so, i'm having a pair of jeans made . . . .

[mr.invincible]

MIZ

thanks for the info. it's good that most of them are Chinese immigrants since i can speak in the Chinese dialect fluently. But the question should have been rephrased since the question was meant to ask how long it took for him to perfect in the "art of denim" making. But you have already answered that.

A year of stay was only reflecting on a foreign exchange program through one of their universities and since living in a dorm or so, little pay wouldn't hurt me at all. but then again, he did take at least 10 years to perfect it.

I WANT TO GO TO CAMP!

[who8mahrice]

Camp sounds like a great idea...

[mizanation]

MIZ

thanks for the info. it's good that most of them are Chinese immigrants since i can speak in the Chinese dialect fluently. But the question should have been rephrased since the question was meant to ask how long it took for him to perfect in the "art of denim" making. But you have already answered that.

A year of stay was only reflecting on a foreign exchange program through one of their universities and since living in a dorm or so, little pay wouldn't hurt me at all. but then again, he did take at least 10 years to perfect it.

I WANT TO GO TO CAMP!

i've asked kuniyoshi-san before about whether he feels he has perfected his craft and he feels like he still can improve--even after 10 years. in fact, recently, one of his old mentors visited him and they worked on certain techniques. for him, it's a lifelong process.

if you can speak chinese, japanese will be a little easier to learn. a good portion of the spoken language originates from chinese and much of the written language is chinese characters.

today, i will talk to kuniyoshi-san about the camp idea. he was originally thinking about a one-day denim workshop. since japan is far away and expensive to get to, most people on sufu won't be able to get to japan at the same time. so, instead of a denim camp, maybe a one-day denim workshop is a better idea? that way, whenever someone visits japan, they can swing by okinawa and spend one day learning about denim.

[selaviso]

dang have it like a fraternity of denim...you must go to the camp to speak about the camp type shit haha.

miz you area amazing you should put all your pics and make a nice book!

oh ya and i still got that bandana you sent me im waiting for a new pair of jeans so i can put that shit in the back pocket...love the detail on it.

[mizanation]

dang have it like a fraternity of denim...you must go to the camp to speak about the camp type shit haha.

miz you area amazing you should put all your pics and make a nice book!

oh ya and i still got that bandana you sent me im waiting for a new pair of jeans so i can put that shit in the back pocket...love the detail on it.

glad you liked the bandana! i forgot to tell you how they make those bandanas. it's a process called "bingata" which is method of dyeing that is particular to okinawa. each color is dyed separately using stencils.

you can read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingata

[PandaDenim]

glad you liked the bandana! i forgot to tell you how they make those bandanas. it's a process called "bingata" which is method of dyeing that is particular to okinawa. each color is dyed separately using stencils.

you can read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingata

Those are bombbb.

You should ask Kuniyoshi-sensei to line the inside of your back pockets with them!

Or please send me one and I'll do it to my own jeans.

(haaaaa)

[selaviso]

hmm that would be sick pocket lining but its so beautiful to look at, i think my left back pocket will be a nice home for them..hmm maybe a pair of evisus to complete the bandana since i did win it during the dd+1

[rnrswitch]

Double valante... Is that like a Dirty Sanchez, or more along the lines of a Filthy Francois?

Just kidding, what is the meaning of Double Valante?

[mizanation]

volante is a portuguese soccer term for defensive midfielder. some teams have more than one volante, hence the name "double volante."

back in the day, "volante" was the name given to the brazilian military forces that hunted down and killed brazilian bandits, the famous cangaceiros.

[mr.invincible]

miz-

after graduating, i plan on living with a friend in chiba in hopes to work for an arch. firm. I will def. drop by the workshop in hopes to learn and master the ART OF DENIM MAKING!!!!

YOOOOOSSHHHH!!!!

[mizanation]

time to sew the front to the back.

first, overlock the top part.

[mizanation]

next, it's time to interlock stitch the inside leg. interlock is similar to overlock, but, it adds another chainstitch. it's used on the inside seam of the pant legs.

[mizanation]

kuniyoshi-san showed me how they interlock the pant legs in kojima. you lean back and let the machine pull you forward. this is the technique all the old-timers use in kojima.

[mizanation]

here, he explains that because of the pull of the machine, you have to offset the top and bottom very slightly to get an even seam. every machine is different he says, and you have to know your machine to do a good stitch.

kuniyoshi-san said that someone that has been sewing a long time can tell if someone else has used their machine--even if they don't change any of the settings. he also says that he can tell if someone has used his scissors. he can't explain it, he just says they feel different if someone else has used them.

[mizanation]

the other pant leg...

[mizanation]

he showed me the wrong way to do an interlock stitch.

notice that the denim is not aligned perfectly, so the denim is only catching about half of the stitch.

[mizanation]

the right way is align the denim perfectly so that the denim catches the whole height of the stitch.

[mizanation]

the front and back are now sewn together.

[mizanation]

now time to single stitch the inside seam of the leg.

this requires a foot change and also a thread change.

kuniyoshi-san uses tweezers to pass the thread through the machine.

[mizanation]

this stitch is difficult because you have to pull the denim flat using just the right amount of pressure. if you use too much or too little, you will not have a good stitch.

[mizanation]

the crotch requires a little bit more pulling pressure.

[mizanation]

see how the stitch is not bunched up when it goes over the crotch? each stitch is nice and even, even though the thickness of the denim changes greatly.

an amateur will make smaller stitches when the denim has many layers and longer stitches when there are less layers.

[mizanation]

remember the interlock stitch he made? a true expert will be able to stitch the outside single stitch right in the middle of the interlock stitch--bisecting the space between the interlock's overlock stitch and the chainstitch.

[mizanation]

a good stitch should be about 2 millimeters from the edge of the fold.

[mizanation]

now time for everyone's favorite part, sewing the selvage.

first, he wanted to show me a selvage line that is too wide. he says that when it is too wide, the denim flattens out too much and you don't get very good railroad tracks on the pant leg.

[mizanation]

now, he will show me the desirable width.

first, he aligns the edges.

notice that the edges are slightly offset. he does this to compensate for the pull of the machine.

[mizanation]

notice how this time, since the selvage seam is skinnier, the selvages seem to pull up more. this pulling up puts more pressure on the denim and makes more visible railroad tracks on the other side.

[mizanation]

many people use a magnetic seam guide to guide the denim along. however, kuniyoshi-san doesn't use a guide because he wants the selvage seam to have a natural undulation.

[mizanation]

sewing the rest of the selvage seam.

[mizanation]

this is a close-up of the offset he uses to compensate for the pull of the machine. the amount of offset necessary depends on the machine, the foot, the fabric and the thread.