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Introductions and Why this Garment Use layouts, fabric width, and your measurements to calculate yardage Buy fabric, thread, and supplies Viola! |
My name is Hara Kikumatsu. I've attended SCA activities here in the Debatable Lands since Pennsic 23, or 1994. When I first started attending Pennsic, my persona was generic western european. I joined One Knight Inne household along with my honey bunny for Pennsic 25. In Pennsic 26, 1997, my household camped with Clan Yama Kaminari and we stayed. In the clan, there are many people with Japanese persona and more still who dress in Japanese some of the time. Well, it was contageous and soon we were making and dressing Japanese. Initially, I wasn't interested in making or wearing a long women's gown like a uchiki or the later kosode, so I wanted to wear sometime like hakama and short kosode. However, Pennsic port-a-johns and dirty muddy bathrooms were a concern. I decided to make a hakama skirt. In the picture on the left you see that hakama skirt looks like hakama pants because the pleats hide whether it is split. However, the hakama skirt may not be historic, especially if worm ankle length. However, the ankle length mobakama, picture on the right, is historic. It also seems even simpler to make than the hakama skirt.
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1. sage-gami 2. kosode 3. uwazashi-fukuro 4. mo-bakama 5. obuto |
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Several views of a Japanese lady's maid wearing mobakama and kosode outfit. Parts of the outfit from the top left pictures: 1. sage-gami - hair worn down the back 2. kosode - small sleeve garment. 3. uwazashi-fukuro - bag. In these pictures, the bag contains the robe of the upper class woman with whom she is walking 4. mobakama - mo is a pleated skirt and hakama is pants and mobakama is a hybrid garment. 5. obuto - grass sandals with wide straps. The outfit is dated from the Kamakura era, 1192-1333. The wraparound skirt is part of an outfit that is described as a lady's maid in multiple books about Japanese costume. All of these photos are period costumes. Period plays and festivals will have people wearing costumes that are correct for that period. The middle and bottom examples are from photos from a historic kimono parade held in Kyoto city in 1984. The top photo and illustrations are from a book and the website from the costume museum of Japan.
The skirt waist is about 1 1/3 to 1/1/2 times the waist, but the waistband, or himo, needs to wrap twice around the waist. The bottom waist tie is just pulled up from underneath to tie. In the top example, the skirt is shown with the bow tied at the right side. In the middle and bottom examples the bow is shown tied just to the right of the center front. All the pictures show the garment hem is just above the ankle and that the top of the skirt is above the waist at the bottom of the ribs. In some of the photos you can see that the kosode is also ankle length. It is not clear how the pleats were folded or even if they have the same fold pattern in the various photos. There seem to be around 8 or so pleats total. In the middle and bottom rows the waist tie is the same fabric as the main skirt panel. In the top example, the tie is also white like the top of the skirt, but it is does not look as if it is the same damask weave as the main skirt panel.
Although you usually think of Japanese women in long flowing robes with the big sleeves of Heian Japan or the elaborately decorated kosode from Muramachi or Momoyama periods, the skirt is older style garment that was worn during earlier periods. This is a picture of women's court dress from the Nara Period, 710-784.
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Later the mo or pleated skirt became the pleated train seen in full court dress of Heian times, or a wrap-around apron worn by maid, farm girl, or artisans.
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In medieval Japan, looms were narrow. Fabric was between between 10 and 15 inches wide. Eventually 14 inches wide became standard except for special wider silk for elaborate wide outer robe such as an uchikake worn by the upper class until the mid Edo period. The Japanese would use a whole bolt of narrow fabric to make a garment. They cut the long narrow role of fabric into shorter sections and piece them together side to side. Because the fabric was narrow, all the side edges in the body of a garment were selveges. The ties were long narrow pieces. Based on the plaid skirt, the waist ties are cut along the grain. That means that they sit cross-grain at the waist. My guess is that the ties were a long panel that was split along the grain and sewn together lengthwise. The skirt body was probably 6 to 8 paels sewn together along the side edges.
