My friend Esther lives in Japan, In Yamagata, mountain country. She's from the England and I had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of years back, we took in some Art, coffee, lots of Ashtanga talk. You may well know her blog Shanti Star , she has a new post up today in fact, Mysore Class with Matt Corigliano
Esther is an Ashtanga practitioner and teacher.
She also makes bags, Yoga mat bags....from recycled Kimono's
Here's a link Esther's recycled Kimono Yoga mat bag blog
I've been hassling Ester to send me a guest post on her mat bags, made from recycled kimono's, ever since I first saw one posted on fb. After much pestering and pinning down to deadlines here we have it. And pictures lots of pictures including some of the stages involved in making the bags, which I was particularly curious about. I sent a few questions as a framework but it turns out that Esther had already answered some questions in a post on another blog, the much loved Small Blue Pearls/ The Runway project (PS. send in your runway pictures)
http://smallbluepearls.com/sbp-blog/2013/2/1/asobi-gokoro-one-of-a-kind-yoga-mat-bags-made-from-kimono-ye.html
Here's Esther's guest post/response to my questions
AsobiGokoro Bags Yoga Mat Bags: Recycled Kimono
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Esther is an Ashtanga practitioner and teacher.
She also makes bags, Yoga mat bags....from recycled Kimono's
Here's a link Esther's recycled Kimono Yoga mat bag blog
AsobiGokoro Bags
http://asobi-gokoro-bags.blogspot.jpI've been hassling Ester to send me a guest post on her mat bags, made from recycled kimono's, ever since I first saw one posted on fb. After much pestering and pinning down to deadlines here we have it. And pictures lots of pictures including some of the stages involved in making the bags, which I was particularly curious about. I sent a few questions as a framework but it turns out that Esther had already answered some questions in a post on another blog, the much loved Small Blue Pearls/ The Runway project (PS. send in your runway pictures)
http://smallbluepearls.com/sbp-blog/2013/2/1/asobi-gokoro-one-of-a-kind-yoga-mat-bags-made-from-kimono-ye.html
Here's Esther's guest post/response to my questions
AsobiGokoro Bags Yoga Mat Bags: Recycled Kimono
Why make bags out of old kimono?
Well, because I had a pile of kimono and other fabrics taking up space in my cupboard, and I love bags. I needed to start making stuff with all the fabrics I’d collected. I have a bit of a fabric fetish, and they were beginning to pile up. I love the Japanese sense of colour and design expressed in the kimono and really enjoy pairing this with a surprising print inside.
Making yoga mat bags started when looking at a lovely yoga mat bag that was way out of my price range. So, I thought I would make one instead. However, I soon realized, that after I”d gone and bought the fabric, thread, zipper, etc it wasn’t actually much cheaper than buying one. But, I loved it, and it was in my favourite colours and totally original. I made a couple more and gave them to friends, they were very homemade looking.
Through a process of trial and error, asking friends, relatives, shop assistants all kinds of questions I slowly learnt how to make them better and more beautiful. It really was, and still is, quite a journey. Always aiming to make a more beautiful bag than the last one.
What are some of the problems and how did you overcome them?
There have been constant hurdles to overcome, mainly because I have been learning as I go along, and every piece is different.. Different combinations of fabrics produce very different bags. Also I don’t want to waste any material so I take a while to plan out a bag in the most efficient way, I have very few scraps. Every little piece is a treasure.
How strong are these bags?
They are pretty strong. Not cargo strength, but I’ve thrown mine around a lot as a tester, it’s still going strong. I use a fairly substantial cotton interfacing in them all now. It may not be necessary, as the first ones I made didn’t have this and they’re still going strong, but just to be sure.
The silk ones will eventually wear thin I’m sure, but that’s part of the beauty of natural fabrics.
Which was the most terrifying material you cut up?
The most terrifying kimono material I ever cut up was the sleeves from a friends coming of age Kimono, that her recently passed away father had bought for her when she was 20. When young the sleeves are long and later the sleeves are trimmed. She had kept the trimmings, she is now about 46, and asked me to make a bag for her. It was quite an honor and very precious, not only because it was in memory of her deceased father, but also because the original kimono cost around 18,000pounds! There wasn’t much material, so I had to be careful and piece together a bag. I will probably never sew fabric that gorgeous again, and was so pleased with the result I kept it a few extra days to admire it in private.
Has it ever gone really really wrong?
Oh yes, I have made every kind of mistake possible. My husband has a good eye (his mother is professional seamstress) and points out all the faults. Sometimes this feels like a Japanese spiritual path of bag making. I take them apart, and redo, aiming for simple perfection.
Do you have any that you couldn't bare to part with?
Actually, pretty much all of them. That’s the thing, I get very attached to these bags, this isn’t a business, it’s my art, little embarrassing to say that, but that’s how I feel. I stopped painting, as I wasn’t terribly good and paintings were piling up in the house, but to make something practical and special…that’s more like it. It’s something I love to do, to play with fabrics and colour combinations. I can only make a bag I am excited about. I never want to part with the one I”ve just made, but by the time I’ve finished the next, I’m ready.
When I’ve made one I have to sit with it a while before I let it go, I’m getting better now. I’m always most pleased with the most recent one.
My students and friends have been very supportive and snapping them up, which is lovely as I get to see my bags all the time. Some have gone overseas and I’m getting better with the practice of non-attachment, ha ha!
A good friend told me I must let them go, keep a flow of energy, to challenge myself to make them better and better and more beautiful.
How long does it take to make one?
Not sure how long they take, as I work in spurts whenever I have the time and inclination. Sometimes more like a frenzy, forgetting everything else in my excitement to finish one. I don’t want it to be a chore, to have that negative energy in the bags, it’s nice to relax and get into the process. It is a process indeed. From taking apart the kimono, and if necessary washing and ironing all the pieces. Then trying out combinations of kimono and lining materials and zippers what style of bag would it suit, once I feel suitably inspired and can carve out some time I start to to make one. It does take many many hours, but the time flies, aborbed. Measuring, cutting, interfacing, making bias tape, lots of hand sewing, I like the details. Actual time at the machine is minimal.
You jokingly mentioned that you wanted to see sweat and pin pricked fingers, the blood sweat and tears of making mat bags from precious kimono. Well, no joke there is sweat, and near to tears when I do something wrong. As for blood, at times blood had been shed! There is a lot of hand sewing, sometimes through 7 layers of fabric the occasional finger has been pricked!
Do you have pictures of your favourite?
So hard, as at one point every one has been my favourite. I guess the one I really couldn’t let go is the one I’m using, this purple one is the newest one and so my current favourite, and these came a close second.
I just so enjoy this creative practice, and want to make beautiful unique pieces for someone to carry their little piece of sacred space around with them, a joy to open, and hopefully help inspire a practice. Beauty I believe can inspire spirituality, actually I was just reading this morning in the “Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” about how meditation (or yoga) is an art and to do it in a richly inspired way, to inspire yourself. So, this is my little contribution to help devoted yogi’s on their way.
If anyone is interested in any of the bags feartured here (link to blog) drop me a line on the AsobiGokoro facebook page.
Esther lives in Yamagata in the north of Japan and is also practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga.