Vintage Japanese Kimono Fabrics by Pieces: Japanese Textile Fabric Swatches

80232: 1930s-50s Japanese Silk Ohshima Tsumugi, MIcroMesh Grid,40in. AraiHari

80231:1930s Ohshima Tsumugi, Mesh Pattern, 55 in.

1930s-1950s Distinctive Japanese Textiles:

Catalog# 8023-2

Thin Summer Silk
Dark Brown/Black Ohshima Tsumugi (pongee) Silk Fabric
Micro Mesh Pattern Arai-Hari

Width: 14.25 inches / 36.2 cm
Length: 40 inches / 101.6 cm

US$13.00 per piece
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Item Details and Description

Fabric History/Pedigree: Pieces received from a traditional Japanese kimono cleaner/reconstructor called Arai-Hari -- see an excellent explanation of traditional Arai Hari by textile expert John Marshall,by clicking HERE;

For an excellent 'how-to' do Arai-Hari oneself, we highly recommend Kae Warnock's Blog, Chocolate Factotum:

Fabric Description Details:

This thin, teanslucent summer lightweight silk piece is dark mud-brown (almost black) background with full fabric pattern being a tiny element pixel mesh; elements have slight off-white threads, per the usual Ohshima Tsumugi weave/dye process.The fabric is the same on both sides.

Colors: Please use our text color descriptions to complement your sense of the fabric, taking into account differences in contrast and color on various devices.

BACKGROUND JAPANESE TEXTILES CULTURAL NOTES:

There are various types of older Ohshima Tsumugi silk that involve tsumugi using mud, indigo, and grass or plants in the dyeing process.

To learn about the older Ohshima textiles, there are details on that aspect of Japan's special pongee silk-making process which can be found on the National Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan website. The site explains the natural plant dyes and mud etc. used in making older (1960s and earlier) Ohshima Tsumugi silks, quoted here:

Characteristics: A plain woven silk fabric with pre-dyed scoured threads both for warp and weft. The color is refined and calm and the fabric is soft and difficult to wrinkle. Threads are dyed with plant dyes such as "Techiki" (Raphilolepis umbellata) and indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) with a technique, peculiar only to "Oshima Tsumugi," called "Ori Jime." As a variety, an additional treatment is made to the dyed thread by dipping them in muddy water. It is "Doro(mud) Zome(dyeing)." There are several kinds of "Oshima Tsumugi":"Doro Oshima," "Ai(indigo) Oshima," "Doro Ai Oshima," "Iro(color) Oshima" and "Natsu(summer) Oshima."