Reading cloth - Reading my mom's and my old kimono :)

I tried reading the fabric that is used in my mom's kimono. 

My mom wearing one of her kimono's when she was twenty years old

here are two kimonos

So my mom told me that in her young day's there were no department stores that would be selling kimonos. My mom's family was very traditional about the culture.They used to have this traditional japanese tailor in her hometown in japan ( called kumoto) to come and stitch their kimono's. She said back in those days the kimonos were completely hand made and hand stitched. The tailors would come to her home with the different variety of kimono fabrics. They would order the fabrics all the way from kyoto. At their house the tailor would try placing each fabric on everyone to check which one is suitable and then he would get it personally stitched for my mom her her family members.

She said that the name of the tailoring place as called Izutsuya Kohichi.

They were a family that was making traditional kimonos for generations in my mom's small hometown.

I tried researching on the tailor to see if I could find it but I unfortunately was not able to . 

So I asked my mom what the type of fabric is called and what style. 

She said the fabrics name is Chirimen and the type is Yuzen and Nishijin ori. So I did a bit of research and I was able to find some sort of link with the information.

Firstly : 

Chirimen Fabric  : Chirimen fabric is a thick, heavy silk crepe, a crinkled fabric made by the weft threads being kept tighter than the warp threads during the weaving process. Weft threads are twisted as they are woven, resulting in a uneven texture.

This weaving technique was developed in Japan over 500 years ago. Threads may be dyed before weaving, or the fabric can be dyed using various techniques after weaving.Chirimen fabric drapes beautifully, and it is difficult to crease. Therefore it is very popular for making kimonos.

Yuzen technique :Yuzen dyed fabric is used for kimono and obi sashes. Its motifs feature themes such as seasonal birds, trees, and flowers, using designs similar in style to those in traditional Japanese painting. The beauty of nature is expressed on white fabric. Kyo-Yuzenhas two dyeing styles: Tegaki-Yuzen, hand-painting, and Kata-Yuzen, stencil-dyeing. Hand-painting techniques were originally developed by Yuzensai Miyazaki in Kyoto in the middle of 17th century, therefore, the artform came to be called Yuzen. After that, stencil-dyeing techniques were developed by Jisuke Hirose in Kyoto in 19th century.

Nishijin Ori: Nishijin-ori woven textiles are widely used in the production of kimono and obi sashes. The weaving industry in Kyoto originated between the 5th and 6th centuries. It prospered with government-operated factories following the construction of the Heian Capital in 794. The name Nishijin came from the Nishijindistrict in Kyoto, where many weavers established their workshops after the end of Onin War (1467–1477). The richly decorative brocades were used for clothing for the Imperial Court and Buddhist and Shinto priests. Based on the design sketch, the dyed silk yarn is woven to produce the textiles which have elaborate patterns. Nishijin-ori has a wide variety of styles, such as gold brocade, damask, figured satin, and velvet. Today, it is said that there are no textiles that Nishijin weavers cannot weave.

I found the link between the types of technique and the place. My mom had said that her fabric was ordered from KYOTO and when I looked into the technique, I was able to find out that it originated in Kyoto itself! :) She said these fabrics were not available in her hometown at her point and that now majority of the reasonably priced kimonos and the casual ones are all machine made. It was honestly pretty cool to hear about this, These kimono's were lying at home for a very long time and I never knew about this. Finding out that she got the fabric specially from the traditional and only place that made it was just so cool and amazing to hear!

Even understanding the whole process from the making to even the buying and tailoring part is nothing like our time now. 

Here is one of my kimono's that i had worn till the age of 7.

My mom told me that she got this kimono for me when I was 3 years old for the traditional japanese festival Shi-go-san which means 3,5,7 . She explained to me that when a child is born, It's tradition to buy a kimono that is specific to this festive tradition.When the child turns three they go to the shrine with their child dressed in this kimono and thank god and for his blessing. Where you buy a special kimono made for the length of a three year old girl child and it's made in such a way that the kimono can be lengthened when the girl turns 5 and next again in 7. The kimono's bottom edge is folded and stitched so that it can be unstitched according to the girls height at her age of 5 and 7. It was just a way of marking the milestones of our life.  :)