cashboard certainly  saw many strange people in her window, dozens of pairs of newlyweds, families  etc., but woman in pink kimono probably not ... :)

According to strict  Kitsuke  rules set below  isn`t a flawless, but it requires effort impeccability, and not one pair of sandals zori to support each ensemble.

my kimono sewing project

 .....12 meters of rinzu satin, tens of meters of hand stitches, hundreds of censored words, thousands of minutes at sewing, undo and re-sewing, I do not know how many drops of tears and sweat, and it is  First at the Vistula hand sewn tsukesage kimono :) although some elements require further amendments, I am proud of myself as a peacock :)

Includes gold obi with the motive stream ryusui, yellow obi-age, and date-eri and pale-green obi-Jima saganishiki.

Fuji homoungi

This is the most ornate and impressive homoungi that so far I managed to spot and get it.
The auction of the kimono got involved my all undiscovered before  hunter instinct :)
Winning has a slightly salty taste, but heh.....
This rather monumental or dramatic theme, the garlands of wisteria (fuji) and integrated into the background of the wheel of the car used by the aristocrats in the old days-(goshoguruma).

Decorated yuzen is a technique, embroidered, a rare gem in my very modest collection of more everyday kimonos (komon, town wear).

Japanese treasure box-karako motif

I`ve  browsed many sites related to wafuku-(traditional Japanese costume) in search of information about kimonos and all that their tradition is related, etc. This allowed me to gain a little knowledge about the kitsuke rules (creation and arrangement of elements kimono art) and collect a database of observations and insights of classical motifs and designs presented to the kimono, obi belts, jackets haori whether  juban robes. A lot of them went into the list of my favorites, by an interesting subject matter, technique, presentation and accuracy or exotic colors.

One of the classic, but quite exotic designs used in creating  wafuku is  theme of karako-Chinese child, I called the Chinese, plump toddler, with a shaven head. These are usually painted in the yuzen technique, also tend to be woven and embroidered.
The biggest, that I know,  online shop, where you can watch (and buy if the purse permits) thousands of kimonos, obi, haori etc. is ICHIROYA. I found there the largest collection of hilarious karako. The most often mapped to nagoya obi belts, but I found them both on several formal kimono with crests- kurotomesode, whether susohiki -spectacular kimonos worn by geisha but of course on  the childish kimono whether male haori. 

Zdjęcia opublikowane za zgodą właściciela Ichiroya.
Thank you Ichiro san!