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| Pardon my pencilmanship. |
Friday, November 29, 2013
From A to N
Friday, November 22, 2013
Thread Tails
That's about it for this round of pillowcases! I ended up with 27, instead of 30 as I expected. I could swear I lost some bands since I remember having an equal number of bands and body pieces. But I wouldn't trust my memory on that.
One was lost to a seam gone "slightly" off line, and one was lost to the dreaded hitting a pin with the serger knife. No damage to the knives though, thank goodness. Now I have about 100 thread tails to tuck in and then turn them out for a final pressing before sending them off.
With the holiday coming up, I'm hoping to get back to the Akari project. I've also just started working on the katakana, but if they go as fast as the hiragana, I'll need to start finding my next textbook.
One was lost to a seam gone "slightly" off line, and one was lost to the dreaded hitting a pin with the serger knife. No damage to the knives though, thank goodness. Now I have about 100 thread tails to tuck in and then turn them out for a final pressing before sending them off.
With the holiday coming up, I'm hoping to get back to the Akari project. I've also just started working on the katakana, but if they go as fast as the hiragana, I'll need to start finding my next textbook.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Kumihimo
While looking for something else, I came across some old books that I can use to practice reading Japanese. I used to do some kumihimo, though my takadai loom has been knocked down for a while, to make room for my industrial sewing machine, the Juki DDL-8700.
Here's a picture of a takadai from one of Makiko Tada's books. You can see how the individual warp threads are wound on bobbins which are separated by blocks with pegs on each of the four arms. Depending on the braid, you might use anywhere from nine to 68 bobbins, on two or four arms. The tou is used to open sheds in the warps and pass the bobbins through from side to side and upper versus lower arms.
The shelf that the tou sits on can be used to hold bobbins, braiding patterns or whatever, and I have also seen photographs of ladies sitting in seiza on it braiding away. If my loom had this shelf, I'd be afraid to sit on it, since I'm sure I have a few pounds on the average braider...
Most of my books are for the takadai. I do have a marudai but most of my interest when I started was in flat braids so it's hardly been used.
This old sageo was made out of several shades of pearl cotton. Not as fancy as silk, but it was the easiest thing to get a range of colors in at the time.
I believe this was the pattern. Made with 46 bobbins, you can see the graduated colors of bobbins detailed on the right.
While there are 46 bobbins, the braiding just involves repeating four moves.
The zig-zag lines represent the shed to be opened with the tou. You then take the given bobbin and move it to the end point indicated.
As you can see on the cover of the top book, more complicated patterns are possible. Here's one for Tombow pencil fans!
This is another sample from one of the books, called Kaen.
Once you get into these braids that aren't just regular repetitions but can be pictures, writing, or whatever you want within the "resolution" levels possible given the braid structure, then you'll have to step up to one of these charts.
It's not as scary as it looks! It's just another way of stating which bobbins go where as you braid. There are more ways to move the bobbins than something simple like the Kainokuchi-gumi pattern above, but it's not so much difficult as it is slower, given that you can't just mindlessly throw bobbins back and forth.
The nice thing about these books is most of them are in Japanese with English translations. That will be helpful for me in learning Japanese, though it was still a bit daunting back when I was trying to puzzle this all out to actually make braids.
There's a book by Rodrick Owen in English that was a big help in really getting going with these more complicated drafts. It looks like it's out of print now, though. Many books you find on kumihimo are for the marudai but this one was for the takadai. He also has a program called TakaDraft that you can use to plan these kinds of braids. The program has a blank version of the template above and you fill in the stitches, after you set the number of bobbins and colors desired. Then the program fills in the moves needed, like this...
This program still seems to be available, though it wouldn't be much help until you've taken the leap to get a takadai. The marudai is cheaper to get into, especially with the braiding discs and similar less fancy options available, but in my case, I specifically wanted to make these flat braids, so I had to go for the takdai.
Here's a picture of a takadai from one of Makiko Tada's books. You can see how the individual warp threads are wound on bobbins which are separated by blocks with pegs on each of the four arms. Depending on the braid, you might use anywhere from nine to 68 bobbins, on two or four arms. The tou is used to open sheds in the warps and pass the bobbins through from side to side and upper versus lower arms.