In the Kamakura period, fabric was woven from silk, hemp, or ramie. Cotton plants, seeds, and techniques became more common later in the Muromachi period 1338-1477, when Portuguese traders brought them from India, Korea, and China. Cotton started replacing hemp or ramie, especially in the north, because it was warmer. Silk was typically worn by upper class. However, as you can see in the first image, the maid was wearing silk. Possibly all of the mobakama and outer kosode pictured here are silk. If not, the others would have been ramie or hemp. The silk may have been provided by the noble household to the maid.
The top skirt is a white silk jacquard that was dip dyed. The panels may have been individually dyed before sewing or sewn first and then dipped. The plaid and the horizontally stripped mobakama were probably woven in the stripe or plaid patterns. The two middle examples in the second row are dyed using some sort of resist dyeing technique and the right most in the row of four was probably stamped or hand dyed perhaps using a stencil. Likewise, the top kosode is a jacquard silk, a woven stripe pattern, or some dye, stencil, or stamped pattern. The bottom layer kosode is plain white.
In period, the seam to join two panels would use a very wide running stitch. The stitches were at least 1/2 inch apart. Collars and waistbands used a slip stitch to attach the inside edge of waistband or collar. Extra fabric is not cut away, but is folded into seam allowance. To clean a garment, you may disassemble the garment. Then clean the pieces separately, or reassemble the pieces back into a bolt and clean the bolt. When done cleaning, you reassemble the garment. Because the seams may need to be easily removed, they might avoid knotting the thread and instead backstitch and tuck the end of the thread.
When pressing the fabric at a seam, you pressed both seam allowances to one side. Then you press about 1/8 each away from the actual seam so there is a fold of fabric covering the actual seam.
My fabric recommendations for this garment are more practical than silk because at most events we are all working and encounter plenty of dirt, food, grease, sunscreen, etc. Ramie and hemp were used in period. Linen is a good approximation for either hemp or ramie. Although cotton wasn't used during that period, if you want patterned fabric to better recreate the outfit, cotton may be the best choice. I recommend linen, hemp, ramie, and cotton for the mobakama and the outer kosode. I recommend a light weight linen or ramie as the bottom most kosode. I am also assuming you are using modern fabric woven on wide looms. I have included some sources for silk as well.
Stripes in period Japanese fabrics were horizontal based on extant garments, costume museum pictures, and screens that depict the outfits. Plaid was period in Japan and there are plenty of nice medium and lightweight linen plaids. Larger repeating patterns in fabric was also common. Note that black was not typically worn by women at that time. The bottom layer was usually white.
You may want different fabrics for the different garments or layers. For example, bottom layer short kosode in lightweight white linen, outer short kosode in patterned cotton, mobakama in solid color medium weight linen. I have general recommendations for fabric, and have listed some online sites that I have used, but there are so many choices. When you find something you like and that has appropriate fiber content, make note of the fabric width so you can figure out how many yards or meters to order.
A few online resources for fabric and some comments.
The layouts here assume modern fabric width. I asssume that your fabric is, at least, 44 inches wide. Using modern fabric, you only need 3 or 4 wider panels that you sew together and you still have room to cut the waistband along one edge. I suggest that you cut the waistband lengthwise, even if you have a directional pattern. This is how it was done in the bottom example with the horizontal stripes. In the back view you can see that the waistband shows the stripes as vertical.
Waist: You need to know your waist because the skirt has to wrap 1.5 times around the waist. You will the skirt body twice that wide, at least, then use the pleats at the waist to tuck in the excess fabric, with a full skirt for ease of movement.
Waist to Ankle Height: I measure from above your waist to the top of the ankle. You will lose about an inch to hem.
If your waist measurement < 33 inches you can use 44" inch Small or Medium layout which takes 4 yards. For each addition inch in fabric width, you can have a one inch larger waist size. So 44" fabric should be enough for 33" waist. If your waist is larger than 3 panels, use the 44" layout Large or Extra Large which takes 5 yards. Depending on your height, you may need to make the mobaka panels taller or shorter.
