To cheat or not to cheat...
This entire discussion will be about sewing kimono, so if that's not your interest, feel free to skip ;D
Okay... after getting a handle (roughly) on making kimono, and having bought some made by tailors whose work I really enjoy... I have a minor dilemma, or a set of dilemmas ;D
Most "basic" kimono are made to show two layers, an inside kimono and an outer kimono. from experience, this is difficult to dress, because of the bulk of two (really sometimes 3 or 4) layers of fabric on the doll. A good example of this is how my green kimono with the white lining looks great on slender Mara, but while the first layer looked nice on Andey, both layers together look kinda puffy.
I've seen tailors try several tacks to get around that... For one of Andey's kimonos, the inner kimono is a single unlined garment, so there's less bulk than there would be for a fully lined layer, of course. This would be fairly simple, but sometimes I may want a printed fabric for an inner garment, and those don't look quite so nice unlined :P
The lovely purple kimono from Shoei in Shyn "cheats" in a few ways; the lining of the outer kimono is thin polyester lining material, which is a lot less bulky than cotton; there is a secondary collar to mimic the collar of an inside kimono; and instead of having an actual inside kimono, there is a "skirt" that goes from the waist down. This skirt is made of very thin fabrics as well, so besides reducing bulk in the sensitive areas (chest and arms), it is still very light even where the extra weight would be okay.
A kimono I got from hanawasabi (formerly known as kimono-japan) cheats in yet another way; she (?) has gone to the trouble of making a separated fake collar, so that the inner collar can lay like it really would if it were attached to an inner robe, and she uses the skirt technique as well, although since the skirt is completely attached to the outer kimono, it doesn't fold over quite properly. both the outer robe and the inner skirt are fully lined cotton.
Has anyone else ever encountered yet more "cheats" at getting the effect of a full two-layer kimono? One thing that the latter two, with the "skirt" technique, don't address is the sleeves.. there are clearly no sleeves from that inner kimono ;D It almost feels like a wasted opportunity to show more of the fabric in contrast. I'm also a bit curious as to whether people who make human kimonos make the same shortcuts... hmm...
ETA: After looking through my collection of saved auction photos, it seems that the "skirt" route is quite popular, with the extra collar popping up a few times too. A few people even pre-attached the inner kimono's sleeves into the outer, so in theory, it'd be impossible to tell from a glance around the outside that the inner kimono had no torso part XD I think I may try that. I love the effect of layered sleeves and I don't really want to give that up, and leaving out the torso is actually eliminating the hardest part of the kimono for me ;D
The other question I'm weighing is a bit less important, but it's kinda making me laugh in a "haha, wtf" sort of way. XD When I made my very first yukata, I sewed the front and back together at the shoulders. I later discovered that the traditional kimono pattern calls for the front and back to be one large piece, simply folded over and sewn together at the sides. Okay, so I modified my patterns to work that way, and I had neat mostly-authentic patterns. Upon examining the kimonos from Shoei in Shyn and hanawasabi, though, I noted that *both* of them had been sewn together at the shoulders. XD My braaaaain XD;; I suppose it's an acceptable shortcut, then... and really not noticeable (obviously). This is good news, since it allows me to use much less fabric if I want to do that. :p But I dunno. Should I slavishly try to follow tradition? Does anyone actually care about that stuff? XD
ETA #2: it is very hard to determine if people are using the seams-at-the-shoulder technique from photos. ~_~;
I had better make up my mind quickly, as I've got something to work on :p
In other news, waiting impatiently for the brothers' extra eyes to arrive so I can play with them togetherrrr XO Sometimes anticipation for a specific photoshoot will prevent me from doing any other shoots until that one gets done... ~_~;
Okay... after getting a handle (roughly) on making kimono, and having bought some made by tailors whose work I really enjoy... I have a minor dilemma, or a set of dilemmas ;D
Most "basic" kimono are made to show two layers, an inside kimono and an outer kimono. from experience, this is difficult to dress, because of the bulk of two (really sometimes 3 or 4) layers of fabric on the doll. A good example of this is how my green kimono with the white lining looks great on slender Mara, but while the first layer looked nice on Andey, both layers together look kinda puffy.
I've seen tailors try several tacks to get around that... For one of Andey's kimonos, the inner kimono is a single unlined garment, so there's less bulk than there would be for a fully lined layer, of course. This would be fairly simple, but sometimes I may want a printed fabric for an inner garment, and those don't look quite so nice unlined :P
The lovely purple kimono from Shoei in Shyn "cheats" in a few ways; the lining of the outer kimono is thin polyester lining material, which is a lot less bulky than cotton; there is a secondary collar to mimic the collar of an inside kimono; and instead of having an actual inside kimono, there is a "skirt" that goes from the waist down. This skirt is made of very thin fabrics as well, so besides reducing bulk in the sensitive areas (chest and arms), it is still very light even where the extra weight would be okay.
A kimono I got from hanawasabi (formerly known as kimono-japan) cheats in yet another way; she (?) has gone to the trouble of making a separated fake collar, so that the inner collar can lay like it really would if it were attached to an inner robe, and she uses the skirt technique as well, although since the skirt is completely attached to the outer kimono, it doesn't fold over quite properly. both the outer robe and the inner skirt are fully lined cotton.
Has anyone else ever encountered yet more "cheats" at getting the effect of a full two-layer kimono? One thing that the latter two, with the "skirt" technique, don't address is the sleeves.. there are clearly no sleeves from that inner kimono ;D It almost feels like a wasted opportunity to show more of the fabric in contrast. I'm also a bit curious as to whether people who make human kimonos make the same shortcuts... hmm...
ETA: After looking through my collection of saved auction photos, it seems that the "skirt" route is quite popular, with the extra collar popping up a few times too. A few people even pre-attached the inner kimono's sleeves into the outer, so in theory, it'd be impossible to tell from a glance around the outside that the inner kimono had no torso part XD I think I may try that. I love the effect of layered sleeves and I don't really want to give that up, and leaving out the torso is actually eliminating the hardest part of the kimono for me ;D
The other question I'm weighing is a bit less important, but it's kinda making me laugh in a "haha, wtf" sort of way. XD When I made my very first yukata, I sewed the front and back together at the shoulders. I later discovered that the traditional kimono pattern calls for the front and back to be one large piece, simply folded over and sewn together at the sides. Okay, so I modified my patterns to work that way, and I had neat mostly-authentic patterns. Upon examining the kimonos from Shoei in Shyn and hanawasabi, though, I noted that *both* of them had been sewn together at the shoulders. XD My braaaaain XD;; I suppose it's an acceptable shortcut, then... and really not noticeable (obviously). This is good news, since it allows me to use much less fabric if I want to do that. :p But I dunno. Should I slavishly try to follow tradition? Does anyone actually care about that stuff? XD
ETA #2: it is very hard to determine if people are using the seams-at-the-shoulder technique from photos. ~_~;
I had better make up my mind quickly, as I've got something to work on :p
In other news, waiting impatiently for the brothers' extra eyes to arrive so I can play with them togetherrrr XO Sometimes anticipation for a specific photoshoot will prevent me from doing any other shoots until that one gets done... ~_~;