The shelf that the tou sits on can be used to hold bobbins, braiding patterns or whatever, and I have also seen photographs of ladies sitting in seiza on it braiding away. If my loom had this shelf, I'd be afraid to sit on it, since I'm sure I have a few pounds on the average braider...
Most of my books are for the takadai. I do have a marudai but most of my interest when I started was in flat braids so it's hardly been used.
This old sageo was made out of several shades of pearl cotton. Not as fancy as silk, but it was the easiest thing to get a range of colors in at the time.
I believe this was the pattern. Made with 46 bobbins, you can see the graduated colors of bobbins detailed on the right.
While there are 46 bobbins, the braiding just involves repeating four moves.
The zig-zag lines represent the shed to be opened with the tou. You then take the given bobbin and move it to the end point indicated.
As you can see on the cover of the top book, more complicated patterns are possible. Here's one for Tombow pencil fans!
This is another sample from one of the books, called Kaen.
Once you get into these braids that aren't just regular repetitions but can be pictures, writing, or whatever you want within the "resolution" levels possible given the braid structure, then you'll have to step up to one of these charts.
It's not as scary as it looks! It's just another way of stating which bobbins go where as you braid. There are more ways to move the bobbins than something simple like the Kainokuchi-gumi pattern above, but it's not so much difficult as it is slower, given that you can't just mindlessly throw bobbins back and forth.
The nice thing about these books is most of them are in Japanese with English translations. That will be helpful for me in learning Japanese, though it was still a bit daunting back when I was trying to puzzle this all out to actually make braids.
There's a book by Rodrick Owen in English that was a big help in really getting going with these more complicated drafts. It looks like it's out of print now, though. Many books you find on kumihimo are for the marudai but this one was for the takadai. He also has a program called TakaDraft that you can use to plan these kinds of braids. The program has a blank version of the template above and you fill in the stitches, after you set the number of bobbins and colors desired. Then the program fills in the moves needed, like this...
This program still seems to be available, though it wouldn't be much help until you've taken the leap to get a takadai. The marudai is cheaper to get into, especially with the braiding discs and similar less fancy options available, but in my case, I specifically wanted to make these flat braids, so I had to go for the takdai.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
The Garden of Words Manga, Final Chapter
Fortunately I took a chance on the next issue of Afternoon magazine, since the last chapter of The Garden of Words manga was in there. I also got an extra copy of the 5 Centimeters Per Second novel to use for a reading copy, now that I can start trying to read it!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
"No one knocks off Old Tony"
Looks like we'll get 23 pillowcases out of the pile of fabric. I spent some time this weekend ripping bands and body lengths out of the yardage and prepping them for construction. I ironed the bands into the folded over shape and got about ten tags on. There are exactly enough tags left for the remaining bands too. Given that the pillowcases are made by just three passes on the serger, they should be done in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.
Also this week, I finally went ahead and bought a couple books on the Japanese language. So far, I have learned 37 of the 46 basic hiragana. A through ya, plus the wa, so I could write the title above. I've been looking at all these things I couldn't read before and now I can make a few things out, but mostly can read character-???-character-character-???-character. Some I can puzzle out from the hints, Wheel of Fortune style. Some, like Ho-Shi-No-Ko-E and the above, I now know enough to recognize that much. There's a lot more where that came from, but at least it's a start!
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| Pardon my pencilmanship. |
Also this week, I finally went ahead and bought a couple books on the Japanese language. So far, I have learned 37 of the 46 basic hiragana. A through ya, plus the wa, so I could write the title above. I've been looking at all these things I couldn't read before and now I can make a few things out, but mostly can read character-???-character-character-???-character. Some I can puzzle out from the hints, Wheel of Fortune style. Some, like Ho-Shi-No-Ko-E and the above, I now know enough to recognize that much. There's a lot more where that came from, but at least it's a start!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Mass Production Pillowcases, Holiday Edition
Thanks to another deal, I was able to lay in this new supply of fabric for pillowcases for the Shriner's hospital. Depending on how much the fabric shrinks in pre-washing, I should be able to get up to 25 pillowcases out of it. With Thanksgiving being way at the end of the month, that gives me three weekends to finish them, even if I don't get as much time for them during the weekdays.
