hinagata
the forsythia is blooming – and yes, the sky really was that blue
for two weeks I’ve been pruning and weeding and cutting and hauling
once a year the municipality picks up garden waste
I try to take advantage, otherwise everything has to be bagged and hauled to the recycle dump – no burning
yesterday I finally finished as much as I could do
and this morning at 8:00 am they hauled it all away
thank goodness, getting old, my body aches
with the help of my neighbour we cut six feet off the holly tree and reduced it’s girth by two feet
now I can get back to fabric and fibre
Gilbert is modeling the hinagata hanten I mentioned in my March, Scrap Happy blog
“hinagata” are miniature sewing samples hand stitched by young girls when learning to sew
it is surprisingly large, 25 inches/ 63.5cm. in length
old, very soft cotton fabrics, possibly recycled and all handstitched
my memory was wrong, this is a yogi not a hanten
a yogi is an oversized kimono-shaped quilt – a hanten is a work jacket
it is made with a thick layer of batting but, as the piece is in good condition, and the stitching firm
I can only guess that it is cotton
the only flaw is a stain on the back
“the book of boro” gives directions on how to make a full size yogi quilt
Saturday is the first day of Spring – enjoy!
www.onesmallstitch.Wordpress.com 
It is a beautiful piece and Gilbert is very lucky to be allowed to wear it. I love the idea of a quilt designed to be worn – how practical! In the past girls had to know how to sew and it was a highly esteemed skill. I suppose our equivalent was the sampler that young girls embroidered. We no longer need to hand stitch our clothes or even make them ourselves but maybe something has been lost in the process.
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Sue – yogi (kimono quilts) were never made to be worn, they are oversized and heavy, they were used on the bed (futon) and in some cases the entire family slept under it. Oh, I would definitely say something has been lost.
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How odd to make sleeves and everything for a bed quilt! Or maybe just odd to my Western mind.
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Sue – it is a cultural thing, here is a great link https://www.kimonoboy.com/yogi-sleeping-garments.html If you go to his web site you will be shocked by the prices on old Japanese textiles. Mailing costs from Japan during the pandemic are also shocking.
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That is a fascinating article – thank you! I see lots of parallels with Welsh folk textiles but the use of ‘darning’ to strengthen old fabric seems to be peculiar to the Japanese. A Welsh housewife would have patched the hole or weak spot on the back and made her stitches as invisible as possible!
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Sue – this wasn’t just a hole or weak spot, the entire fabric was disintegrating with layers of patches on top of patches.Poverty so extreme it was impossible to hide. And they did patch from the back, now sellers show the back of pieces because they are more interesting than the front.
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Ah! I wonder what the original makers would think of that? Perverse maybe!
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Sue – I doubt that they would understand the 21st century. What I really wonder about is how they would feel knowing that some of the larger pieces are selling in the thousands of dollars – mostly to Westerners. More money than they probably saw in a lifetime!~!
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I sometimes wonder what, if anything, of my belongings will be kept by my children and grandchildren. Which of the things I have made will become ‘heirlooms’ or ‘valuable antiques’ and how soon will the rest end up in landfill?
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Sue – think most of my “stuff” will go to charity shops, secondhand stores or anything of value will go for sale online.
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I reckon that is what will happen to most of mine too!
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Sue – 😦
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That’s a lovely little yogi – I think Gilbert looks very snug in it. what a great “sampler”! I have a small puffy kimono that came wrapped around a doll from an auction lot – I wondered where it had come from originally, but I think it was a baby garment.
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Kjerstin – there were always a few hinagata at the market in Kyoto back in my day, wish I had bought a couple more. don’t imagine they are being made now. I wonder if that is what your small kimono was originally?
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Gilbert looks extremely dignified and cosy, and I can just imagine how very soft and delicate that fabric surface is. Lucky bear!
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Kate – Gilbert is becoming a fashionista, wonder what he will want next?
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Some natty bear suiting in an elegant window check combining cinnamon and chocolate colours, perhaps..? No, that’s just me projecting! I think a nice indigo boro jacket would fit the bill perfectly 🙂
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Kate – I’m not promising Gilbert anything, it will be summer soon and he can have a pair of shorts!
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I know I’ve missed some posts but finally I said “anything older than xyz, has to be gone” and now I will start to read and comment on posts.
That’s some sample that young people had to make, I see a sample as something that would fit Gilbert or one of his friends…
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Catherine – I spent 6 months at Kawashima Textile school, the Japanese are very serious about all traditional crafts and there is only one way to learn – you have to be right and good! Kimono are still hand stitched and taken apart for cleaning and then completely restitched. Women had to know how to sew the family’s kimono.
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