Silk Sew Kit

Some time ago, I made this handy little sew kit to stick into a drawer, handy for quick fixes or mends.

It is quite small as you can see from the size of the embroidery scissors. (Beautiful little scissors, a gift from my daughter-in-law one Christmas.)

The outer fabric is a choice bit of special kimono silk done in the shibori style.

At first glance, it is hard to comprehend how complicated the fabric's construction and dye treatment is, but even after studying all this time, I'm not sure I understand all the process and tedium needed to produce it.

I can't imagine an entire kimono of this, but it must have been a stunner. The mind boggles at the work!

Perhaps it was just part of an obi, the sash that goes around a kimono.

The silk is very fine and soft; of the first quality.

It was first dyed in pastel pink and green background dyes.

Then, using fine thread and a fine needle, the maker made tiny tufts or peaks of fabric. These were spaced uniformly all over the piece so that the peaks stood up higher than the ground or background of the fabric.

Usually the next step is to plunge the whole thing in a dye bath that is of darker color than the sewn sections. Sewing tightly keeps the dye from getting to those parts and they usually remain lighter than the general background colors.

But in this case, the peaks are darker. The only conclusion I can come to is that each one of them was individually died with the light charcoal pigment, using an extremely fine brush.

I just can't imagine the hours it took.

Inside, there are two soft pockets for scissors, thread, a thimble, etc. The pockets are tacked at the center in order to keep things tucked inside them securely.

I had a couple of tiny antique celluloid buttons that worked perfectly here. One is round and the other is an oval.

The center fabric is kimono lining silk made with a faint woven pattern--Another choice piece.

The center pin cushion is stuffed tightly with polyester 'fluff' for pins on the sides and a needle or two at the center. It also acts as a spine for the kit.

Another antique celluloid button is used to close the kit with a satin loop. This one has subtle graining to look like ivory.

The inner lining (under the pockets) was sewn to the outer layer using two adjacent rows of hand stitches to secure the layers to each other and give the outside some structure and strength.

The satin binding and loop was made of a leftover piece from vest-like top I made for myself many years ago.

The top went with a formal full- length skirt of softer fabric.

I still have a few more scraps of this beautiful fabric.

The sewing kit measures about 8 inches by 5 inches and is all made by hand.

There is a softness to things put together by hand that is absent in machine-sewn things. You can coax the shape more easily and shape the fabric into a softer form.

I really should treat the whole thing with Scotch-Guard or something. Until now, I hadn't even thought of washing it, since it is hardly ever handled except to sew something. Will have to test a scrap to be sure the dyes won't run.....

Kimono Pillow

Although it looks very oriental, the only thing Japanese on this pillow is the background--antique formal kimono with a Mon or crest.

The black/white applique fabric is a silk print that was a remnant and the crisscross tape comes from Sweden.

The Japanese "Bog Coat"

I hoarded the yellow-background fabric shown at the top of the jacket for years. It pictures "Mons" or Japanese coats of arms.

I only found a small piece of it in cotton. But really, that was all I needed. Any more of that kind of busyness of pattern would have been too much.

The back of the jacket repeats the fabric arrangement like the front except the yolk with the Japanese pattern piece is higher up in the back--almost half the width as the front. More flattering and a better line. I can get away with the difference in size because the two pieces are separated by the stripe fabric and are not viewed at the same time.

The striped material that completes the sides and sleeves is a medium-weight raised ridge weave that matches the other colors perfectly. And the bottom half of the front and back panel is a navy and cream closely printed stripe.

I had to reinforce the 'mons' pattern and the narrow stripe piece to equal the weight of the body/arms fabric.

If anything, you would want the front and back center-body panel to carry a heaviness for the drape of the garment. The reverse of this would make the coat not hold it's shape well.

The jacket is made on the "Bog Coat" pattern, an ancient technique for making garments with narrow pieces of cloth.

Early weaving wasn't that wide, so this technique for making clothes makes the most of the fabric.

An excellent site for patterns and examples can be found as a PDF at http://www.mtnladyarns.com/weaving.pdf

The jacket is washable cotton and completely lined. It has wide, kimono style sleeves and handmade closings using oriental coins and a handmade bias tape.

My Snug Rug

When I was weaving, I got the bright idea to make a jacket using custom shaped rug segments.

I made the sleeves out of the legs of some bell-bottomed Levies. And the jacket was lined with bright red and blue bandanna-like print.

I left the fringe at the bottom of the weaving.

This jacket was shown in a wearable art show and another time in a section set aside to display clothing at my local quilt guild show.

I still have the jacket--it's very heavy.

The Medicine "Book"

Some years ago, my son gave me a wonderful pill dispenser. It contained seven slide-out compartments; one for each day of the week that had movable dividers fitted into the compartment. It will hold over a month's worth of pills.

The case had a leather cover and over the years, the leather just gave out. I really liked the container and was not able to find anything as compact or well-designed as it was.

I had saved many pieces of beautiful up-market upholstery samples. The one I chose was a really good printed velvet reminiscent of pheasant feathers.

So one day, I decided I could replace the case and still keep the individual dispensers just like in the original one. The compartments have little removable dividers and I can store daily medications in them of up to a month's worth.

This is the result.

Measuring the slide- out compartments and the original case, I cut out the fabric, found some suede like binding fabric that did not need to have finished edges and located some interesting buttons.

I replaced the plastic transparent window in the original case with some flexible acetate.

In this case, the container had to be made on the sewing machine because of the need to anchor the acetate window down well.

The front button is a combination of a bone and brass button backed by a life-saver shaped bone button.

The back is a repeat of the front button and is anchored permanently in the back with the loop sewn down.

The front button has a loop closure.One of the main problems with a replacement was how to make the front and back cover rigid like the leather back and front.

To solve this, I made pockets behind the front and back covers that I could insert stiff cardboard into. When I want to hand-wash the case, I remove the cardboard and wash it in warm, sudsy water.

I also write down my current prescription names, milligrams dosage and amount on a 3 x 5 card and slip it into the pocket.

One unfortunate thing--the front of the case has faded much more than the back--the back shows the original print colors. The front is always laying around exposed to the light.

One of these days, I will have to replace the case again.

I did not write down an instruction sheet for myself this time, but on the next go-around, I will probably sew in the window on the machine and make the remainder of the case by hand.