16 January 2012

How to make a Tsuke Obi

Someone asked for a tutorial on how I made my tsuke obi so here it is!

Here is the list of things you will need.

Two lots of 2 metres of fabric your choice (for reversible obi)
2 metres of stiff interface
4 metres of ribbon
Sewing Machine
Thread
Pins

Of course if you do not want to make a reversible obi then you just need 4 metres of one type of fabric.

Instructions

Step one
Take your fabric and place it so the right sides are touching.  Now we need to mark the pieces!

Here is the basis pattern that I used.

To lay out the pattern I would recommend the following.


This way you are using the fabric economically so you can use the remaining fabric for other projects like making more obi!

As the pattern is basically rectangles you can lay the pieces so they are edge to edge.

Step two

For the interface, you will need to cut the same shapes as above except the measurements are as follows.

Again lay them out on your interface like the fabric.

Step three

You now have all your pieces at hand.  If you have not ironed the fabric and interface beforehand, give them a quick once over.

Step Four

We will sew the tare part first.

Take your tare fabric pieces and line them up with the right side facing each other and sew.

Snip the corners like below and then turn it inside out.


Now iron your tare and then insert your interface. 

You have not completed your first part!

Step five

Take your ribbon and cut it into 1 metre lengths and then singe the edges if you have synthetic ribbon.  If you have natural ribbon then turn the end of each piece on one end only leaving the other end raw.

Now take your waist pieces and two ribbon pieces and lay out as follows.

  Making sure that the long edge of the ribbon is 1cm away from the edge of the fabric.


Now pin the edge or baste the fabric together and sew!


Make sure you don't catch the ribbon when you sew the thing together and also don't forget to leave a gap of 30cm to allow you to turn the waist band inside out.

Snip the 4 corners just like you did for the tare, turn it inside out and iron flat.

Time to insert your interface, this can be a little tricky but if you have left a 30cm gap there should be enough space for you to push your arm into the waist band and position the interface correct.

Once you are happy the interface is in the correct position, sew the opening closed as neat and as close to the edge as possible.  If you are worried that your ribbons will rip off from all the tugging then you can sew over the fabric and ribbon to give it extra strength.

 Your waist band of your tsuke obi is complete.

Step Six

I left the otaiko part the last because it is the trickiest if you are a beginner.

Take one piece of your otaiko and lay it out so the right side is facing up.

Now take your completed tare piece and your two remaining pieces of ribbon and layout as follow.  You will want the open end of the tare to be on the left hand side.

To make sure you have place the tare piece the correct way round, the matching colours should be touching.

Fold up the ribbon and tare piece so they are within the fabric boundary and lay the second fabric piece of otaiko on top.  Pin/baste the pieces together and sew.



Snip the top two corners, turn it inside out and iron it flat.

Now insert your interface and sew the opening closed.

And volia you have a tsuke obi.


12 comments:

shannon said...

Thank you so much for posting this tutorial. it is very helpful! XD
so thank you again!

Kitty Kanzashi said...

I'm glad I could help you understand!

Vika Asriningrum said...

Hello, Ms Kitty. I've been searching some tutorial about making tsukuri obi and I'm glad to find yours. It's so delight that I found the otaiko style (I also look for the chocho musubi style :D). But I still can't comprehend the otaiko part (the tare and the waist part are understandable). Maybe it's just me, but can you help me explain it more?
Thank you very much :) .

Kitty Kanzashi said...

Hello Yuki

Sorry for taking so long in replying.

Which part do you find confusing? Is it the part where you are laying out the ribbon and the tare?

Vika Asriningrum said...

It's okay ^_^.
I'm glad that you're an active blogger.

Yup-yup.
When making the otaiko part, we lay the tare part and the ribbon in the right side, don't we? So do we sew the tare part and otaiko part together? I can't figure the sewing line in the otaiko part (I just recognize the sewing line for the hem in the otaiko part).

How about the part of otaiko that we tuck into the waist part? I heard we need to tuck some part of otaiko to the waist part in tsuke obi...oh...perhaps I just misinterpret it.

Thank you for some enlightenment, Ms Kitty :) .

Kitty Kanzashi said...

You should have two pieces for the otaiko part.

Lay one piece out with the right side up and place the tare (open end on the left hand side) and ribbon as shown in the picture. Then lay the second otaiko piece on top of everything. The tare will poke out at the side so that will need to be folded so you don't accidentally sew it up.

Sew the left, top and right side leaving the bottom open.

If you have folded the tare you should be able to turn it all inside out. Give it a good iron, pop in the interface and then sew the bottom up.

On my design, you do not tuck the otaiko into the waist band. Instead you put on the waist band and then you place the otaiko part on top of the waist band.

Has this helped you in anyway?

Vika Asriningrum said...

Oh yeeeessss...^_^
One more question please, if we sew the left part of the tare to the seam, does it mean that we share the left and right tare when we doing kitsuke by folding it evenly?
So much thank you, Ms Kitty :$ .

Kitty Kanzashi said...

Yuki, I am not sure what you mean about sharing the tare?

When you make the otaiko traditionally, the tare is passed through the loop made. You do exactly the same thing here.

Vika Asriningrum said...

Hello, Ms Kitty.
What I meant with sharing the tare was that to make the tare in proportional between left and right side.

Yes, I finally understand your tare part tutorial. I wish to make one anytime soon. Still looking for suitable interfacing stiff enough to fill the in-between fabric.

Could you also make a tutorial about tsukuri obi for yukata, Ms Kitty? Teehee~~ thank you

M'lady said...

On this tutorial should the back peice make an L shape? Do you have instructions for putting it on?

Kitty Kanzashi said...

Hi M'Lady

Yes the back piec will look like an L shape indeed.

As for putting it on, you can either form the otaiko beforehand, making sure you use clips/pegs to keep the musubi in place and then removing them or create it like you would do as a regular otaiko musubi.

The straps for the otaiko should be tied along the top edge of the obi you wrap around.

Lanacatrina said...

Hello Ms Kitty,

I have just finished making my tsuke obi, thank you so much for the great instructions.

The only thing I’m not sure about is how to put it on. If you could help at all I would really appreciate it.