I went to China Town to take pictures for this essay I have to complete as part of my Singapore Studies elective, and made a detour to the fabric shops in People's Park Complex. I always come away with something Japanese, but this time was extra special because the shop I usually patronise had fabric meant for yukata. They were regular 120cm width fabric bolts, but printed in such a way that divided the cloth into three equal parts - obviously meant to be cut into smaller widths for yukata. Needless to say, I bought enough fabric for three yukata. This picture shows how the fabric looks after it has been cut.


All pinks since I don't have much of it in my collection (I usually stick with traditional blues for yukata, but it's bad for business). I'm in love with the sakura bolt. Dragonflies are <3.

Yukata with purple kiku. From here.

Yukata season is almost upon us again~ can you feel the heat?

Since I realised that I have a few new yukata that I have not tried to coordinate yet, I decided to kick off the summer with a cheery checked yukata with purple and pink morning glories. Also my new obi musubi book came in handy because I didn't want any old butterfly obi to match with this. Ended up choosing a hanabira bow using two hanhaba obi, also in pink and purple. Pics follow!

The back! That's a lot of colours in just one bow~



The front! The obi is a little bunched up in the middle because I forgot to pad Muzuhime's waist ^ ^". She's just too skinny.



More pictures of the front, with obijime detail.

Cross-posted from kahouya.

Here is the ensemble for the month of January.




What Muzu-hime is wearing:

Blue yukata made from modern patchwork print. The hanhaba obi has been tied with a twist in the front and a heko obi tied over it (yes, that's right, TWO obi) to give some volume to the back. Not seasonally correct, since January is late winter in Japan, but it's always summer in Singapore right?

This being my 21st birthday, I seem to have received a few interesting gifts.

First of all...
( nilihism )
Secondly, not one but two polyester kimono bolts O_o. A meccha kawaii pink ro with paulownia leaves and stripey retro-ish modern bolt.
 

Mentioned only a few here, but I wish to extend my thanks to everyone who gave me a gift (and birthday wishes too!) for my 21st :D.</div>

I finally found a yukata which goes with my vintage, indigo-dyed obi. The yukata has a design of yabane and ayame (it rhymes!) in a very traditional blue-white colour combination. Really wanted a kimono/yukata with yabane or ayame on it, so was quite excited to find one with both XD.

And, let me introduce Muzu-hime, my mannequin. She's just a torso, really, but wears yukata quite nicely. I don't wear yukata out in public anymore (or rather, in the company of unrelated men, but all girls is okay) since I started wearing a headscarf, so I got Muzu-hime to model for me instead. She doesn't sweat up the wafuku, so I'd take that as a plus :).

Hajimemashite, Muzu-hime desu, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

  

Finished the kikyou yukata! This is the last kimono project for this holiday because i'll be hitting the books again in a few days time...

 Thanks a million to Qubicfactor for sending me this yukata bolt :)!  Very iki pattern~ kikyou on black...



Don't know when I'll have time for this, but it's quite a wonderful surprise coming out of a 50cm tube :P. Had to go to the post office to retrieve it but it came safe and sound...

And so marks the end of this year's sewing chapter.

Took advantage of national day break to complete the third yukata (and 4th all-handsewn kimono). Pattern looks surprisingly somewhat matched :). This one is probably gonna be loaned out to someone ...*so I'd better go try it out first!* Finally managed to get a knack of sewing the collar, this one I can say has no collar wrinkles *yay* ...though it took unpicking two kimono apart to discover how to do it (~_~!)


[EDIT] I think I'm settling for this combination of yukata and hanhaba obi:

Actually, it wasn't really an unplanned trip...

Back to sewing yukata. Will need to finish the butterfly one double quick before school starts. This gives me two days, tonight and probably tuesday. Anyway need them for Matsuri and stuff so die die must finish...

And I still can't decide which CCA to join in NUS because there are so many Japanese related ones. Kendo is still high on the list but the commitment level of a sport CCA means I will probably not be able to join anything else. How????

Japanese Cultural Alliance and Comics and Animation Society are also very attractive, but after seeing my semester one timetable I am very afraid to join anything for fear that I can't cope. To think I had three CCAs in JC. Maybe I can still join all three but be a sleeping member in the Comics and Animation Society (~_~!), which is a very Japanese-oriented Art Club really, and the closest thing to an Art Club since NUS doesn't seem to have a traditional Art Club. Whew, because if there was, I would have joined that too.

Never expected that interest in Japanese culture would lead me to join three Japanese CCAs, from none in JC.

KYAAAAAAAAAAAA~

So after two days spent on my medical check up I have a long green bruise on my right arm (from the blood test) and a half-dead left arm (from the first dose of the Hep B vaccine). Finished all the necessary tests though,  way ahead of the assigned date. But Papa and Mama were rushing me and all...Kyaaaaa~i'm glad it's OVER. I dunno if i'm supposed to get the results back to give NHG though. Nobody knows anything....

Even with the said injuries (yes, INJURIES) to my arm I did not let up in my sewing (...is ashamed at what she has become...) so I managed to finish my  waves yukata. The waves didn't look that nice anymore all cut up but at least my sewing skills have improved.  Collar is not so wrinkled anymore, and the new 6cm radius curve looks a lot nicer. Will be having a go with hanhaba obi since Spotlight has a good sale on interfacing ($1 pm, how could I resist?) and got nice bright satin from a curtaining shop in clementi. If it doesn't work out I can always give the interfacing to Mama.

Waves yukata piccy...



For turtly_one, is this fabric (under the cut) okay with you? Haven't started on yours yet, but it's next on my to-do list...