Shiromizu - White Water

I finally got around to restoring this little lady. In the end I decided against unpicking her entirely and cleaning her. I was afraid I wouldn't get everything back together in an historically accurate way. So instead I just repaired the torn sleeves. I fixed the seams that had come undone along the bottom of the right sleeved, and the sleeve cuff of the left sleeve. I then reattached the lining of both sleeves to the outer fabric along the open portion of the sleeves. Finally I reattached the sleeves to the kimono's shoulders.

The four images on the left show the kimono in it's entirety, while the details on the right show the yuzen work on the sleeves and the Tsuta (Ivy) crest that appears on this furisode. The bottom three images show details of the work I did. I was really intrigued when I tried to photograph the section of sleeve cuff I'd worked on because I couldn't tell which sewing was mine and which was original for a while. I was certain mine would be extremely noticeable.

As for some general information about this furisode; it's a pre world war bridal donuki. Basically way back when black crested furisode were worn as wedding dresses, they often had a matching red furisode, and a matching white furisode that were worn underneath. The term for these kimono (that aren't juban) which are worn underneath are donuki. Unfortunately, this kimono's sister(s) have been lost. Originally I had planned to repair this one and sell it, which I may still do. However, I am also still contemplating keeping it and using it as a donuki for my purple taisho furisode. I'm not sure if that will work though, since the patterns on the hems don't match by a longshot. I guess I'll just have to try it out!

Time to completion:
6.5 hours

FULL VIEW PLEASE!