Your pictures are gorgeous! My sister is also very fascinated with Japanese culture, and I sent her a link to your album, because I knew she'd appreciate it. Just curious, where did you find those stunning kimonos? They look so cute!
Good evening everyone. I didn't realize when I picked July 15th to start the Star Festival thread for Jess that lots of members will be enjoying the MCM sale this weekend. So I'm hoping that some of you will take time to enjoy the Star Festival I made for Choko and my other Japanese girls and to add your albums to this thread when you're ready.
Happy Star Festival, everybody!
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2104422435
edited to change title to English [img]wink.gif[/img]
<font color="#33CCCC"><font size="1">[ July 14, 2006 07:15 PM: Message edited by: Sakurako ]</font></font>
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 15, 2006 12:01 PM: Message edited by: Sakurako ]</font>
Your pictures are gorgeous! My sister is also very fascinated with Japanese culture, and I sent her a link to your album, because I knew she'd appreciate it. Just curious, where did you find those stunning kimonos? They look so cute!
Thanks! I've been experimenting with designing different kimono patterns since March. I also bought a few on ebay: the cheongsams that Alice and the Imp are wearing, the red kimono that Charlie has on and three from spookyneko, an ebay artist who was taught to make kimonos when she lived in Japan. Iris, Nat and Fritha's kimonos were made by spookyneko. I learned that sachan, an ebay seller who specializes in real kimono silk, supplies the silk for spookyneko so I've been buying silk from her to make my own kimono now.
The long flowing style in satin brocade is the closest I've come to the maiko kimono shown in Memoirs of a Geisha. The pattern isn't exactly right yet, but I like how it looks. The satin brocades were on sale at Joann's for a while.
If you don't add a train and make up the kimono totally straight, you can get one kimono from half a yard (two fat quarters) and the obi and collar take one fat quarter for contrast.
That was a great album! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] Your dolls kimonos are all so beautiful, and so are the decoration and pictures!
Fabulous and informative album, as usual! I really enjoy these so much. Thanks.
I always love your albums, and I think this one is my favorite! LOL at Tsuki's Vulcan instincts that making wishes is illogical, but her Japanese side making her want to make her hostess happy! And BOTH bridges are lovely. Your food is just beautiful (just like most of the real Japanese food I've seen!) and your lanterns make such a beautiful scene! I love it! Keep posting more albums, and I WILL eventually be inspired to actually do the work to make at least one kimono for my girls! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
An unlined kimono is not too bad to make. The Japanese design is based on a series of rectangles and the true Japanese kimono has the back edge of the long sleeves open. Also a short space under the arm is open. These edges are simply hemmed. The books on kimono I've been reading all show that the kimono has a center back seam with no shoulder seams, and the front is made a little wider by an extension. So even if you use a shoulder seam, you only have to sew up the center back, across the shoulders, add the long rectangular sleeves with a seam that goes about 3 inches down each side from the shoulder seam, hem the back edge of the sleeve and the part around the wrist and then sew up the bottom and outside edge of the sleeve and the side seam. The tricky part is the band to finish off the neckline. Two ways around that are to make a full lining for the body of the kimono or to use extrawide biasfold seam binding. Either finish comes out smooth and neat looking, if not perhaps totally authentic.
The obi can be very ornate. It can also be a 1.5 yard piece of 2 inch ribbon wound around the waistline twice and tied in a bow in back.
I noticed another ebay seller is clearly using the patterns from Joan Hinds' book on international costumes for dolls. That pattern would be a good starting place for a kimono. Or just find any bathrobe pattern -- I think all the commercial pattern makers have at least one for AGs -- and make it up in a small blue & white print cotton. Informal summer kimono in Japan are unlined blue & white cotton called yukata. Most of my girls were overdressed for the Star Festival -- only the girls in cotton kimono were properly attired for this season -- but after spending months making satin kimono, I couldn't resist using them. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]
Wow - your Festival was so well done! Your girls look beautiful, their outfits gorgeous, great scenery and amazing details! I liked the histories of the dolls (Vulcan/Japanese time travelling doll lol - nice to have a fellow Trekkie in our midst [img]wink.gif[/img] ) as well as the historical and symbolic significance of the festival itself. Lovely~!
Oyasumi nasai -- good night everyone. I had to do a one day business trip to Long Island City on Wednesday, got caught in the post-tornado gridlock in Westchester County coming back and I'm still tired out. I got so wet that the currency in my wallet, inside a waterproof bag, is still damp now!
I hope other members will add their albums here tomorrow. I know some of you are working on Star Festivals of your own and I'm so looking forward to seeing them!
WOW! Fabulous! I loved it and left you tons of comments. I think Hoppy Vanderhare will want to have a little festival if I have time. Pretend it's the 7th of July!
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