Order your fabric, thread, and other supplies. Don't forget matching thread for each color fabric you are using. You may need extra thread if you are finishing your edges by zig-zag, french seams, or turning seam allowances a second time and tacking. If you are serging the edges, don't forget your serging thread too. Make sure you have a way to mark your fabric, when you lay it out. I use the Mark-B-Gone markers. You may also want to try the taylor or quilting chalk mechanical pencils instead of the markers.
Wash, dry, and iron your fabric before cutting.
Refer to the appropriate layout and any adjusted skirt panel lengths. Use yardstick and marker/chalk to mark pieces and cut. The panels should run along the grain of the fabric. The waistband, himo, I cut along the grain too even though that means when they are attached the grain is cross-ways to the long panels.
General notes: I am assuming 3/4" seam allowance on side seams and hem to allow for you to turn the seam under and tack, but if you have finished edges, you can use a smaller seam allowance. I use 5/8" seam allowance at the waist because the seam allowance is folded inside the waistband. If you want to use french seams, it should be pretty easy with all the straight seams. I use a serger to finish cut edges before I assemble the garment to create a selvage.
The first step is to make a rectangle that is 3 times your waist measurement. Depending on how wide the fabric is, and your waist size, you may need to trim the panels. If your fabric is 44" wide and you use my layout, the skirt panels are 34.5" wide. You will lose 1.5 inches seam allowance per panel for the side seams. So that gives you 33" per panel. 3 panels is 99" and 4 panels is 132". If your waist is only 28". 3 * 28" = ". 99"-84" = 15" excess fabric in 3 panels. You should trim each of the panels by 5". I would trim the right edge vs the left selvage.
Sew the right edge of panel 1, to the left (selvage) edge of panel 2. Now sew the right edge of panel 2 to the left, selvage, edge of panel 3. If you have 4 panels, sew the right edge of panel 3, to the left selvage edge of panel 4. You now have a very wide rectangle skirt body.
Turn the left, selvage, edge of panel 1 over 1/4" and and press. Turn the edge over 1/2" and press again. Sew outer edge down with a straight machine stitch. Now turn the right edge of the panel 3 or 4 over 1/4" and press. Turn that pressed edge over 1/2" and press again. Straight stitch the rightmost edge.
You should fold one long edge of the waistband in 5/8" and press. Now fold the other edge of the waistband in 1/3 of the remaining width and press. Now fold that in half and press. See pictures below.
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NOTE: I'm guessing on placement of pleats, pleat depth, pleat type and how wide the starting width is compared to waistsize, so if you want to do it differently, please feel free. The pictures in the middle and bottom rows make it look as if the skirt pleats are box pleats. That means the fabric is folded under along both sides of the pleat. However, the top picture and drawing look as if some, or all, of the pleats are knife pleats. I am going to pick box pleats. I am guessing 5 pleats total, that means for each of the pleats there are two folds for a total of 10 folds.
To figure out how deep each fold should be, let's math this. You have 103.5" width of skirt panels at 3*34.5" and you lose 1 1/2" per panel for seam allowance along each side. 103.5-4.5 = 99". Say your waist is 32" so 1.5 times your waist is 48". You want to fold 51" of fabric into pleats. I will round it to 50", close enough. If there are 10 folds then each fold will use 5". But the fold depth is half of that, so the folds in your pleats will be 2.5" deep. That also means that the top of the pleat must be at least 5" across so that the two folds at either edge of the pleat don't overlap underneath the top of the pleat.
Next you need to figure out how big to make each pleat and how much space between pleats. I am guessing at the placement and spacing based on the pictures in the middle and bottom rows. Using the same measurements we used to figure out out pleat depth. 32" waist and 1.5 times that is 48". There are 5 pleats and each one must be at least 5" across. The placement will look like the picture below. So there is a flat section at each of the far ends. Then from left to right, there is a flat section, a single pleat, a flat section, two pleats together, a flat section, two pleats together then the final flat section. I recommend the flat sections are 6" long and the pleats are 5" across, so this comes out to 49".
