reynardine's blog

Some Inspiration for Kosode

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:20:13 -0500

I scanned in these examples for my friend Rhiannon from the Taiga Drama Komyo ga Tsuji. These are examples of the "patchwork" kosode. In the drama, the heroine, Chiyo, had to piece together new kosode because hers were ruined in a fire. Saionji-hime also speaks a bit about the subject on her excellent Kosode page, with some extant period examples towards the bottom of the page. I'd like to try to make one of these myself!

My only question is that the styling on these taiga costumes doesn't seem as symmetrical as the period examples I've seen?

Here are the scans. All of these are from NHK Taiga Drama Magazine.

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo1.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo2.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo3.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo4.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo5.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo6.JPG

http://home.mchsi.com/~tace/komyo60001.JPG

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Get Thee Behind Me, Satan

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:30:31 -0600

Or Satin, as the case may be, although in this case, the culprit was LINEN, and I succumbed without much of a fight.

In a couple of months, a neighboring SCA group here in Iowa is going to have a Vikings vs. Saxons event. Since Bob has a Viking persona anyway, and my alternate persona is Anglo-Saxon, I figured I would make some new garb for us for the event, which is at the end of April. With two tunics apiece, I figure that works out to a tunic every two weeks. Even with all the hand-sewing I do (my personal authenticity thing is to not have any machine-sewn seams showing), I think that's doable.

I did finally finish my new royal-blue cloak, as seen below:

Cloak

It looks a bit wrinkled, doesn't it? Looks much better in person. It was completely hand-sewn, as shown here on the hem:

Blanket_stitch

It took me about a month to finish, but is very warm and comfy.

As for the Evil That Is The Fabric Store, I only went in to get a few yards of a butterfly brocade for an Japanese outfit I made last fall. I messed up the sleeves and want to re-do them, but didn't quite have enough fabric, and brocade was on sale today. But while there, I saw that linen was also on sale and managed to pick up these beauties:

Asfab

The ivory is a lovely color for undertunics and isn't that blue wonderful? It'll go with the cloak perfectly, too. Most of my Saxon garb is earth-toned (mainly browns and greens) so I was longing for either blue or red linen for a bit of variety. I didn't need to spend that money, but oh, sin is sometimes delicious, isn't it?

I've gotten bored with my red hair. Next up: dark ash brown. Yep, it's time to be a brunette for awhile, I think. ;-D

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Zukin Triumphant

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:40:48 -0600

So I've cut and sewn the third zukin prototype. I think I may have the look I'm going for here.

First, I took a scrap piece of linen 32 inches long and 52 inches wide. (52 was actually the full width of the cloth). Then I cut it in a semi-conical shape as shown below:

Zukin3cut

This is half the shape--I placed it on the fold of the cloth. The face opening was at 17 inches, which is the length from the top of my forehead to the middle of my collarbone. The rest I curved out until I reached the edge of the cloth. Then I hand-sewed the curved edge (french seam) and hemmed both the top and the bottom edges.

Zukinpr3

Here is the result. As before, I'm wearing a headband (27 inches long, 2 inches wide) and the zukin is tucked beneath it at my forehead and pinned underneath. The folds took a bit of arranging, but stayed in place quite well.

The advantage this style has over the style the Hokkeji nuns were wearing in this picture:

Nuns-lrg

is that this style (Eshinni-style, I'm calling it, for lack of a proper term, after the portrait of the nun Eshinni) hides the hair better. I did pin up a square of cloth to hang loose like the Hokkeji nuns, but it didn't stay in place very well and my hair kept peeking out.

So, for now anyway, this is the style of zukin that I will be wearing for my SCA persona.

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More on Zukin

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:48:54 -0600

Well, I sewed together prototype #1 and the result is as you see below.

Zukinpr1

It looks close but not quite there yet. The opening is still too near the face and there aren't enough folds. Still, not bad for a first attempt.

I found that the forehead part stays flatter (and in place) if the top is folded over in and pinned underneath (also the pins don't show that way. However, I'm going to need to put some interfacing in the headband to make it a bit more stiff so it'll keep its shape.

