Fabric Tatoushi Tutorial

Fabric tatoushi

I've always wanted to make my own tatoushi , the traditional paper ones I find are usually quite fragile. The ones I own have over the years ripped or the ties have come off from the paper. This is one the reasons why I decided to make them out of fabric and to add a zip.

The fabric tatoushi are fairly easy to make, it uses a metre of fabric and you can use any type of fabric, though cotton will be the most easiest to use. Traditional tatoushi uses cotton ties to keep them closed, I have chosen to use a zip to fasten my tatoushi, It allows for easy access.

The zip I use is called a continous/chain zip, this is a zip which comes off a roll and you can cut it to your desired length, these should come with silders which allow you to zip and unzip.

The bias tape I use is cotton as I find it easier to sew then satin, you can find all of these supplys from your local haberdasery or ebay.

In this tutorial I have added the option of adding flaps to the tatoushi, this stops the kimono from being caught in the zip as you open and close it. This is entirely optional.

Materials:

1 metre of fabric (120cm if you are making the optional flaps)

19mm cotton bias tape (L) 180cm x2, (M) 155cm x2, (S) 145cm x2

Continous Zip (L) 180cm, (M) 155cm, (S) 145cm

1 Zip Silder

Tools:

Sewing Machine

Iron

Scissors
Pins

Layout

Decide what size you want your tatoushi to be and cut out the pieces as shown in the diagram above. Also cut your zip and bias tape to the appropriate length. In the photos I'm making a large sized tatoushi.

1: First fold your body piece fabric in half and iron in a fold.

2: Serge the edges of your flap pieces or sew a zigzag stitch around the edges.

2: Split your zipper in half, so now you have the zipper in 2 pieces. On one of the zipper pieces, cut away 2.5cm of the fabric tape. Not the teeth!

3: Place the flap pieces to the body and pin 2.5cm away from the ends, check photos.

Then pin one side of the zipper on top of the flap piece. Make sure the zipper teeth are facing inward and is the right side up. 

4: Using your zigzag foot as a guide, sew the zipper and flap onto the body.

6: When you get to the corner, stop sewing 3mm from the end and leave the needle in the down postion.

Turn the fabric and the zip 90 degrees and continue sewing.

Continue sew all the way round the edge till you get to the fold line. Backstitch and leave the excess zip for now.

7: Repeat for the other side. It should look like this when your done.

8: Now sew the bias tape around the edges, just like the zip. Your goal is to hide and encase the raw seams, it should look like this when your done.

9: Now you need to use the zip silder to join the two zipper parts together. Here is a video to show you how.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_71RzEqTE

It should look like this.

10: From the folded edge, sew 7cm in. Do the same for the other end.

And your finished.

This is my 1st time writing a tutorial, so if you have any problems, let me know. Also if you make one let me know how you got on. Thanks.