Sew Much Love

Paul, my husband, practices a martial art called aikido.  He's been doing it for 20 years and has a black belt in the art.  As you can guess, it is a big part of his life and very important to him.  Practitioners of aikido wear special clothing on the mat.  One piece of this clothing is called a hakama.  It looks like a pair of very pleated culottes.

So, imagine his chagrin when he needed a new hakama and found that the company he had previously purchased them from had gone out of business.  

Now in my life I have done quite a bit of seamstress work.  I used to make many of my clothes and have done sewing for other folks, too.  I've made everything from tea towels to wedding dresses.  It seemed like making a hakama should be within my realm of skills so I went hunting for a pattern and the proper fabric.  
 

A hakama turns out to be a very complicated garment.  
It has a number of pleats both in the back and the front.  Here is a picture of one so you can get the idea...and that's just the front.  

Once we found the pattern and the right fabric, I set to work.  
Oh, my!  I had no idea how difficult this was going to be.  It got to the point where I would work on it for a while and then have to give my brain a break before I could go back to it.  

 






But I persevered and finally finished it.  Paul is very pleased and a little bit proud, I think, that I made it for him.  

Here he is in his new hakama...





 



and breaking it in getting thrown 
by his sensei. 

Thankfully, a hakama will last for a long time.


The things we do for the ones we love!  And it's totally worth it.