The next thing I thought I'd try is a rectangle shape, to see if that would give me the folds that I wanted. I took a piece of scrap cloth 17 inches wide and 28 inches long and pinned the sides together. Here is the result:

Zukinpr2

It gets it away from my face, and there are the folds I wanted, but it bunches up and is too narrow. I really think I'm looking for more of a cone shape. Not sure if I'll even bother sewing this one up--I can use the material as part of a belt I'm working on. I have another scrap of the same color that is bigger, so later this week, I'll cut it out in a larger cone shape and see if that works.

I have given some thought to yardage--Japanese looms make cloth about 14 inches wide and they wouldn't have wanted to waste any. However, until I can figure out the shape, I'm not going to focus on that aspect and just use the remnants of cloth I have on hand. Also, I need to take into account that I'm a lot bigger than period Japanese women were. My kosode is wider and uses more cloth, so it stands to reason that the zukin would as well.

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Wimples and Zukin

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:00:54 -0600

I've been working lately on a complete outfit for my SCA Japanese persona. One of the sticking points I'm having is with my hair, which varies between red and blonde (depending on how I'm coloring it at the moment) and is fashioned in a short modern cut. However, medieval Japanese women tended not to cut their hair, and for the most part wore it uncovered and usually tied in some variation of ponytail straight down their backs. The complex hairstyles often associated with Japanese women (as worn today by Geisha) were a product of the Edo period, which is past the time periods covered by the SCA.

So what to do? Some women don't worry about it, and just wear their hair as it. Personally, I think that ruins the effect of the outfit. Some wear long black wigs, which is an acceptable-enough solution, but alas, my complexion is quite ruddy, and black hair looks terrible on me. (I tried to dye my hair black once in college. Ooooh, disaster!) And wearing a long red or blonde-haired wig with Japanese costume would just look like something out of anime. So what is left?

Well, there were a couple of instances where Japanese women wore haircoverings (besides hats, which were only worn outdoors). One was while doing manual labor--they would tie a cloth around their head. Farming women were often shown sporting these headcloths. I'm not sure what they were called in period, but now the cloths are called tenugui. They're made of cotton and come in a variety of patterns. You can see a selection here on this Ebay search. But my persona is kuge-class (noble). She wouldn't be caught dead with one of those towels on her head.

The other option is to take a tonsure and become a nun. Long hair was so important to the sense of Japanese female beauty that the only time a woman would cut it is to while taking religious vows or as a dire punishment. Buddhist nuns shave their heads (as to monks), but there were instances where a woman could cut her hair short in a partial tonsure. This could be as an act of piety, or because she could not leave her home to go to a convent as yet, or as the first step in becoming a "real" nun.

And Buddhist nuns, like Catholic nuns, wear headcoverings. In English, we use the term wimple. In Japanese, they are called zukin. They somewhat resemble each other, but there are some structural differences. This site explains medieval Anglo-Norman wimples very well.

Aswimple

This is a picture of me wearing an Anglo-Norman wimple. It comes in two pieces--a cone-like tube that goes around the head, and then a large, rectangular piece of cloth that in pinned to the tube. Most of the sources I've seen only portrays them as being white or natural-linen colored.

Zukin seem to be shaped slightly differently. They do not cover so much of the neck (it sags down in folds) and I've seen pictures of them in other colors besides white. It could be that the looser fit is due to the warmer climate?

Here are some historical pictures of zukin:

Eshinni

This portrait of the nun Eshinni, wife of Shinran (the founder of Shin Buddhism) is the best example I've seen of zukin. Note how tightly it clings to the top of her head, yet comes down in many folds.

Nuns-lrg

These are 13th century nuns from the Hokkeji convent in Nara. Note how they seem to be wearing only a veil-like headdress instead of the wimple-shaped one that Eshinni wears.

Nun1

And here is another example from the 13th century. The woman on the right is partially tonsured--notice how much shorter her hair is as compared to the woman on the left. The woman in the center is wearing the wimple-style zukin.

