My Japanese Kosode for the SCA

Finally had pictures taken of my first real set of Japanese kosode for wearing in the SCA. I had made a couple of sets before but this is the first set that was really color coordinated and made with all natural fibers. The time period would be very late 16th century. This would be appropriate garb for a well to do merchant's wife or perhaps everyday wear for a minor samurai's wife. The first layer is linen. This is a rather "old fashioned" choice since cotton was widely grown by that time and was preferred to linen because it was easier to process and was less scratchy. The second layer is a very light denim. That's right-blue jean material. It certainly is indigo dyed cotton and is therefore very period. It is a twill but the twill line is not very obvious. I have a few scattered hints twills and other simple weaves were to be found in period Japan. It was not all plain weave! I hope to do discharge dyeing on the blue kosode so it will have scattered white designs on it. Outer layer is a print fabric, not indigo dyed, but the shade is pretty close to what indigo would have been. The print is probably too complex for what would have been available in period.

Queen's Prize Tourney, part 2

My second length of fabric for a kosode was a bit more traditional. It was done in cottolin-part cotton and part linen, because the cost of all linen would have been prohibitive. Although it is not intended for someone of the samurai class, they would have liked it because they always loved the look of dark blue indigo. This was Bockens Nialin brand of cottolin. Sett was 20 ends per inch. Beat was 16 picks per inch. It was 16 inches wide after washing. I wove 9.5 yards.

Queen's Prize Tourney Entries-Fabric for Japanese Kosodes

I recently entered the Kingdom of Calontir's Queen's Prize Tourney. This is an arts and sciences competition for beginners. It really is more than a competition. It is a way for people to get their feet wet and figure out what the unwritten rules are in judging the arts and sciences in the SCA.

I entered 2 lengths of fabric that I had woven with the idea that they would be made eventually into kosodes-medieval Japanese "kimonos." The judges were very complimentary about my work and my research.

The first length is intended to be for everyday wear for someone who is not of the samurai class. A merchant's wife or a moderately well to-do craftsman's wife. It is cotton. Sett is 28 ends per inch with 10/2 cotton at 4200 yd./lb. Beat is 11.5 picks per inch. It is 15 inches wide. I wove a little more than 12 yards after shrinkage. This would be a set of garb for late medieval Japan-1550 to 1600, when cotton was widely grown and not expensive.

My First Piece on a Drawloom

My friend, Sharon Bowles, graciously allowed me to weave on her wonderful drawloom last weekend. This is a ten shaft satin and was woven on a single unit drawloom. It is 20/2 cotton in warp and weft. I don't know epi and I'm almost afraid to get out the pick glass to find out. A single unit draw loom has a single draw cord selecting for each half-unit which is 5 ends (since this is a 10 end satin.) You weave 5 picks with the drawcords in one configuration. Then you pull the next lash forward and select new drawcords for the next 5 picks. A drawcord is a piece of knitted fishing line knotted around a guide string to keep it in the proper order in relationship to the other lashes and then the other half is knotted around the drawcords that need to be pulled. Sharon even has a little sign to remind her whether she is using the drawcords from front to back or from back to front. It reads "pull from the front, push to the back" on one side and "pull from the back and push to the front" on the other. This is what we all need in life-something to tell us what to do.

Steve's New Belt

I made Steve a belt. It is ayatakadai work. I really like ayatakadai work-it is rather mindless and does not require a lot of contemplation. It has 24 bobbins arranged in four layers 6bobbins wide. Each bobbin has 6 strands of embroidery floss. It resembles card weaving with the cards alternating S and Z twist. The weft structure is different however. In card weaving there would be only one weft and it would pass through a shed having 2 threads from each card above the shed and 2 threads from each shed on the bottom. This has 2 weft bobbins. The two wefts are thrown through opposite sides through the two sheds created every time a set of moves are made on the ayatakadai. One shed happens on the front face between the first and second layers. The second shed happens between the third and fourth layers on the back face. This results in a very thick braid that is moderately soft if you take care not to beat it too much. Finding a belt buckle was difficult. A 1 inch belt buckle was too little and a 1.5 inch was too big to fit through Steve's belt loops on all his favorite pants. We had to cannibalize a 1.25 inch buckle from an old belt. That size is not available at fabric stores.

More Early Garb

More generic early garb. The under and overtunics are quite generic for early medieval. The cloak is an all wool Kinsdale cloak from Folkway patterns. Wish I still had it. Had to gather the cloak onto the collar by hand.

My Early SCA Garb-The Watermelon Stealing Dress

This was my second favorite dress. It was known as the watermelon stealing dress. It was green on the outside and pink on the inside like a watermelon. You could stuff a watermelon up either sleeve. It is a bliaut, done in the style that suggests that a bliaut had a curved waistline hem that dipped in the front. There is a big question about whether the actual bliauts were a loose gown with a vest with a curved lower front laced over them. or something that was actually cut and tailored to be that way. Whatever, it was a favorite.