Voices of a Distant Star, the Novel
This novelization of Voices of a Distant Star (Hoshi no Koe), came today. It was supposed to be in a shipment with the next issue of Da Vinci magazine, with the next chapter of the Garden of Words novelization, but that one got cancelled as unavailable. Then I saw it back in stock and tried to order it again, but that was also eventually cancelled. After looking around online, I'm not sure what happened since other places that had it listed never seemed to have it available either. Hopefully some day it will be put out in one book, like the manga version.
This cover is so shiny, I had to try not to include myself in its reflection!
I think I can read something about "Words of Love" and something along the lines from the movie that this mail will take one year to reach you, I wonder if you'll forget about me, Noboro-kun. That section is mostly hiragana. I have some more hiragana quizzes to do in the book, but then on to katakana next week.
This cover is so shiny, I had to try not to include myself in its reflection!
I think I can read something about "Words of Love" and something along the lines from the movie that this mail will take one year to reach you, I wonder if you'll forget about me, Noboro-kun. That section is mostly hiragana. I have some more hiragana quizzes to do in the book, but then on to katakana next week.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Akari Shinohara Meets Grace Kelly
Time again to rethink the Akari dress project following the results of the last test. Reviewing the book (Grace Kelly: Icon of Style to Royal Bride), I noticed a couple things that I think I will incorporate into the next tests. As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been trying to balance making this dress use Grace Kelly dress construction "theory" with Akari dress appearance, making arbitrary decisions about what's "correct". Now I'm going to lean more towards the Grace Kelly construction and the first thing to go is the button closure from the Akari.
Keep in mind that one difference between the Akari and Grace Kelly dresses is that Grace Kelly bodice/underbodice unit opens in front, while the Akari closes in back. The Grace Kelly has a two part front that opens, while my Akari pattern has a single front piece and opens at center back.
This picture got me thinking about the bodice I've been working on for the Akari. So far, it's basically been a corset, but at some point, it was going to have to have something added to the bottom. Since I hadn't decided on how to do the skirts, I hadn't worried too much about it. For the next round, I'll add on the charmeuse slip section.
The slip section might start higher than I was previously thinking. Originally, I was thinking of attaching something at the "hip" line below, but now I'm considering shortening the bodice to the "Mid" line and starting the slip at that point.
Alternately, I might leave the bodice the current length, but attach the slip starting at the Mid line, to give it more stability on the body. I don't know if it will matter, given the other structural components, like the boning and wide petersham "belt", but will probably keep it hip length.
Looking at this picture, there is a separating zipper for the closure.
While sketching things out, I was wondering how to put a slip on the bottom of the bodice and have a separating zipper. The solution I think will be as mentioned in the notes (snap closure). The slip section will start above the lowest part of the bodice (and bottom end of the zipper) and the rear seam will have an overlapping, placket type section. That section will have a snap closure which when opened, will allow access to the zipper. This will allow the rear opening to be large enough to step into, while also being able to have a finished looking closure.
Keep in mind that one difference between the Akari and Grace Kelly dresses is that Grace Kelly bodice/underbodice unit opens in front, while the Akari closes in back. The Grace Kelly has a two part front that opens, while my Akari pattern has a single front piece and opens at center back.
This picture got me thinking about the bodice I've been working on for the Akari. So far, it's basically been a corset, but at some point, it was going to have to have something added to the bottom. Since I hadn't decided on how to do the skirts, I hadn't worried too much about it. For the next round, I'll add on the charmeuse slip section.
The slip section might start higher than I was previously thinking. Originally, I was thinking of attaching something at the "hip" line below, but now I'm considering shortening the bodice to the "Mid" line and starting the slip at that point.
Alternately, I might leave the bodice the current length, but attach the slip starting at the Mid line, to give it more stability on the body. I don't know if it will matter, given the other structural components, like the boning and wide petersham "belt", but will probably keep it hip length.
Looking at this picture, there is a separating zipper for the closure.
While sketching things out, I was wondering how to put a slip on the bottom of the bodice and have a separating zipper. The solution I think will be as mentioned in the notes (snap closure). The slip section will start above the lowest part of the bodice (and bottom end of the zipper) and the rear seam will have an overlapping, placket type section. That section will have a snap closure which when opened, will allow access to the zipper. This will allow the rear opening to be large enough to step into, while also being able to have a finished looking closure.
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