While historical TV dramas are not good sources for historical research, I do want to include some pictures which more clearly show the distinctive shape of the zukin:

Wt_frkz_w1

From Fuurin Kazan. Note the brocade this woman is wearing. She still lives at home, but is a widow and has taken religious vows.

Wt_frkn_w4

More views from Fuurin Kazan. Also note that her zukin is blue, not white.

Wt_yo_w1

From Yoshitsune. This woman is not a widow, but took vows when her husband fell ill. He also took vows after he recovered.

Wt_yo_w2

More from Yoshitsune, showing the same character before and after taking vows. Note again, she still lives with her family and does not change her robes. She is therefor only partially tonsured.

I must admit I am not very good at making patterns, so I wasn't quite sure where to start on this venture. I decided to try to make a pattern off of the cone-shaped base of my Anglo-Norman wimple. The pictures from the taiga dramas did not look like the women had rectangular pieces of cloth pinned about their heads. It looked like a cone-shaped piece of cloth that had been pinned in some way to be tight across the forehead.

First, I worked out the pattern. In this case, I simple measured out 3 inches or so from my existing one as shown below:

Wimpabovcut

The existing pattern measured 24 inches at the face, 37 inches at the shoulder, and was 24 inches long. The fit was still a bit close around the face, so I widened it a bit, but lost some of the length:

Wimpcut2

This made the shape a bit more square. The new measurements were 29 inches at the face, 42 inches at the shoulder and 23 inches long.

Headband

Then the VITAL STEP: I pinned a 2 inches wide, 27 inches long headband around my head, and then pinned the prototype to the headband, in order to get the "flat against the forehead" shape:

Jwimpprto

Here is the result, not sewn yet. On inspection, although more of the neck is shown, the zukin is still too close to the face, and there isn't enough yardage around the shoulders. This will evidently require more fabric than I anticipated.

The other option might be to wear something closer to what this modern nun is wearing:

Modern_nun

It seems to require less fabric and resembles the zukin worn by the Hokkeji nuns.

I'll continue my experimentation. Any feedback on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

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Because I Hate Making Decisions on My Own

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:18:40 -0500

Okay, since I'm dithering about colors, I'll let the public weigh in on the question:

Here are the choices:

Purple brocade w/bronze lining, sage green and offwhite kosode

Purple brocade w/bronze lining, cobalt blue and offwhite kosode

I also have a different purplish brocade (lighter, with flowering plants instead of butterflies), a pink/brown brocade (the plants are more autumnal) and various colors for linings.

View Poll: Which Color Combo for My Next project

Thanks for your input!

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I Blame Saionji

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:50:37 -0500

Okay, since gurdymonkey ~~bullied me~~ talked me into getting the new garb done for the Cedar Rapids event in September, I went downstairs and dug through my fabric stash. I thought I had some brownish Chinese brocade, but it turned out I didn't. I did have some purplish stuff that will probably do.

Here's a visual aid:

Sorry, the camera-phone isn't great about picking up colors properly, but from the left is bronze (for lining the uchikake), a purple Chinese brocade (for uchikake), a light sage green (kosode) and off-white (kosode). The off-white kosode is already finished--it's from my other set. I had a blue that I thought about using for the kosode instead of the sage green (it exactly matches the blue in the butterfly wings on the brocade), but I wasn't sure how loud that would end up looking, or if blue was an autumn color. Me and colors...oh, the angst! ;-D

I may use the bronze for a kind of wimple as well (the type Buddhist nuns wear--can't think of the name). I do have a black wig around here, but honestly, my complexion is too florid to carry off black hair, and makeup makes my rosacea flare up. Just need to figure how to keep the thing on. Anyway, I've already prewashed all the fabric except the brocade, so that will save time.

