Hitoe – Page 4 – Heian Haven

November 21, 2020November 21, 2020

Screeching to a Halt

I made some assumptions I really shouldn’t have. I had the perfect opportunity to discover this twice over, and yet, here we are.

I don’t have enough fabric.

That’s right. I messed up. Big time. I didn’t measure them before I started. Strike One. I didn’t measure the remaining fabrics when I discovered that I didn’t have enough linen for the kosode. Strike Two. I measured today and realized I was an unbelievable 5 inches short on the green silk for the hitoe. Strike Three.

I’m not out, but I’m scrambling.

So that’s the green out of contention for the hitoe but I could use it for the uwagi lining or just a different project. I have some off white silk that I can over-dye to a more accurate shade of green for the hitoe. No problem. Time consuming, but not a bad solution.

But you see, I learned my lesson. And I measured the other fabrics.

And now I want to cry. And frankly, I did.

The yellow brocade for the uwagi is only 29 inches wide. I need it to be 5 inches wider or 3.5 yards longer.

No, I’m not kidding. I did buy it to make a karaginu. I guess it returns to it’s original purpose.

When I told my partner the answer was quite matter of fact, “I guess you’re buying fabric.” It’s not the most responsible idea, but I need this project to succeed. I don’t want to quit halfway though. And my partner supports me.

So tomorrow I’m going in person to a fabric store that reliably has silk taffeta. If I’m very lucky, I’ll find suitable colors. If I’m only lucky they’ll have a color and white or off white that I can dye. If I’m unlucky, I’ll go to a store an hour away or order fabric online. If I have to order fabric I’ll have to enter only one item in A&S Champs or, worst case, drop that entirely.

I did attend a few classes today at an online event. And I had my eyes opened. I am supremely impressed with the instructor of a class on Japanese Dressing. Her website is a treasure trove. She even has a handout detailing how to weave an ichimegasa, the hat from the museum photo. I wish I had found her site sooner, but now is fine. Top notch research and instruction. I’m blown away. And to top it off, this is the same person who gave me the answer about the kosode collar. She inspired this:

Sometimes another’s / brilliance banishes shadows / from your chosen path. / How does one thank the beacon / for her illumination?

November 20, 2020November 20, 2020

Documentation. Yes, Again!

A delightful spark / Flashing moment when it strikes / Stray thought, galvanized. / Like quicksilver ideas race / Brightly illuminated

I spent a decent amount of time today rewriting and updating my documentation. After completing the kosode it seemed a very good time to revisit this part of the project. If my project was a math equation the outfit would be the answer and the documentation is how I show my work getting there. Remember how you could get partial credit even with the wrong answer? Maybe I’ve taken that analogy too far…

I tried to fold in what I’ve learned from the A&S classes I’ve taken recently. I haven’t gone through and dusted it with citations yet, so there’s that still to do. I also plan to send it off to a few Laurels (A&S experts in a particular field, recognized by the Crown, an SCA society-wide award) for review by the middle of next month.

Tomorrow work on the hitoe begins.

October 28, 2020October 28, 2020

Lost in Translation

“Sew seams at 0.8cm. Seam allowance is 0.2cm.”

Umm…What?

I’ve spent today trying to translate the instructions for the men’s undergarments and the women’s hitoe (the green layer in the museum images).

There is no standard seam allowance. 0.8, 1, and 1.5cm all are used.

There’s an instruction to “add glue and twist”.

That’s right, glue and twist. But what? A teeney rolled hem but with glue instead of thread? Is that how the raw edges of the overlap panel (okumi)are finished? This is not something I can learn in the next month. So here lies the day I made another choice to be less accurate so that I can actually make the project.

It’s possible that the 0.2cm has something to do with the seam treatment of the hitoe. The instructions translate to something along the lines of “fold seam into triangle”. I can tell from the image it’s a seam treatment, but I’ve no clue how to do it. Ok, now thinking about it, the hitoe is mostly marked (possibly thread marked?) at 0.8cm and then maybe stitched with 0.2? Maybe that’s a better translation.

The translation I get does shift a little too, so I’m going to keep revisiting it. I’m using Google Lens to translate. I’ll seek out another app or two and see what kind of translations I get from them before starting on the hitoe.

For now I think I’ve decided to use the men’s undergarments as a guide for the seam allowance for the kosode as it is also an undergarment. They both use 1 cm. So I’ll be using 1cm or 0.4inches.

I did read something in the instructions for the men’s undergarments that the stitch length should be 0.2-0.3cm. So I’m aiming for 10 stitches per inch. For comparison, the tiny stitches for the mushi no tareginu (curtains) are approximately 20 stiches per inch.

This is still going to be rather small stitching.