Happy New Year

My New Year’s resolution is to work on the data base for my collection of textiles. It’s a pleasure to get things out and look at them again.  This is the back of an under kimono. Women liked to wear red under their proper outer kimono. The silk is silky, the hem is padded, and the size is ample. I love it and decided to hang it for a while in my bedroom. The last picture is the most precious one.


Here is the front. Hard to imagine it all being covered up by an outer kimono. It must have made a woman feel good.


Here is a close look at the patterns in the outer fabric.


The lining of this under kimono is extremely special because it was dyed with safflowers.  You can tell by the color. It generally is fugitive, meaning it fades in time. The lining is almost tissue thin. A hidden treasure. It must have felt sumptuous to wear.


Bug’s Nests for an Obi?


We found this wonderfully intersting paper in an antique textile shope in Tokyo (Morito).

It has hundreds of  “skins” from the nests of tiny bugs. The Japanese call them bag worms or Minomushi.

They are beautiful in of themselves but to see them sewn into a long obi is mind boggling.

Here is a detail. Can you see some of the tiny stitches?

This is a fragment of an obi that was given to me years and years ago. I always thought it was from silk cocoons but could never figure out how. Now I see that it is also made of Minomushi. 

A detail of the obi fragment.

A Show Not to Miss – The Catherine Cerny Collection


Do not miss this show in Davis, California. It features textiles from the collection of my travel partner, Cathy Cerny. UC Davis Design Museum, Cruess Hall, September 24 to December 9, 2018. See hours on the invitation image. Closed on Saturday.

Here is Cathy in the entrance to the show featuring her textiles from Japan. The show is absolutely wonderful.

The show is about techniques used in Japanese textiles. It is beautiful.

Not only beautifully done but also informative with cases of samples and tools.

Here is Cathy with Alicia Decker, the curator (center) and Bronte Blanco, the designer of the show.

Here I am with Cathy and two friends that came from Japan just for the opening of the exhibition.