Mark the start and end of each pleat along the top of the skirt. I make the mark about 5" long starting at the top edge making sure to keep the mark perpendicular to the top edge. This makes it easier to make sure the pleat is folded perpendicular. Now pin the folds to keep them flat.
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Baste the top edge: Pin where there is a fold or seam allowance so nothing catches wrong. Stitch the close to where the skirt will attach to the waistband. The waistband is a little less than 3" wide. Make your basting stitch 2.75 inches from the top so the seam will be inside the waistband. This way the pleats, and the seam allowances are all tacked down. This makes is easier to attach the waistband.
You can't center the himo on the skirt body or the ties will be very different length. The halfway point of the waistband should sit about an inch to the right of where the skirt ends after wrapping it around your waist. Mark the halfway point of the waistband. Now, wrap the skirt starting at left hip and wrap clockwise around your waist. Now mark the top of the skirt and inch to the right of where the outside edge of the skirt is.
Place the folded waistband on the table with the right side facing down and unfold the first third. Now place the skirt body right side down so the top pleated edge lines up with the crease of the waistband with the right side of first third facing the right side of the skirt. See picture below showing the basted pleats and the placement of the skirt along the waistband fold. Make sure the halfway mark on the himo lines up with the mark at the top of the skirt. Pin the skirt to just the first layer of the waistband.
Turn the skirt over so the right side is facing up. Unfold the next fold of the waistband. Place skirt and waistband in sewing machine with the waistband on top and sew just the the right of the first fold of the fabric.
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Refold the front himo lengthwise by folding over the top edge of the front panel. First tuck the ends of the waistband in and press. Then pin the edges of the waistband between the end and where the waistband attaches to the skirt. Starting at the end of each himo stitch end and then the side edge all the way to the edge of the skirt. Stitch 1/4" (or less) from the edge of the himo.
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Now, you can machine stitch or slip stitch the inside edge of the waistband to the skirt.
Fold and press the hem. Now you can use sewing machine to do straight stitch hem or a blind stitch hem, or hem by hand.
Oribe Tsukime's research and publications for specific construction for Ladies 15th and 16th century kosode style garments.
Sengoku Daimyo website by Anthony J. Bryant and Joshua L. Badgley and specifically the Clothing and Accessories sections.
The Kosode page on Wodefordhall website by Lisa Joseph aka Mistress Saiongi no Hana contains information, instructions, references and lots of images of kosode.
My instructions page on my website with various links. Website by Sharon Booth aka Hara Kikumatsu.
Major, John S. Textiles, Japanese Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion Encyclopedia.com 2020
English site for the Costume Museum
Marshall, John, What is Katazome, introduction to stencil paste-resist dyeing
Keegan, Graham, Everything You need to Make Stencils and Print with Rice Paste at Home Note: Make sure you can see the Amazon product links for all the product references. You might not see them if you have ads turned off in your browser.
Yang, Sunny, and Rochelle Narasin. Textile Art of Japan. Tokyo: Shufunotomo, 2000.
Kure, Mitsuo. Samurai Arms Armor Costume. Edison: Chartwell Books, Inc, 2007.
Izutsu, Gufu. History of Costume in Japan - Women's Garments. Kyoto: Mitsumora Suiko Shoin Co. Ltd, 2015.
This History of Women's Costume in Japan. Art Books Shikosha Publishing, 2003.
Nora, Seiroku. Japanese Costume and Textile Arts. New York/Tokyo, Weathernill/Heibonsha, 1974.
Marshall, John. Make Your Own Japanese Clothes. Tokyo, Kodansha International Ltd, 1988.
Wada, Yoshiko Iwamoto, Rice, Mary Kellogg, Barton, Jane. Shibori The Inventive Art of Japanese Resist Dyeing. Tokyo, Konshanda International Ltd, 1983.