I am not sure if this question is OT because it is perhaps more about
Japanese History, or if it is T because it was inspired by Inuyasha.
Well, anyway, on Inuyasha's kimono, the sleeves are hemmed with great big
basting stitches (http://sewing.about.com/library/bl_def.htm,
2nd
definition) that are tied off with a great big square not. Now, my hand
sewing is only mediocre at best, but I could hide the thread and where it
is
tied off better than that. Also the hakama, or any other clothing, does
not
appear to be hemmed this way. Nor can it be that the hakama simply isn't
hemmed, or the ends would wear out in nothing flat. I was wondering why
this is. Several possibilities pop into mind:
1. There is some historical evidence, either in writing, or in artwork
from
the period, that hemming sleeves this way was somehow a fashion.
2. People that hemmed clothes, kimono sleeves at least, were novice
sewers.
Like I said, or at least implied, if someone held a gun to my head and
made
me hem something by hand, a basting stitch tied off with a great would be
about the last type of stitch I would choose, unless I were only basting
it
so I could finish it off by machine. Being that there were no sewing
machines in midevel Japan, I doubt that is the case. I also cannot
believe
that someone that is good at hand sewing would choose to use a basting
stitch for that purpose either.
3. The animators believe that something that is hemmed by hand must look
like that, even though nothing else is hemmed this way.
4. The animators believe, for some reason, that was the style at the
time,
even if there is no historical evidence for it.
5. The animators just thought it looks "cool."
Brian Christiansen
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