The material isn't all that great (no, it's not real silk, it's a blend; yes, I realize the downsides to that), but at 50 cents a yard, it gives me a chance to screw up and not feel too badly about it. Even the brocade was a bargain at $3/yard. I picked it up when a fabric store over in Madison was going out of business. Got some really sweet 100% linen as well for $1.50/yard, but I'm saving that for another project. I've been holding onto this stuff for almost four years now, so it's nice to be able to use it. I do plan to get nicer fabric eventually, but for now, I'm under edict from the husband to use what I've got on hand before I go buying any new stuff.

I've got zori, a straw hat that will do good enough until I can afford a more authentic one, and a couple of fans. Need some white tabi and maybe some Buddhist rosary beads?

This is the material for aota Mongolian clothing. Nothing fancy because he's going to be out doing archery all day anyway. The dark grey on the left is his pants (already made), the center is some neutral-colored linen for the under-caftan and on the right is some red-brown cotton for the over-caftan. Nice masculine colors--I think he'll like them. I have some trim around that might match the red-brown pretty well--not sure if the style is right, but I'll look into it. Bob swears that caftans are really easy to make (yeah, easy for him to say--he doesn't sew at all) and again, all this was massively cheap fabric (none of it over $1.25/yard), so I can make my mistakes with confidence! And if I mess up, he has some really nice Viking-wear that I've made him over the years, so no worries there.

Need to find him a Mongolian-style hat, though. Don't think I'll have time to make one.

I was virtuous and hung up more pictures as well. I would have finished that task if I hadn't run out of hangers. Next up for the office is getting the filing done and out of the way. I tried to get a picture of my office wall around my desk, since it turned out so well, but the cell-phone camera just couldn't handle the lighting issues. Anyway, it looks pretty good.

Excited and nervous about the sewing project, but what the heck. Well begun is half-done, right?

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Projects Galore

nobody@vox.com(reynardine) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:37:23 -0500

Feeling rather bored and restless. Not because there is nothing to do, but because I don't want to do the things that need doing, yet I feel guilty if I'm doing something else when other, more important things loom. And I'm trying to actually finish projects instead of leaving a bunch of things half-done!

I did finish reading a couple of library books on Urban Legends, both of which were written before the internet became popular. In some ways, that makes them even more interesting, because the collection methodology was so different before the internet became mainstream. Now I just need to peruse the book on Japanese pilgrimages and take some serious notes from that inter-library loan book on Japanese printing pre-1868 for my Queen's Prize Project. Found another book on emaki scrolls that I'm going to need to order. I'm debating buying it because it's not too expensive, but then again, money is tight right now. :-P

Books, why must you tempt me so?!

I'm going to need to start doing some physical experiments with the washi (paper) that I want to use regarding calligraphy. I thought very hard about writing the poems in Japanese (I've done a few Japanese-language tanka), but on thinking about it, I realized that my Japanese just isn't up to par yet, and besides, to be really accurate, I'd need to use Classical Japanese, with which I'm only vaguely familiar. So the poems will be written in English (although I may throw in the Japanese ones to mess with the judges--haha, I'm so mean!) and I need to determine whether I can callig on washi with a pen or if I need to use a brush, which will require me working out a new script.

And then there's the bookbinding. *cringes* Big learning curve there. Honestly some of the stuff I've been reading proves that the Japanese were using woodblock prints since about the 8th century, so for a moment I thought about trying that out, but then I remembered that I have never carved wood and don't know the first thing about it. Plus, poetry collections were usually handwritten. Woodblock prints were often used for Buddhist texts. Maybe next year, I'll dig up some Buddhist texts and learn to carve wood? Wait, Maria, stay in the Now...

I want to sewwww!!! I was looking at gurdymonkey's Kosode Made Simple page (nice updates since the last time I visited, btw. Thanks for clarifying that collar thing!) and starting to feel inspired. The event in Cedar Rapids is a little over a month from now and if I got started right away, I could probably manage both aota's Mongolian and an autumn-colored kosode/uchikake by then. (My current ensemble is in pink and yellow, which are more winter/early spring colors.) But can I really get all that done by then? Am I taking on too much? Will I ever get my housework done?

Wait. Do I ever get my housework done?

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