Overview

Our line of home furnishings and scarves is made from silks and cottons taken from vintage Japanese kimono and haori (short jackets), mostly from pre-WWII. The particular way these garments are constructed – in straight sections, using the full width of the bolt – facilitates the process of disassembling them and recovering these beautiful, truly one-of-a-kind textiles. We have painstakingly taken each garment apart and re-combined the different sections to given them a new life as a unique quilt, throw, pillow or scarf.

Learn about the types of vintage Japanese fabrics we use

Quilts

Our quilts are made by piecing sections of vintage Japanese kimono fabric. Each quilt’s top and the quilting itself (which is done along the quilt top’s seams) are machine-sewn and have hand-sewn double-folded edges. We add a layer of the best quality wool batting and either silk or cotton backing.

Following the Japanese tradition of sashiko embroidery, we’ve added to some of our quilts strategically placed, hand-stitched quilting accents that charmingly echo the fabric’s design and add an extra layer of strength.

These hand-sewn accents are designed and marked by us and executed, on commission, by professional Amish quilters.

Throws

For our throws we choose silks with beautiful drape, generally crepe silks (chirimen or kinsha), which give them a very luxurious feel. A few of them incorporate the entire main section or “body” of the silk kimono, including its original lining and hand-sewn seams. Others have a top layer of joined sections of vintage silk from different kimono and a new silk crepe backing.

Pillows

Each Japanese kimono is made from a unique bolt of fabric, so our pillows are, by definition, a “limited edition” of, at most, 8 pillows.

To make our pillows we choose the strongest types of silks (meisen or omeshi) and cottons. We add a layer of interfacing for extra strength and a backing of soft, durable and stain-resistant Ultrasuede (except when noted in product description). They come with an insert of feather/down filling and have a zipper concealed in the bottom seam.

Scarves

We assign the lightest, airiest silks to make our scarves. Japanese kimono are made from bolts of fabric that are approximately 14" (36cm) wide. These narrow lengths of fabric are ideal to make long, flowing scarves.

Some of our scarves are made with two layers: the front is vintage kimono silk and the back is new silk crepe, sometimes hand-dyed in a color carefully chosen to complement that particular piece of kimono fabric. The back layer folds over the sides of the scarf, framing the kimono fabric with a narrow border of solid color.

Our lightest scarves are made with just the kimono silk, which is finished with hand-rolled edges.