The word “Tsumugi” means one of the cloth types.
Today I’ll show you tsumugi as Kimono category.
Simply tsumugi is silk weaved cloth which at first yarns dyed and then craftsmen weaves.
There are lots of tsumugi all over Japan, and it’s so fun to learn!
This time I’ll introduce you tsumugi Kimono for daily use.
Contents
The Types of Tsumugi
Weaving
Tsumugi is representative of weaved cloth.
・Two kinds of techniques
1, ”Sakizome”: white yarns are weaved first and after that craftsmen dyes.
2, “Atozome” : At first white yarns are dyed and then craftsmen weaves.
Tsumugi is categorized as “Sakizome” Kimono.
The History of Tsumugi
In the Edo era, each clans encouraged people to do sericulture.
Fine yarns are made for Daimyo and junk cocoon is used for family’s clothes.
Because of this history, tsumugi is mainly worn in casual scene not in formal scene.
No matter how expensive, we can’t wear tsumugi in wedding or ceremony scene.
The cloth
The charm of tsumugi is silk wadding texture.
The silk wadding is made from the cocoon and the spun by human hands.
Making process is different by each producing district.
But common thing is that tsumugi takes a long time to make.
Tsumugi has two types of textures.
1, The cloth weaved roughly which made of tsumugi yarns
2, The cloth is smooth touch which made of raw silk.
One of the famous fabric is called “Yuki Tsumugi”
This is “Oshima Tsumugi” weaved by raw silk.
Plus there are so many types of tsumugi like “Oitama Tsumugi” made in Yamagata prefecture, “Shiozawa Tsumugi”made in Niigata prefecture,
“Shinsyu Tsumugi” made in Nagano prefecture, and “KumejimaTsumugi” made in prefecture.
Because of decreasing craftsmen, tsumugi fabric are getting so expensive and hard to get.
Patterns of Tsumugi
Patterns of tsumugi are for example stripes, lattice and patternless.
To make various patterns, yarns are dyed partially and make the perfect combination with”Kasuri”.
Those yarns are dyed from natural plant or chemical dye.
These days we can see “Atozome” Kimono with hand drawing “Yuzen” techniques or “Katazome”.
Basically, we don’t dye family crest but rarely we put in Iromuji and Houmongi.
With family crest, we can go to the tea ceremony.
Obi and Accessaries
For tsumugi Kimono, we usually coordinate with dyed Nagoya Obi.
Tsumugi is mainly dark color, so it’s better to wear bright color nagajuban and accessories.
Summary
Kimono lovers are so into tsumugi Kimono.
We can try various coordinate with obi and accessories during seasons.
So let’s wear more and more!!