With thoughts of self-stitched sleepwear ricochetting about my recent consciousness like a pingpong ball being batted about by a playful pussycat… as well as unique and beautifully artistic garments that delight and inspire us creative types….
This is a silk kimono made by my mother. Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while might remember that my mother is highly accomplished at all forms of textile art and has made many many beautiful works of wearable art. Her creations are truly something to aspire to!
This kimono has been hand-dyed! hand-woven! AND hand-stitched! All by my talented Mum.
Mum hand-dyed the skeins of ivory silk for the warp of the cloth in the ikat technique, in a divinely subtle rainbow of shades. She then wove the silk on her loom, and then made the kimono from the resulting fabric.
Isn’t it utterly beautiful?
The kimono was made in 1984. I do have nebulous memories of its creation in our laundry, even now I can remember it as a labour of love, a project in which Mum aimed high and effortlessly achieved a remarkable outcome that still inspires my awe and admiration 🙂
Mum does still wear it, but since it is not so much a throw-on thing so much as it is a unique work of art it has been well looked after and is of course in immaculate condition. However, she did not wish to model it for my blog, so Cassie has stepped in. But I can assure you that she looks just as beautiful wearing it as Cassie does here!
