mizanation

sewing the zipper.

man, i've been running around like crazy. haven't had time to sleep even. will post soon, i promise.

One of the best of the "Must Read" threads on Sufu In LONG LONG Time.

This definitely needs to be sticky-ed. Thank You Miz and kuniyoshi-san

sayword, it's good to see you, man. guess, what? i'm gonna get to meet roy ayers tonight! i saw your avatar, so i know you're a fan.

^^^ thanks, man.

yeah, just had a meeting with kuniyoshi-san about the website. i will be traveling around for the next couple weeks so i won't be able to start till i get back. gotta pack now, flight is in a few hours...

rnr - yeah, he can use any denim that you supply him.

just came back from having burgers with kuniyoshi-san.

about wearing and washing, kuniyoshi-san just wears the jeans. he doesn't crease or do anything extra. also, he is an advocate of washing. he says if you don't wash, the bacteria will eat away at the threads, weakening them and causing tears.

he says jeans last a lot longer if you wash them.

i want to show the excellent work he did on my sufu 660's. if you remember, they were blown out in the crotch.

he redid the crotch, now it's as good as new:

in the jean factories of kojima, they call this final stitch the "banzai" stitch.

the whole stitch is done in one long, long pass. when the stitch is finished the belt loops look like they have raised their arms in banzai fashion.

second, the stitch goes over the waistband's chainstitch and provides sort of a brake just in case the chainstitch starts to come loose. so, if the chainstitch starts to unravel, it will stop unraveling when it gets to the intersection of the diagonal line.

this is the last part of the stitch. you may notice this on your own jeans. this diagonal line serves two purposes. first, the button is attached on top of the stitch so it anchors the stitch in place.

almost finished...

another belt loop.

now time to sew on the leather patch.

here he sews on the first belt loop.

he starts stitching...

the part where the waistband comes together should align perfectly.

the following is unacceptable:

first he cuts the belt loops.

time to sew the waistband. kuniyoshi sews the waistband, the patch and the belt loops all in one pass.

first picking a leather patch. here he goes with a ishigaki cowhide patch.

he store the patches in an old "goo-goo" cookie container.

sorry, guys. have been very busy over the past couple days. yes, my jeans are finished and they are GREAT! couldn't be happier.

i still want to go over the final details of the jeans that he was making, so i will put those up hopefully today.

so, i talked to kuniyoshi-san about the chainstitching on the waistband. he says some factories have the machine and some factories don't. different companies will use different factories for different models of their jeans. that's why you might see different details on different jeans from the same company.

not having the chainstitch all the way on the waistband doesn't mean the jeans are inferior. it's just a detail that kuniyoshi-san likes to have on his jeans.

this is the most informative thread on sufu. it gives me plenty to chew on while im @work tomorrow. this thread should be read and reread. perma-rep miza! i'll assume that a master worked on these FC, since all of the details described are here, except the inseams are stitched differently. theres the white interlock, then the yellow chainstitch, then a golden-brown single stitch. not the same technique, but masterful work none-the less.

it is the same technique, just different color thread.

being that most of the people are chinese that work in these factories, i guess the main difference between MIJ and MIC is the rigidity of the quality-control?

i'm don't want to open up a can of worms with this, but i'm going to let you know what i think about this topic.

the way you are thinking about this is not quite accurate. it is not just a matter of quality-control, although it is a big deal. it is more of a difference between the philosophies of the factories. so, it is not MIJ vs. MIC per se, but the difference between different factories. even in japan, there are factories which cut corners and factories that don't. have you ever noticed a japanese jean company's quality decline suddenly? this is usually due to a factory change by the brand in an attempt to cut costs--this could mean switching to a chinese factory, but it could also mean switching to a cheaper japanese factory. also, many companies have certain models that are made at high-end factories and the rest made at cheaper factories.

japanese factories cannot compete with chinese factories in terms of cost and scale. however, japanese companies can be the best at quality and detail and innovation. so, because of this, japan tends to have more of these "high-end" factories. this is why MIJ has value. for the best MIJ factories, quality is the primary concern--although this is not always the case.

also, there is a difference between sewing something a certain way and knowing why you sew something a certain way. anyone can be told to sew a piece of fabric with a certain technique. however, it takes passion to care about why this technique is important. if your motivation for working in a factory is purely for income, then, you will blindly do what the factory tells you to do. but someone with passion and pride will question, research and experiment in the quest for quality and knowledge. this is a difference that exists in the individual, not the factory, not the country. and this is what i see in kuniyoshi-san.

