There was something in the air that night...

About a week ago, I started working on remaking the Kimonos for the 5th time.  After several hours of studying photos and making for myself a guide of where all the designs on each of the four members' kimonos go, I started and completed the first one, Agnetha's kimono, after about a day of work.

Earlier this week, I started working on the next kimono - Frida's.  (By the way, I'm not making them in any particular order, I'm just going by which kimono I feel like making next.  I'm not a favortist, I don't have a favorite member - I love all four members equally!!!) 

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my last post, but I surprisingly have had all the materials I need here in my home already, making this project extremely easy for me.  I got all the ribbon I needed to make the new Kimonos 6 years ago when I thought I would be remaking them then, and as a result I have a ton of ribbon.  I've also been "hoarding" white satin for ages that I still have plenty of for this project and hopefully more ABBA costumes in the future.  Basically, I'm trying to say that, especially during this weird time where the world has pretty much shut down, I'm really happy that I don't have to leave the house at all to try and get any sewing supplies because I already have everything I need from years before. :)

Anyways, back to the main point of today's post.  The basic construction of the kimono was really simple, especially since I had just done it for Agnetha's kimono a week prior.  I had a lot more confidence this time and was able to sew it really quickly.  I was also a lot more confident when it came to painting the designs and gluing on the tiny, cut-up sequins, and I also made sure to not repeat any mistakes I did last time.  :)

Before I show you the end result, let's just quickly look at the past Kimonos I've made for my Frida doll.  (I go into a little more detail on how I made my earlier kimonos in last weeks posts if you're interested, lol.)

Kimono v.1 is from 2012, and as you can see, it's not the most detailed.  I have no idea what designs I painted on the front of the Kimono. They aren't really recognizable and look more like pasta wheels than flowers. 

Kimono v.2 is from only a few months later, and it's a glitter-pen extravaganza. 

Then we have the next Kimono, kimono v.3, from November of the same year.  I'm still kinda fond of this one, especially since I'm still using some of the methods I did for v.3 Kimono for this newer Kimono.  (also I got the flower placement wrong on this kimono, I just realized...)

I never did get around to making kimono v.4 for the rest of the dolls, so I guess my newest Kimono is actually Kimono v.4.  And without further ado, here it is:

As you can see  here, I've got a much more accurate flower design, handpainted with acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium, using the tiniest brush in the world along with tiny pieces cut out of already super small sequins glued around the flower. 

When I was painting Agnetha's flowers, one thing I had done was use a heat-removable pen to draw on the designs before painting them, and then once the paint was dry, use the iron to remove the ink.  However, I had also glued on the sequins before removing the ink, and as a result, caused the glue to melt again and the sequins to move all over the place.  This time I made sure not to repeat that mistake and instead waited for the paint to dry, then removed the ink, and only then glued on the sequins.  This time it worked out much better.  The only problem is that there's a lot more waiting and drying time, but it was alright since I used the time for the sequins to dry in place to watch an episode of a TV show, and 45 minutes was just the right amount of time. :)

I mentioned that I put Frida's flowers in the wrong place with Kimono v.3.  The flower on the right (my right when looking at the Kimono, actually her left) sleeve is actually on the back and not the front.  This time I finally got it

I'm really happy with the way Frida's Kimono came out.  I was so much more confident, and I'm really proud of how her flowers came out.  I did a really good job with cutting the sequins this time, and I'm super excited to start working on the next one soon!