What I Didn't Buy in Japan

I had absolutely zero chance to buy fabric in Japan, which was slightly demoralizing. However ... eBay to the rescue! It seems as if there are lots and lots of sellers of kimono silk on eBay. This gorgeous piece is 184 inches long, 14 inches wide, and selling for $15 (plus shipping from Japan, which seems to be an improbably low $1.50). There's tons more -- silks, cottons, synthetics, and even wools! Entirely new vistas of fabric craziness have opened before me.

What you could do with something not even fifteen inches wide is an exercise left to the reader. Feel free to answer in comments, and please show your work.

Comments

[J Strizzy]

No comments yet? Seriously? Wow.Anyway, I'm no sewing goddess (only one skirt under my belt, so to speak), but what about a tulip skirt in narrowish panels? Some yellow piping along the panel seams maybe?That is, if 184" long is enough fabric for that...

[Anonymous]

Besides traditional Japanese garments, the fabric could be used on the cross grain to make a tiered skirt, perhaps mixing fabrics on each tier. Or mix fabrics to make a duvet cover. Or the ever popular cushion covers. Or a dress with princess seaming and a gored skirt would look great, but one would probably need about 8 of the rolls pictured. Or a fancy baby dress for a keepsake baby picture.Anyway, those are my ideas.Amy

[vintagecrochetgirl]

Could you cut these into bias strips and use them as trim? (Oh that's simply scandalous to cut this up. But that's my thought for the day. :)

[Becky O.]

14" is enough for a skirt gore. That would look great as you walked, peeking out from another contrasting silk. Or trim out the edge and you have a shawl or ... a handbag : )www.beckyoh.com

[Anonymous]

I know it's not a dress OR a skirt....but wouldn't it make awesome lining for a coat? (hides under desk while everyone throws things in her general direction)

[The Overgrown Hobbit]

It would make gorgeous cover materials for a hand-bound book, especially done in Japanese stab-binding.Alas, I have no photographs of my work floating around the web, but it's considerably more colorful than the tasteful examples to which I linked.

[JuliaR]

How about a shirt made with pieces - front, side front, side back - and you could put a seam up the centre of the back? You could even put a seam up the centre of each sleeve or make your regular two-piece sleeve. I think it would make a beautiful blouse.

[jenny]

My first thought was a blouse, too. Short-sleeved or sleeveless (it'd have to be) w/maybe a tie at the neck, something like this but w/o the peplum. Or maybe a round, puffy drawstring handbag along these lines (minus the nasty tassles, of course).It would also make just a gorgeous obi or wide sash, similar to the one on this pattern you'd mentioned.

[Jonquil]

A gored mermaid skirt, with extra flare at the knee from godets?

[Christina]

Midriff band. 14" is definately wide enough for a midriff band. With enough left over to make matching trim. Heck, make a hair piece (headband, ribbon, hat decor,etc) and matching purse. It would also make an awesome bolster pillow. This isn't the best picture of this dress (which I've seen in person) but I love what they did with the contrast fabric. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.taproottheatre.org/images/Nibrocpress.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.taproottheatre.org/Nibroc.htm&h=432&w=288&sz=67&tbnid=M3mDOACnpj8V2M:&tbnh=123&tbnw=82&hl=en&start=10&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlast%2Btrain%2Bto%2Bnibroc%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official_s%26sa%3DG

[jenny]

Ooh! I finally found a picture of the style of bag I envisioned when I saw this fabric. It's a Lulu Guinness that I suddenly couldn't find when I went looking for a picture of it.