Vintage Wedding Kimono

I was fortunate (to say the least) to find this lovely vintage wedding Kimono online and was in awe of its beauty.  But the photo that prompted me to buy this Kimono certainly didn't do it justice.  Before it arrived I had all intentions to upcycle it but once I saw just how amazing it is I'm now reconsidering.

Here's the front....it's so long I had to stand on a stool.  I'm 160cms, the stool is 30cms and it's still dragging on the floor!

And here's the back in all its glory - wow - wow - wow!

The hem of the Kimono is stuffed with wadding and the cranes are all beautifully embroidered.  It's made from textured silk in red, gold, orange, yellow, black and white.  When I opened the package and saw the colours the first thing I thought of was 'I love a sunburnt country'.  It's so Japanese but so Australian in colour.  It would look a.m.a.z.i.n.g, hanging on someone's wall as a decorative piece of art.  If you're interested in purchasing this let me know.

Chinese Brocade

The Christmas and new year holiday period has been so nice this year.  Instead of torrential rain or hot and steamy weather it's been just perfect....but a heat wave is supposed to hit early next week.  Lucky I'm then back at my day job with the air conditioning on!  Having the past two and a half weeks away from my usual day job meant I was able to devote entire days to making flowers.  I've also been spoiling myself by going shopping and to the beautician....today's head massage was bliss and I'll be treating myself more often.

Here are my newest creations which I know will be so popular so I made plenty (there's more made than just what's in the photo!)  These Kanzashi flowers are made from Chinese brocade featuring cherry blossom flowers.  Aren't they just gorgeous?!  I love the sheen of the fabric and as per usual will be keeping one of these for me.  As you can imagine I have quite a little collection.

Rich and luscious

This gorgeous piece of vintage Kimono is so spectacular - my amateur photography skills don't do it justice.  The piece is a rich, luscious purple and I can only dream of what the entire Kimono looked like.

The person who owned this must have felt so beautiful and fortunate when wearing it.  

After about a week of it hanging in my studio I took a deep breath then did what I'm destined to do.  Below are the creations....makes me go aaahhhh with a big smile on my face.

 

I think I'll have to keep one of these for myself.  I just love how each flower is different and beautiful in its own right. 

Oh, and in case you're wondering I keep a small square of each Kimono that I've upcycled so I have a record of each and every piece.  One day they'll be made into a quilt that I can treasure forever.

Silky Soft Kimono

Just before Christmas a parcel of vintage Kimono pieces arrived and it didn't take me long to start creating.  I love receiving packages in the mail, it takes me about an hour to go through each piece and admire the beauty of the design.  Here's a lovely silky soft Kimono piece....

And here's the finished flower.  This one was made to order for a wonderful friend in Brisbane who said it was gorgeous and she'd wear it on Christmas Day.  

Today I'm home alone and guess what I'm doing?  Making cherry blossom flowers - so exciting!!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and all the best for 2012.  If it's anything like 2011 I'm in for a fun and busy year....bring it on.

Vintage Kimono #2

Here's the second vintage Kimono that I purchased a little while ago - it's just so stunning!  The red and green are so vibrant with a beautiful, traditional design.  This one was a child's Kimono and I can just imagine a little boy or girl running around playing with it on.

But, as with all my vintage Kimono's it was time for it to be upcycled.  Last weekend while camping I took it along and carefully unpicked it.  I love this part of the process.  It looks a little sad when unpicked doesn't it.  See the two pieces of thin card I found in the lapel?  (sorry for the poor photo but it's bucketing down here and is very dark inside my studio).

The front part of the Kimono was quite stained (no doubt from the child running around while wearing it!) so I carefully washed it but the stains didn't come out.  Not to worry, still plenty left to play with.  Here's some creations...amazing how different each one is.  I like to think they each have their own personality.

I wore one of these in my hair last night at a Christmas function - they colours are perfect to celebrate the festive season.  If you're interested in purchasing one of these just let me know.

I have another upcycled vintage Kimono to show you soon.....

And here's what I made...

Oooh, I love what I do!  Here's some pictures of the flowers I've made from the vintage Kimono (#1) shown in the previous post.

I never know what each flower is going to look like until all the petals are together.  Sometimes during the process I think 'oh, that's not going to look good' but I'm always pleasantly surprised.  You'd think I'd be used to this after the hundreds I've created!

This one is highlighted with gold, red and dark pink petals. 

 You can really see the texture of the fabric in this one.

Blue highlights and a bright red petal complement each other.

Bright and cheery yellow, orange and pink.

Just.....so.....precious.

If you're interested in purchasing any of these for Christmas presents head over to the website http://www.mindilindi.com.au/contact.html  and let me know which one you'd like.

Vintage Kimono #1

Last weekend I drove down to the big city (aka Brisbane) and bought some AMAZING vintage Kimono.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!  There was quite a large selection to choose from so I started by selecting everything I like and moved them to one side of the display rack to go through again.  Hmmm, budget and sensory overload!  I didn't want to go over my budget so I was ruthless and only bought 5. (But I'm already planning my next trip!)

Here's the first one....it's a lovely pink textured silk in fantastic condition.  This is the front.

And the back....

I love the design and the crosshatching and the texture and the gold highlights.....

I then took a big breath and start unpicking....only took me three hours!  And look what I found accidentally left in the lining all those years ago.  I removed the pin and said a silent, heartfelt hello and thank you to the dressmaker who hand stitched this beautiful garment.

It's interesting to see how a Kimono is put together - long rectangular pieces folded and delicately hand stitched with a lot of patience I imagine.  Now I'll transform these vintage pieces into beautiful Kanzashi flowers.  I'll put up photos to show you once finished.