kitkatanddog's guide to making an obi makura on a budget

broke? into kitsuke? okay at sewing? have heaps of time to kill (approximately one full day)? then this tutorial might just be what you're looking for !

in this blog post I'll go over my completely original method for sewing obi makura not-quite-from scratch. as it's straight out of my own brain, it might not be perfect, however if you're like me & not exactly keen on paying $20 for an obi makura & then another $25 for shipping, you might find my guide helpful- even if only as a jumping off point for your own design. 

this tutorial can (& in my opinion should) be done entirely by hand ! it doesn't require much experience either, however if you're a complete beginner I suggest practicing some straight lines/sewing through folds before you give this guide a try. that being said, if you can sew a straight line, you can sew my version of an obi makura ! I would recommend sewing the folded himo by machine if you don't want to sit there sewing for 3 hours on each one, however the rest of it should be done by hand as it's quite fiddly. 

before we start, I'd like to say a few things:

firstly, that I decided to create this guide as there are barely any resources on how to make an obi makura. I am by no means saying that this is an authentic or historically accurate way of making one; just that I've found something that might work through personal experimentation. 

& secondly, I haven't actually used this on my nagoya obi yet, as I need a few more kitsuke accessories. however I plan on improvising some of those as well- so do keep an eye out !! (for example, my fellow aussies might want to know that harris scarfe sells these sheet smoothers which seem to be basically korin belts ! & it also looks like ebay sells them for even cheaper !)

if you're not that keen on sewing, & would prefer a needle-free alternative, I suggest this tutorial- all it needs is some old stockings, a towel, & some tape !

simple no-sew obi makura tutorial

I haven't tried it myself, so if you decide to give it a go, let me know how it goes in the comments below !!

materials needed:

-car-washing sponge 

-sewing thread

-sewing needle

-scissors

-(cotton) fabric 

-ruler

-sharpie

optional: a bowl or container to put foam & thread scraps in

note: the pattern or colour of the fabric you use literally does not matter. it will be hidden underneath the obiage anyway. use whatever you have- this could even be an old t-shirt. I just to happened to find a christmas-themed fabric that did what I needed it to. don't worry about aesthetics. 

first, find something to use as the makura- the pillow that will hold up our musubi (obi knot) for the (nagoya) otaiko style. in my case, I bought car washing sponges (to my fellow australians; I used this six-pack of jumbo sponges from kmart. they cost $4.50, & were my only expense, as I had the other materials already.) it should be stiff enough to hold its shape decently well.

after that, measure some guidelines onto your makura. there are a few different options based on your desired style, so I suggest using this as a reference for your design. I started by marking out my measurements with dots & connecting them with lines using other obi makura as references.

the measurements I ended up using were as follows:

length (from one end to another vertically): 21cm

width (from one end to another horizontally): 8.5cm (narrowest), 9.5cm (widest)

depth (the height of the makura): 5cm (not ideal; if possible, aim for more- about 8cm.)

it ended up looking like this:

obi makura shape (sorry about the ruler LOL!)

note; a slightly curved shape seems to be preferred in makura, so I suggest that you aim for a greater depth in order to give yourself room to shape it. that being said, that wasn't really an option for me without sacrificing depth, so I decided to keep the flat surface in my final product. in the future I may experiment with shaping my makura & seeing how it affects my depth.

I then cut my obi makura out. be mindful of the angles at which you're cutting, as you want to keep the sides of the makura even (provided you're not shaping them). you'll likely end up with a lot of spare material outside the makura itself; use the trimming of it off as practice. that being said, if you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world, as the makura will be sewn into fabric anyway.

speaking of fabric. I didn't take any measurements nor make any formulas. my only suggestions are that you use a fabric big enough to completely wrap around the obi makura. for me, that looked like folding a flap of fabric over the top of the makura, covering it just under halfway, then tucking it flap-down into the rest of the fabric. after that, you can cut off any remainders BENEATH the makura, NOT to the sides of it- don't throw them out, though ! (here's an approximation with a scrap piece of sponge. keep the fabric to the left & right of the makura attached) then fold the end of the fabric back onto itself in order to create another fold.

the following step is the hardest. thread up your needle- more thread is better than less- & double knot it. sew along this external fold into the fabric beneath, taking care not to poke the sponge as you do so, along the length of the makura but not to the edge of the fabric itself. if you're unsure, it's okay to overshoot, as the extra length will be folded in & sewn anyway. it should end up looking something like this. you're basically just sewing the two sides of the fabric together- if it's messy, you can always fold the extra down & sew it into place.

once you've done that, fold the ends of the makura fabric as shown here & sew them down- I suggest in a pattern like this if you're new to sewing or just want to make sure it'll be on nice & tight. do this for both sides of the makura. congrats! the hardest parts are now over, & we get to move onto the most time-consuming ones. (get a nice long video essay (or 3) ready !)

remember the scrap fabric we kept from earlier? that will become our himo!

if you had quite a long length of leftover fabric, feel free to skip the following step. however if you're like me, & the length you had wasn't long enough to wrap around you from the middle of your back to just past your belly button, see below.

for the first himo, start by cutting along the length of the fabric you're using down the middle- take care not to cut all the way through. flip one strip of the fabric so that it is facing in the opposite direction as the other strip. fold the area that they share back onto itself (like this) & sew to secure them together. you should now have a strip of fabric close to double the length that you did before ! do this again to create a second himo strip. 

now we're going to fold the ends of the strips back onto the fabric & sew them in place to prevent them fraying. this time I STRONGLY recommend that you sew in this direction to make the next step much easier.  I also recommend that you use A Metric Shit-Tonne of thread, because you will be using it to sew not just both the edge of the top & bottom but the sides as well. sew the edges of the top & bottom of the strips separately, but on your second, don't tie off & cut the thread. 

instead, fold the strip in half again, line the edges of the sides up (it's VERY important to keep them even, or it'll mess up the rest of your edge-sewing), & sew along them all the way to the other side. make sure to sew the tops of the edges together- it's okay to come back to this after you finish sewing the rest of the edge, or even the strip altogether. if you're especially concerned about fabric fraying, you might like to create a seam by folding the very edges of the fabric in on themselves, however I find this to be very tedious, & as the himo are going to be hidden in the obiage anyway, fairly unnecessary. repeat this process again for the other himo. 

we're on the home stretch now! all you have to do is sew the two himo onto the folded sides of the makura we made before- of course, one himo on each edge. there's no particular pattern in which I recommend sewing it, however you may wish to sew the edges on in two 'layers' in order to ensure that they're secure. they should end up looking something like this. 

& with that, you've done it! you've just made an obi makura !! now go forth & reign terror on your local supermarkets with your impeccable improvised kitsuke !!

I was initially going to write this in japanese as well but I have had a hard enough time explaining it in english LOLL ! I hope this made some sort of sense to all of you- it's surprisingly hard to convey what I mean with just my words ! I've filmed some of my steps where applicable, & I hope they're enough to clear up any confusion, otherwise let me know & I can go over them again !! 

anyway, that's all for me from now ! 読んでくれてありがとうございました！ またね！