breathing life back into cut-up kimonos

[akihito89]

You know how some aweful murderers cut up kimonos or disassemble them.  We can buy strips or this fabric and sew it togeater to make very unique kimonos.  

The only thing is I don't want to support this bloody industry of murdering kimonos.  However, if ppl who want to rescue the fabric and make new kimonos with it don't buy it, it'll die the second death and be a table runner or a drape or worse, a vest.

[Kiyoaki]

TnT,

Japanese wear vest too. Often they are padded for extra warmth. In fact the samurai used to wear a style called 'jimbaori' or campaign vest made out of 'raxa' or imported wool cloth. This style even employed a patchwork technique similar to modern quilting (there's that 'no-no' word again).

The design was first cut out of the background material, then the contrasting colored wool was cut and fitted into the open spaces like an inlay process. The edges were then joined together by decorative stitching to hold everything together.

Later, simple applique technique was used to achieve the same result (another quilting term), when inported wool cloth became more readily available. I think the Japanese would readily appove of the quilting process, since they used it so often.

In fact, I might even go so far as to suggest, that quilters may appreciate the fabric they cut up more than the preservationists. I don't think they casually cut up fabric just so that they can piece it back together again. The traditional ethos of the quilter has been to make use of left overs and discards.

Excepting the Hawaiian quilt, which is a special historical case, using scraps that were left over from Western styles of fitted clothing, was the normal way for quilters to acquire their materials. I don't think that has changed much, although silk may be more prevalent now than it has ever been before.

Kiyoaki

[Flock]

in the olden days when people (especially farm women) used to recycle kimono they'd make patchwork kimono out of old scraps.. it could result in one very unique kimono, or if one made a kimono one could do aplique (or whatever it's called) and stick waves of diffirent silk on them just like people do anyway. I'd be all for that!