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Japanese Kimono Design
Techniques
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Marla
Mallett
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one-of-a-kind kimonos shown on our Vintage
Japanese Kimono pages
have been decorated with a wide array of traditional techniques,
each with distinctive characteristics that encouraged imaginative
imagery. |
Eiri: "Woman
Walking," circa 1795. J. Hillier, Japanese Colour Prints,
Oxford, 1978
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Embroidery
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| Japanese
artisans have used embroidery to create opulent effects on kimono
-- especially lavish wedding kimono. With silk floss and
variations on the "long and short stitch" or satin stitch, hira-nui, they have
built up entire motifs, as in the feathers below. Some forms have even become
three-dimensional. |
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Gold and
silver threads are made of foil applied to thin membrane or
paper strips
which are wrapped around silk threads. These metallic threads cannot be stitched
through the silk fabrics, so they are traditionally
"couched": laid on the fabric surface and stitched
down with fine silk threads. Motifs may be outlined with gold
couching or entire motifs may be formed with metallic yarns
placed side by side. The technique is called shusu. The
photo below magnifies the gold metallic threads considerably.
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Yuzen Resist
Dyeing |
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With
a dyeing technique invented in 17th century Kyoto, a
mixture of rice paste and soybeans has been used to draw delicate
free-hand linear motifs on white silk. An artist squeezes the
paste through a funnel-shaped container much like a small pastry
bag (below left). After this paste resist dries, he paints the
areas on both sides of the lines with brushes, using the desired
dye colors. Delicate shaded effects can be created, and the rice
paste prevents the dye from seeping into surrounding areas. Even
broad expanses of the background color are dyed in this manner --
by hand painting. The most characteristic features of kimono
ornamentation made in this way are subtle color gradations and narrow, flowing
light lines that outline the motifs.
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Yuzen dyeing. Drawing
rice paste lines at the left; painting in dyes above. Norio
Yamanaka, The Book of Kimono, Tokyo,
1982.
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For areas of
wide, regular repeats, artists may apply their rice paste through intricate
stencils with squeegees. Then after the paste has dried, they apply
their colored dyes with brushes. When all of the painting is
finished, the worker steams the kimono silk to set the dyes, and
washes out the rice paste. Because of the time involved
and the artistry required, yuzen dyed kimono have always
commanded high prices. They were often commissioned by special
clients. |
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Katazome
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These fabrics are also produced
with stencils. Rice paste is pressed through the elaborately cut,
heavy, oiled stencils onto the fabric; then after drying, the fabrics are
immersed in the dye pots. This process has often been used with
indigo blue on cotton for summer yukata kimono
or for futon covers. Sometimes wax has been used instead, as in
batiks made elsewhere. |
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Surihaku
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| Sometimes,
along with colored dyes, gold or silver metallic foil is applied
to the fabric surface, creating lavish effects. Rice paste is
first applied to the fabric in design areas -- either drawn freely
(as at the right), or stenciled (as below, where it is combined
with embroidery). Then metallic leaf
is pressed onto the partially dried rice paste. The foil falls
away in surrounding areas. In the past, surihaku decoration
was widely used on dramatic Noh theatrical costumes, and its use
continued on lavish formal kimono and ceremonial uchikake wedding
kimono. |
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Shibori
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| These fabrics
are tie-dyed. Most often, areas are patterned by tightly
wrapping tiny sections of the light-weight white silk with thread.
When the fabric is dyed, the wrapped areas remain white, forming a
pleasant, slightly irregular repeat pattern of tiny circles. An
entire surface covered in this way is called kanoko shibori. The
fabric may be allowed to retain its characteristic puckered
surface. Shibori techniques can also be produced by
clamping, stitching or folding the fabrics in various ways to
produce unusual patterning. |
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Sumi e Painting
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| Free-hand painting with
indelible inks and brushes is also a time- honored Japanese method of fabric
decoration. In 20th century production, it appeared on
kimonos, but even more
frequently on the pictorial linings of men's short black haori
jackets. |
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Kasuri (Ikat)
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These ikat fabrics are made
by selectively binding and dyeing parts of the warp or weft
threads, or even both, before the fabric is woven. It is an
arduous and exacting process. For either silk or cotton fabrics,
the threads are stretched on a frame (below), selected design
areas are bound, then the hanks of bound threads are immersed in
the dye pots. |
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Kasuri weft threads on a warping mill. Jun and Noriko
Tomita, Japanese Ikat Weaving, London, 1982.
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For warp ikats (as shown
below), it's the warp threads that are bound and dyed. The
fabric is woven with plain wefts, as all of the patterning is in
the warps. The irregular, feathery design outlines are a characteristic
feature, where the dye
seeps under the bindings slightly. In
contrast, vertical pattern lines are crisp and smooth. |
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For weft kasuri, more
juggling is possible. It's the wefts that are bound selectively
and dyed, and the weaver has a little freedom in positioning the
dyed pattern areas exactly during the weaving process. This makes quite complex
motifs possible. It
presumes, however, that the bindings were done with much care and
precision. Fabric ornamentation with elaborate weft-ikat motifs is
known as "picture kasuri," or e-gasuri. Sometimes the warps are printed
or painted before the
final weaving process. The fabric below appears to combine
techniques. |
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For meisen ikat, both
warp and weft are bound and dyed, as in the indigo-dyed cotton yukata
below. Distinctive effects are produced by combining or crossing the resisted areas. |
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For detailed descriptions of
these processes, I recommend Jun and Noriko Tomita's, Japanese
Ikat Weaving, London, 1982 |
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Figured Weaves
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| Historically
draw looms (as at the right), and more recently
jacquard looms, have been used to produce a
variety of weaves with stunning
tone-on-tone patterning. Damasks, brocades and twills are among the structures
employed. White wedding kimono often
exploit the possibilities of these techniques, and obi designs have
employed an even wider range of complex weaves. Brocade designs have been woven with contrasting colors or materials such as
metallic or lacquered threads. |
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© Marla Mallett
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