Japanese Textile

Silks
Crepe silks – Chirimen and kinsha

Chirimen and kinsha silks have a slightly textured surface similar to crepe, achieved by twisting the threads during weaving. Chirimen is heavier and stronger than kinsha and plain-weave silk and drapes exceptionally well. Kinsha is a very fine, light-weight crepe-like silk.

Meisen silk

Meisen silk, generally crisp and supple, is one of the Japanese silks fabricated by weaving pre-dyed threads, utilizing the tie-and-resist ikat technique (ikat is an Indonesian term widely utilized to refer to this technique).

In this process, the threads, silk or cotton, are first stretched on a frame. Selected design areas are tightly bound to prevent the dye from penetrating and the hanks of threads are immersed in the dye pots. The bound portions of the yarns resist the dye and when woven, as a result of the threads not being perfectly aligned, create shapes with charmingly uneven edges.

Other Japanese textiles that are made with variations of this technique are cotton kasuri, omeshi silk and tsumugi silk. (described below).

Meisen silk was a popular fabric for casual kimono from 1920 to 1950, in part because it was more affordable, and in part because the designs, frequently drawing on Western influences, seemed adventurous and innovative. Even today they retain a contemporary sensibility.

Omeshi silk

Omeshi silk is another Japanese textile in which the designs are created with the ikat technique (see Meisen above, for a description of ikat). It is a heavy crepe silk woven with strongly twisted threads, and is even firmer in texture than chirimen.

Traditionally, omeshi kimono ranked highest in quality and value among kimono silk textiles made with pre-dyed threads.

Rinzu silk

The intricately woven rinzu designs, resembling brocade in complexity of pattern, require great skill and expertise and are, in consequence, among the most expensive Japanese silks. The use of different types of silk threads for the warp and weft creates contrast between foreground and background, adding luster and texture to the fabric.

The designs are often double layered; on top of the woven design may be a layer of a dyed design, either from shibori (tie-dyed), yuzen (hand-painted) or some other dying technique.
These silks vary in weight from very fine lining to heavy wedding kimono weight, and are notably soft to the touch.

Tsumugi silk
One of the oldest and simplest woven textiles, tsumugi silk is hand spun using scrap filaments from silk cocoons. It is strong, has an uneven but soft texture, and superficially resembles cotton.
Tsumugi silk is made with a variation of the ikat technique (See Meisen above, for a description of ikat).

Urushi silk

In urushi silk, lacquered threads, woven into sections of the silk, create a design resembling embroidery.

Jinken

In Japan, the production of jinken (rayon) textiles, made from wood pulp, began in 1918, and many pre-WWII kimono are made of rayon or a mix of rayon and silk.
High-quality rayon has a feel very similar to silk and its washability made it a popular choice for kimono.

Cottons
Kasuri

Cotton kasuri fabrics, very rugged and strong, are found mostly in Japan’s countryside. They were originally made by farmer’s wives as work clothes for their husbands, and the whole process of dyeing and weaving was done by hand utilizing the tie-and-resist ikat method.

This technique consists of weaving pre-dyed threads – the threads are stretched on a frame, then selected design areas are tightly bound to prevent the dye from penetrating and the hanks of threads are immersed in the dye pots. The bound portions of the yarns are left without dye and when woven create a pattern against the dyed background.

The different motifs created when these pre-dyed threads are woven have charmingly soft, shimmering edges, as a result of the threads not being perfectly aligned.
The dye originally used for kasuri was the intense blue extracted from the indigo plant, resulting in a fabric with tones of blue and white against a darker background. Today most kasuri is dyed with chemical dyes and woven in automated (or semi-automated) looms.

Muslin

Muslin is a type of finely-woven cotton fabric that was very widely used before WWII to make men’s under-kimono or juban.

Surface embellishment techniques
Sashiko

Sashiko is a plain quilting stitch, originally used by farmers’ wives to mend clothes by securing several layers of cloth together. It is also a decorative technique. Thick, contrasting color thread is traditionally used, and the patterns range from several rows of a simple running stitch to elaborate geometric patterns.

Shibori

Japanese tie-dyeing is called shibori. In this dyeing method, light-weight silk is manipulated to create areas that resist the dyes. A variety of effects are achieved by stitching, folding, clamping, pole wrapping or binding the cloth before dyeing. Most often the different areas are patterned by tightly wrapping tiny sections of the white silk with thread. When the fabric is dyed, the wrapped areas remain un-dyed, forming a pleasant, slightly irregular repeat pattern of tiny circles. The fabric may be allowed to retain its characteristic puckered surface or it may be ironed flat. Although this is a simple technique, it is very labor-intensive and requires great dexterity.

Reference: http://www.kasurihome.com/products/overview/glossary