Disassembling a Kimono

かばん作成のため、お母さんにもらった着物をほぐしました。

 着物は、ほぼ全部、直線縫いで出来ているのですね。
そして肩に縫い目が無いのね。前身ごろの裾から後ろ身ごろの裾まで１枚の布で出来ているのね。

ほぐす作業は面倒くさかったけど、興味深かったです。
洗濯機で普通に洗って、アイロンかけました。手荒な扱いで失礼。

本当は、この布でワンピース作ろうかとも思ったんだけど、さわり心地がざらざらしてかゆくなりそうだったのでかばんに変更なのです。
ただ問題は、着物の布は幅が狭いということ・・・。

I have disassembled my mother's kimono in preparation of making a weekend duffel bag.

It was very interesting to rip all the seams of the kimono. I did not know that the kimonos are made of 8 panels of rectangular fabrics. They are totally rectangular so perfect for recycling the fabric.
Also, there is no shoulder seam. One long panel goes from the front hem to the back hem. Although I am assuming this is only when the fabric is not directional.

In a way, a kimono is a couture garment if you think about the amount of hand sewing involved. Except for a couple of long vertical seams, everything else was hand sewn. My mother definitely had good even hand stitching.

I originally planned to make a shift dress type structured dress (since the fabric does not have a good drape). But the fabric has very rough texture that my skin does not like so the duffel it is.

The only issue with using a kimono fabric is that it is only 15 inch wide...