Kimono Silks

I popped into the shop yesterday - I know I am supposed to be 

on holiday - but who could resist!

And it was well worth the visit as the boxes that I posted home from Japan 

in November had started to arrive.

These are the red kimono that I bought in the various flea markets that we went to.

The two rolls at the top left are how kimono fabric comes when it is new.

Kimono fabric is 13" to 15" wide and very few cuts are made in it to create a kimono.

So the kimono that we unpick is still in very usable pieces.

The pile is now ready for unpicking and washing before we recycle them into quilts.

How could you resist any of these designs?

Cranes - a symbol of longevity.

Fans and Plum Blossom.

Now for a bit more subtly in colour.

A classic - Fawn Spots.

And a stripe.

As you can see in the pile photo there are more and each quilt kit will probably

contain a little bit of each.

The red kimomo would be worn mostly by young women in Japan - the older you 

get the more subdued your kimono should become. A big advantage of young

girls kimono is that the sleeves are so much longer so we get more fabric.

As your kimono colours become your subtle your sleeves become shorter.

These kimono will be recycled into kitsets for this quilt. It is throw size.

See you soon, Robyn