What should I make with these fabrics?
My sister recently gave me a handful of kimono obi fabric. She knows that I upcycle kimonos and thought I could use some more material. In addition to a few rolls of silk kimono, she also gave me a few obi’s. These obi’s are beautiful – they are delicately embroidered and deliciously thick.
The problems are
1. They are quite narrow in width, about 3 cm.
2. Not long enough for a most garment sewing.
2. Not long enough for a most garment sewing.
Mustard butterfly obi and gold medallion patterned obi
Ideas
In order to incorporate this fabric to garment, I have to either make a small item like mini skirt or incorporate partially. Perhaps a pencil dress, using obi as a statement fabric in the center, and from side to back use stretch knit to compensate for a good fit? 
Yellow floral patterned obi and bright orange obi
Inspiration
Let me know your thoughts!
In my 10 years of garment sewing, this is the first dress I made in true red. I was requested this particular dress from a photographer who is planning a fall shoot in Showa Kinen park this week. He is hoping to use the dress to catch the colors of changing leaves. I don’t know if I will have an occassion to wear such a dress myself, but it was fun to make! The bodice is made out of satin and the skirt has wrinkled chiffon layers on top of half circle satin skirt. Chiffon layers are actually streamers as opposed to one connected skirt, so it should be fun to play around with them for the photos. 
I made Spaghetti straps to go criss cross at the back, and took a short video clip of how to make them. I’ve made them many times and this method which uses a cord might be the easiest. You sew a strap fabric folded (right side in) with a cord inside, and utilize the cord to turn the strap inside out. My trick is to sew the top and bottom openings a bit wider than actual strap width, so the turning goes smoother. You can cut off the wide parts later so the whole strap is the even width.
Designing my own fabric was one of my goals as a sewer. One deterring factor of not accomplishing this goal is that I’m not good at drawing. I’ve 
I’ve used 
Here is the fabric that’s arrived. It’s exactly what I wanted – thanks to Natalie who scaled the flower print in the size I needed! I’m going to be making a simple I line dress to show off the print.
