4 July 2011

Tsuke Obi Construction time!

I have so many things on my To Do list that this got pushed to the last minute.

I own two tsuke obi and they are a great thing to have in your kimono wardrobe because they are easy to put on. However they are a pain to buy because they don't exist on the internet unless you know how to read Japanese (which I don't). Therefore the solution to all clothing issue is to make it.

Here is my fabric brought from Ikea. Yes you read right, Ikea! Not only it is a great place to waste your life in but also a great place to buy some funky fabric cheaply.


So using this tsuke obi as a guide, I took the plunge and cut the fabric!


There are three bits. The right piece is for the waist part, middle part is the otaiko musubi part and then the left part is the tare of the otaiko musubi that you pass through. Don't worry it will all become clear!


All that is left to cut is the ties. For my first time I used some grey grosgrain ribbon and I cut 4 pieces of 60 cms in length. The ribbon is much longer then necessary but it is better to be safe then sorry.

The first bit I sewed is the tare bit of the otaiko that is threaded through the musubi. This is pretty easy, sew three sides but leave one end opened so you can turn it out.

The second part I tackled is the waist part. The sewing here is pretty much the same as above except this time the opening is on the long side because I had to sew in the ribbons.

Finally the third and most complicated part, the otaiko bit. Taking the very first piece you sewed up and turning it inside out and the ribbon, you now need to arranged the piece as follows.

First align the ribbon where you want the makura to be situated and pin the ribbon in place.


Now you need to place the tare. DO NOT I repeat, DO NOT do what I did here.


If you do this then when you turn it inside out, the tare will not face the right way.

Anyway after I corrected my mistake this is the result.


Time to turn everything inside out.


Here is a closeup shots of the otaiko part.


And here is a closeup of the end of the waist band.


Of course all of this needs a good iron! This is also the time to iron the openings up so that they are ready to be sewed up.


Finally to complete your obi, you sew up the openings and voilĂ ! Your obi is complete.

Here is the black side all nicely folded up, ready for you to pin your badges.


Would people be interested in a detailed tutorial?

And this is the flower side which is nice to wear with a casual komon.

9 comments:

Sekhet said...

Uhmmm.. I like that fabric, and it have become a real fine obi : )

Kitty Kanzashi said...

I'm wondering what I should make with the remaining fabric. Clearly a haneri and possible a matching little bag.

Or maybe I should reserve it until I find some more interesting fabric and use it on the reverse side.

Sekhet said...

I think I would go for the Haneri and the bag to get versatility, it is a very cute/modern pattern, I think it could would work with a lot of combinations, you could allso make one more and sell it ; )

What did you use for Obi shin?

Kitty Kanzashi said...

This obi doesn't have obi shin in it however the material is quite stiff.

I want to see how this obi will work without any obi shin. If I need to use obi shin that I might put in some heavy calico or thick handbag interfacing.

Sekhet said...

Thank you, I have not found anything yet in Denmark, which is economically and thats works well as obi-shin, so I am always looking for new ways.

Kitty Kanzashi said...

I suppose it depends on what you are going to use your obi for. If you are just going to tie a otaiko musubi then stiffness isn't much of an issue. However if you want to tie the more complicated ones which have fans or flowers then you need the stiffness.

Grace said...

HEllo , i was wondering if you could post a detailed tutorial for this belt . I needed it ^^ it's even better if you could make a video tutorial and post it on youtube . I would appreciate if you did ^^ THanks !

Kitty Kanzashi said...

Momo, I don't have a video camera so I can't produce a video but I will try my best to post a more details blog post.

Give me a couple of days to sort out the pattern.

Kitty Kanzashi said...

Hi Momo

Sorry it took so long but here is the detailed tutorial!

http://kittykanzashi.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-make-tsuke-obi-part-one.html