Tag: sewing

Sewing

I really love cooking but the food we can eat is limited and instead of stuffing ourselves with madeleines, cookies and other delicacies I can make, I decided that I could use rainy days to work on new projects. I love drawing and painting, I love embroidery, I love the pottery workshop. But I wanted something I could do at home and would challenge me, that I could stop and take back at anytime and that would produce useful things. I found sewing was ticking all the boxes. So a few years ago I bought the cheapest sewing machine. I started by making pillow covers, and then challenged myself with a fabric, a shape and a construct that were way over my abilities and failed miserably. After the I didn’t sew for a while until last year my neighbor offered me to teach me how to sew Japanese traditional clothing. During the early winter I did two quilted coats, one for me one for A. This early summer I did two yukata again one for me and one for A. Then A. challenged me with a fitted surfboard bag, and yesterday, rainy Sunday again, I decided to try making myself a sweater with the remaining fabric of the surfboard bag. My first piece of western clothing!!!

Luckily, now I have a full floor just for myself overlooking A. wood workshop, so I have plenty of space to unroll fabric, cut and mount and mess up! So I started with the one and only sweater I have and planned in reproducing the same cut and shape. With cardboard I drew each piece, cut them and apply on my fabric and cut it, being careful of the jersey orientation etc… yes yes… then I mounted everything once to see if things would come out nice and also see what would be the proper order to sew things together. Then I unmounted everything, and starting sewing. It took me only 60min to sew everything back together for real and to wear my sweater!!!

Yukata

A summer classic in Japan is to wear yukata to go to a summer festival – natsu matsuri – 夏祭り. Both boys and girls can wear yukata, and besides the obi they quite comfortable to wear and it’s much easier to wear it than a “full” kimono. I was lucky enough to have learned how to wear kimono the very first year we lived in Japan and since then to practice once or twice a year. But I have less opportunities to wear yukata as we often went to matsuri after work and I didn’t have time to change.

Last year with some friends from Isumi we all decided to wear yukata and go to Brownsfield matsuri and bon odori. I guess my neighbor caught me on my way there and remember, she decided to teach me how to sew a yukata. Because I was unsure of the result I picked a simple local cotton fabric. The whole sewing took me a lot more time than I thought it would and my neighbor was probably desperate by my slowness and poor sewing skills, she who would sew 3 yukata in one night!!! But hey! I managed to have it ready for the summer and I was very excited to wear it. I choose the Ohara Hanabi Beach matsuri for that: bon odori, minyo live and of course fireworks, on the beach. A very lovely and casual evening… in my new yukata!

http://gentianeetantoine.com/igk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/img_0462.mov http://gentianeetantoine.com/igk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/img_0473.mov

I will try to make a memo of the fabrication of the yukata, but I think I need a lot more practice, so if you are interested in having a hand sewed yukata made just for you, let me know! I’ll be happy to make you one!!!

Golden week!!

Well, well, well… this time of the year has come again and for me golden week means first ocean bathing, the beginning of the bodyboarding season and the beach season. This year the weather has decided differently and it is so cold that I spend my evenings curled in my cashmere or under a plaid, with heater still on. Not only is it cold, it is also raining quite a bit some days Limiting all outdoor activities. So I decided to think of the summer and get ready for it, and took on the challenge my neighbor gave me: sew my own yukata!

My first challenge was to find the proper fabric in colors and patterns that I would actually wear. I opted for online shopping at Hotta-shop and found a cheap roll of yukata fabric 100% cotton and made in Japan, and delivered in a decent amount of time. I’m actually very pleased with fabric and think of ordering some for my next projects. Then during 3h with my 88yo neighbor I learned how to measure and cut the fabric for making the yukata, and starting sewing. I’m still halfway through, as we had friends from France over for a couple of days, I will likely finish today or tomorrow…

Sewing is a great challenge for me as it is a very twisted way of thinking that I need to acquire, and my teacher prefers spending time in small chitchat than the long explanations I would actually need. Anyway I’m having fun and can’t wait for the summer to come!!!

Oh… but don’t worry I haven’t forgotten to cook! For our friends, after our little hike I baked my new scones in a white chocolate, and milk chocolate and miso peanuts, they simply loved them!!! I cooked plenty of other things, some coming soon!

Sewing DIY

Meisen fabric from Chichibu
Meisen fabric from Chichibu

It’s the rainy season so I cannot spend as much time outdoors as I would like to, so I keep myself busy indoors with some cooking, working and some DIY projects. Indeed, it’s been a few years now that I have wanted to sew and buy myself a sewing machine. So far I was hand sewing and doing some basic embroidery but for a lot of the things I do, actually a sewing machine would have been much better. I don’t do very difficult things, rather fixing clothes: shape and size and interior goods: mainly pillow covers, table clothes etc… In Tokyo we live in an area where there are a few fabric shops and I can’t resist buying some regularly, but the real trigger was all the meisen fabric I bought for super cheap in Chichibu when we visited a friend a few weeks ago. So last week, I finally got a sewing machine. Since I’m a total beginner I went fir the simplest one and it’s been really easy to use. I’ve done a few simple projects to start with: pillow covers, button holes… yesterday I tried a very ambitious project but it was really over my abilities, so I will have to work on it again, I made many mistakes because of the lack of technique and small equipment. I’ll do better next time. Anyway, enjoying myself very much learning something new and decorating the house!!!

Decorating the guest room with some new meisen pillows
Decorating the guest room with some new meisen pillows

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