Obidome on Etsy!

You can find them in the obidome section in my shop: Kofuji Kimono.
I only put up a couple just to test the waters.
I've also put them very cheap until I work out what I'm going to use as the loops on the back.
Still having a lot of trouble with that.

I've also got some pretty new designs coming up:

Fishy! I love this little fish, I've also done a blue version and a white one with very light orange spots.

This one below looks a bit freaky because I haven't painted on his eye yet :)

Simple little rose. I think I'll also use this in kanzashi design ( when I get there)

Random leaves. Not the best photo for this one, sorry. I should've flipped it around to photograph it so you can see the detail better. 

Mega sale on ebay!

Just a quick post.
I've got a HEAP of things on ebay right now, most of them are also in my Etsy shop but there's a few different things.
I've put a handful of obidome up for auction too just to see if there's any interest in them.

Here are a few things up for auction now:

Real Geisha Real Women- Documentary by Peter MacIntosh and a short dvd with dances from the Kyo Odori and the Mizuekai.

Two KIE magazines.

Light pink kiku obidome. I need to photograph them better  :/

Gion Photo book, lots of pretty pictures! 

So please have a look if your interest at My eBay.

I'll try to post again soon, some of my other obidome designs are starting to look really good!

New obidome! (IMG Heavy!)

I've been working on some resin obidome lately!
I'm really excited about the whole idea and its been a tedious few months of trial and error so far but its starting to come together now :)

The hearts are made from a bought mould but everything else I've made the mould of myself so its been a long process.

I'm really excited with the two kiku one (red and pink) I think they came out beautifully! Its a bit more tricky though as I have to pour one colour first then once that's dry the second colour can go in.

The white peony is a bit difficult to see, I've mixed up an orange "coral" colour for the next try and hopefully the details come out better in that colour. 

On the back I've made my own "brackets" for the obijime to go through, wide enough to fit the standard 1.5cm obijime but I was wondering your thoughts on that.

Would you prefer the traditional bracket or perhaps a brooch pin or even some other type of clip so you can attach the obidome if you're already wearing the obijime?

I like the bracket idea but in practice they are really fiddly to make ( even though I duplicate them they still look totally different) but I think they're a must for the clear obidome *see that last photo with the clear heart with blue swirls.

I will also be working on smaller obidome to suit the thin obijime and some bigger, bolder styles for those who like the wide vintage Taisho look ( but that's a few months away, sorry!)

The other thing is sometime in the next three months I'll be moving again so that's going to stuff up my creative process, not that I can help that.
So please head over to my Etsy store Kofuji Kimono and see if there's anything you like, I'm doing a clean out of my kimono collection so I have less things to pack.
I'm hoping be selling some obidome in about a fortnight's time so please look out for them too!

Old kimono kitsuke! (haha lame title)

So inspiration struck again!
Although it's just gone autumn here of course this kitsuke isn't season appropriate, I'm pretty bad at that actually :/
Anyway, its still really hot here so I decided to do a ro kitsuke because I haven't done one this summer.
This kimono is one I've had for years, its ro with wisteria. Of course my wardrobe would entirely be made up of wisteria pieces if I could manage it :p
I've only worn this kimono once before, back in '09 for a staff party:

I've got a thing for ro, its such a beautiful fabric!

So here's what I came up with this time:

Sorry the photos are pretty crap, this was the best of the bunch.
Unfortunately I didn't get a clear shot of the obi area.
Again I've used my cream hakata obi, I really need to get some more, they're great!
I find that lately I've been drawn towards non-seasonal kimono pieces, perhaps because they can be worn whenever? I don't know...
Obi was tied with a biyosugata again, except this time it was really really tight! I had  to sneeze later and it was so difficult and kinda painful lol.
I'm still having trouble getting the obi to look nice and straight, also getting that "peak" at the top of the obi where it folds out, if that makes sense. Practice.... I know...

New kimono kitsuke

I don't buy all that much anymore, I've got more kimono than I'll ever need and some I haven't even worn so I've been hard on myself and said "no" to many things. However I've basically got no spring kimono! Or winter really for that matter, but summer and autumn I've got covered.

So I bought a plain-ish komon for Shinei. I don't buy much from them, mostly because I can't remember my password and the website is difficult to use, but no denying there are some lovely things on there.
Although its autumn here, this is a springy outfit (hopefully) everything is non-seasonal but the colours look spring to me.
What do you think?

Actually looking at the photos it could pass for a winter ensemble as the colours are quite icy.

Don't mind the hat either, it was the first thing I picked up to get my hair off my neck, I had some moles removed yesterday and my neck is really sore :( so that's the story behind the hat lol.\

I used a biyosugata to tie my obi today, I still haven't managed to use it with ease, but at least I managed to tie it on without throwing a hissy fit ( like I've done before lol) It actaully worked pretty well, but the waist part was very loose on me. Bit more practice perhaps... 

I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out today :)

Kimono de Jack Australia's first meet!

On Sunday was the Summer Japanese Festival down in Melbourne and the first KDJ Aus meet took place there!
Admittedly it was only the two of us but we handed out some flyers to people dressed in kimono and hopefully we can get some new people for the next event! Already the Facebook page has a few new likers :)

Just a small selection of photos, there's more on the KDJ Aus facebook page.

Was a good day, apart from being sunburnt to a crisp by the end of the day and nearly being blown away the rest of the time lol. Many people in yukata, some in proper kimono, some in shiny satin kimono, some in wa-loli, some in cosplay... some people were even just wearing haori over jeans or tights so it was good to see the variety :)

I think there will be another even planned soon so if you're interested please like the facebook page and keep watching!
My kitsuke wasn't great, I got changed in the toilets of a restaurant and my musubi got squished early on trying to move through the crowds... and it probably got really messy when I joined in the dance lol but it was fun!

Kitano Odori uploads and Kimono Remake #1

I've recently uploaded Kitano Odori from 1982-1989 on my Flickr.
In those Kitano are some of the maiko hikizuri that were recently up for auction on YJA a few weeks ago, just as a point of interest to anyone, I found them interesting because on the TM forums members had found those hiki being worn by Ume- maiko however in the Odori Programmes they are worn by Katsu- maiko so either they had two name lines or what, I don't know but it adds an extra dimension into the mystery.

Another project I've been looking at is turning kimono into dresses, skirts, coats etc and there's a great thread on IG forums about it Here.
As much as I love kimono sometimes its just not practicable to wear them so I really liked this idea for everyday wearing.

So here's what I came up with:

A very simple skirt, I was practising shirring so that's why the rest of it is basic. It turned out ok, but its not tight enough around my waist though, so I don't know if I need to change the thread tension or whether I should've used only three panel rather than four. Or used five panels but gather them a lot more so it flows more.
Either way, its ok but not great. I wasn't going to wear it outside the house anyway because the fabric is badly stained by grease it looks like. I tried washing the fabric before I sewed it up but I couldn't get rid of all the stains.

Here's the original kimono:

Sooo....that's what I did today.
I used one body panel, cut into four equal part, so I still have some fabric left to work with.
Thoughts?