My chaotic wanderings through creation and restoration.
Alright, buckle up, nerds. I've been driving myself absolutely insane on getting satisfactory images and video to use in this tutorial for the better part of a month now, and I gotta tell you, I absolutely suck at taking video of things I'm doing with a tripod. In the end, I had to check with … Continue reading Tutorial–Couching Repairs
Vibrant Bamboo Leaves On Beautiful Teal Silk With Woven Gold Threads. Here's another piece that qualifies as a restoration that I never bothered to keep any records on. It's actually pretty safe to say that most of my older kimono qualify as that in one way or another. I usually have to clean something, remove … Continue reading Taisho Haori–Bamboo Explosion
I'm making lots of great progress on this piece, gifted to me for restoration by Nancy from Kyoto Kimono. As predicted, most of my work is sewing. I had to wait for awhile to get the proper weight and color for threads in to get started, but now that they're here, things are going very … Continue reading Update: Restoration In Progress–Castles And Dreams
I have been asked a few dozen times over the years by various individuals, usually in good faith, why my lily-white ass is so interested in kimono and such. It's usually people that don't know me very well that ask that question, because if they did then they know that I'm a goddamn artist and … Continue reading Restoration In Progress–The Elephant In The Obutsudan
Deep Dark Plum Silk Adorned With Iris And Bamboo Inside Stylized Snow Rings. This is one of my many pieces that I struggle to date properly when it comes to placing it squarely in an era. Women's haori are delightful little jackets, and traditionally speaking are informal to begin with (unlike men's haori but that's … Continue reading Antique Haori-Springtime Snowflakes
Okay! I was pretty wishy-washy about even trying to explain this one, because it's not easy, it's not safe, and it takes a lot of practice. But! Interest was given, and as long as I'm VERY FUCKING CLEAR about what you're getting yourself into, surely there's no harm in showing you how it's done. I'm … Continue reading Tutorial–Removing Unmovable Stains From White Silk
Peafowl In Courtship Dance On Bright Red Silk With Peonies And Butterflies. This restoration was pretty much the smoothest, least complicated restoration I've ever done. The stains were mostly things that could be scraped off with a fingernail, and what couldn't be was wiped away pretty easily. The fabric is in excellent shape, so re-sewing … Continue reading Restoration Complete: Taisho Furisode–Classy Peacocks
-Deep inhale- AAAAAAAAAHHHH. Tonight I needed a distraction, so I finished the kinsai work on this piece. And let me tell you, as much as I've threatened to burn the house down with this project, I'm pretty goddamn pleased with myself right now. Here are some shots of the the restored kinsai work. Pictured: Not … Continue reading Update: Restoration In Progress–Velcro Dreams & Kinsai Wishes
I sat silently on the floor in my room with both hands over my mouth after I hung this up. My little ritual when I open up a new kimono package is to avoid inspecting it closely until I have it hung up properly. Then I just sank to my knees; I was speechless. I … Continue reading Restoration In Progress–Castles & Dreams
This furisode is so screaming red, that if you look at it for too long in bright light and then look at a white wall, nothing happens. But I had you for a second, didn't I? Another adventure in buying domestically, I think I probably paid too much for this one. But it's so rare … Continue reading Restoration In Progress–Taisho Peacock Furisode
Silk & Bones 