Looked back a few pages and didn't see much talk of cuts. What are we looking at? His own model, imitation of other models, or entirely user spec requests? Either way this is an awesome idea. Go Miz!

he has two types of cuts right now, one regular vintage style and one slim straight cut. usually, when people order jeans from him, he has them wear a sample, then he will make adjustments based on their preference. this is not possible with online customers.

i am trying to figure out a way right now if it is possible to make a pair of jeans solely on measurements, but he says it is quite risky--due to inaccuracies in measurement taking.

i have a couple ideas of how we can do this which i will run by kuniyoshi-san.

you guys do realize the possibilities are now endless

Miz,

Any chance he would use two different denims for left and right legs? ala those LHT/RHT samurais? and another for a buckle back?

selvedge zipper

66 cut

indigo stitched back pockets

time to save 400 bucks for a jean splurge

i love those LHT/RHT samurais. BUT, my only problem with them is that (if i remember correctly) they put the LHT on the left hand side and the RHT twill on the right hand side--which is completely logical. however, if you are looking for maximum whiskers, you would want to switch them, so that the LHT is on the RIGHT side and the RHT is on the LEFT side. if you notice, LHT jeans whisker more on the right leg and RHT jeans whisker more on the left leg. can someone correct me if i'm wrong on this?

Hmmm not to my knowledge but that is very common, it just requires a folder and a second machine mounted behind the overlocker.

I'm going to be purchasing my very own safety stitch here very soon, very excited.

you are right about it being called a safety stitch. don't know why he calls it an interlock stitch...

hi folks.

i am going to be very busy for the next couple days, so please be patient while i take care of some things. also, i will be doing some traveling for a couple weeks starting sunday--so updates might be a little scarce during that time. i think it's time to finally start that blog i keep saying that i'll make.

however, i do have a quick announcement.

since i am getting so many custom jean requests for kuniyoshi-san, i am going to make an online ordering system to make things easier for you guys.

you will be able to choose following options:

denim fabric

buttons

rivets

hidden rivets

zipper

color of stitching

cut

interlock or lap felled seams

pocket bags

back pocket stitching or embroidery

crotch reinforcement

extra pockets

cinch back

leather patch material

and anything else you might want

cost for a basic jean will most likely be around 35000 yen with shipping included.

i am very happy and proud to be able to share kuniyoshi-san's services to the worldwide denim community. i never expected that i would find one of the world's premier denim artisans living in my neighborhood! hopefully, in the future, we will be able to do other interesting things like denim workshops, camps, online tutorials, etc. please be patient while i set this all up.

in japan, it's customary to say, "yoroshiku onegaishimasu," which basically means, "thank you for your future support." so, YOROSHIKU ONEGAISHIMASU! thanks.

just got back from kuniyoshi-san's. he made most of my jeans, now all that is left is for him to do the button holes and to sew down the belt loops.

a couple of interesting things he told me today.

1) he always one-washes the jeans before chainstitching the hem. he says that that way, he can always get an exact length for the pant leg. he says that the hem will get roping even if you wash it first. the difference in the puckering (roping) between chainstitching before washing and after washing is not that big. you will get the desired roping no matter what, especially if you use a union special.

2) about lap felled seams vs. overlocked seams. he doesn't have a preference either way. in fact, when i asked him which one he prefers, he says that he's never really thought about it that deeply. he says that lap felled seams ARE stronger, but that it's really up to personal preference. he says with lap felled seams, you lose about 2 cm in the width of the pant leg, so you have to take that into consideration when using a pattern designed for overlocked seams. also, it is not harder or easier to do overlock vs. lap felled. in fact, with lap felled, you can do it in one step.

3) the original levi's inside pant seam was overlocked, then single stitched and then top stitched. he prefers an interlock stitch here for two reasons, 1) you can do it in one step, whereas with overlock, you have to go through another step with the single stitch. also, 2) he prefers the exact distance between the overlock and chainstitch that he gets when he uses the interlock machine. with the overlock and single stitch method, the distance will vary. here he likes to be exact.

4) about chainstitching the waistband. the japanese machines were not designed for this purpose, whereas the american machines were. he explained the difference in the machines to me and i finally understood the reason why older japanese machines could not chainstitch to the end of the waistband. i will post pictures of this later.