Vintage Kimono Fabric
     We sell our silk kimono textiles in a few different  ways: we sell one gallon ziplock bags of very small, narrow pieces of kimono silk for $15, which are suitable for only the very smallest kind of patchwork or craft. Because of recent demand, these bags are available in  limited quantity, and may not always be available when you place your order.

     We also sell bundles of kimono fabric from $30...

      A bundle of Kimono fabric consists of ten pieces of mostly silk kimono textiles, in larger pieces approx. 6-7" wide by 9-12" long. Our Kimono Silk bundles are taken from Vintage Silk Kimonos and have a little bit of everything in them. They make also include some beautiful synthetics mixed in with the silks. These fabric bundles are always available for purchase.

     The same kind of bundle is available in Stenciled Kimono cotton, and Indigo Ikat Kimono cotton. The indigo tones tend to be muted, and refined, rather than bright, and because they are real indigos, must be washed separately.

     Japanese Indigo Ikat Kimono textiles are extremely labor intensive. Most of them are old indigo textiles that were dyed 40 to 70 years ago. At that time most indigo was dyed between 20 and 40 times, producing a color that was fast, and would never fade away; only turn more lovely with washing, and exposure to sunlight. Nowadays, real Japanese Indigo is becoming harder and harder to find. Contemporary Indigo is only dyed 12 times, and it's still considered so labor intensive that few people are interested in learning how to do it. Because Japanese Indigo dyeing is a fading art, most of the Indigo pieces we sell are considered collectibles.

     To add interest to the beautiful Indigo shades, the Japanese also produce another labor-intensive technique of a kind of resist-dying, called Kasuri in Japanese, and Ikat in Indonesian. Before weaving, the cotton threads are taken in bunches and tied in specific patterns. Then they're dipped in Indigo twelve or twenty or forty times (as described above). The areas that are thus tied, "resist" the Indigo when they are dipped in the dye, and thus produce unique hazy-line white patterns in the Indigo. Other colors are sometimes also resist-dyed into the threads, then dyed again with Indigo, and then woven in with the white Ikat patterns. Most of the patterns are abstract, geometric patterns, although with some finer pieces you occasionally find pictures of fans, or pine trees, or flowers, or even stone lanterns resist-dyed into the Indigo. Collector's Items of dragons, tigers, and even airplanes exist, and to date, there is at least one known example of Mickey Mouse done in Indigo resist-dye!

      For shipping and handling on amounts up to $75: if you live East of the Mississippi add $8; West of the Mississippi add $10. We only ship by UPS. You can order with a Master or Visa by calling our retail store during the summer, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. (EST) or by sending a check: for an out-of-state check we will ship when the check clears: usually after seven business days. We ship only U.P.S. ground. All sales are final, and there are no exchanges.

     If you are visiting our store in Lenox Massachusetts we also have a limited selection of Kimono silk by the yard, usually about $20 per yard, or more for more expensive silks. (Bear in mind, most Kimono silk is only 13" wide.) We also sell collectible Indigo textiles, some by the piece, and some by the yard. We invite you to visit us in our store, and see our unique collection!