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Lady Roxanne’s Guide to Sewing Hakama By Lady Roxanne de St.Luc

People who are used to sewing Western medieval clothing sometimes have a hard time shifting their brains to the idea of making clothing without curves, box pleats, gathers, and drawstrings, or that doesn’t need an internal system of hoists and pulleys to make their bodies fit into them. The idea of an entire fabulous wardrobe made almost entirely of rectangles is a difficult one to accept. It’s not always easy, but once you learn the rules and techniques you’ll find yourself, like me, having made well over fifty pair of hakama. (A few of them were even for me!)

The patterns I developed (with lots of help from other people) is as period as I know how to make it. I’m sure it will change in the future as I learn more, but they look right, fit correctly, and are very comfortable to wear.

Hakama are simple to make. Time consuming, but simple. There’s nothing to fear, so take a deep breath.

The Japanese are not known for being the most curvaceous people in the world and we have all sorts of shapes and sizes in the SCA. I have included additional instructions that are accommodating to give the correct fit but not necessarily period. Follow the instructions for whichever your priority is, or the priority of the person that you are sewing them for.

In this packet I’ve tried to explain as much as possible and to create a good guide. If you need additional explanations or help with understanding

the process feel free to ask me after the class or come to visit me at Clan Yama Kaminari where people are warm, welcoming and very happy to

teach you about something Japanese (*anything* Japanese!) if you’re willing to hold still long enough.

I recommend reading through the instructions fully before attempting anything. If something does not make sense at first it may a little later on.

Give yourself plenty of time when doing this the first few times. A rushed job can be noticeable and discouraging. The more often you sew these the easier it will become.

The other nice thing about hakama that no one seems to mention is that, unless you’re one of those incredibly rare women whose thighs don’t rub together, sometimes it’s nice to wear pants at Pennsic.

Now, a moment of shame: I apologize for the excessive use of the word ‘crotch’. I can’t find a more genteel word.

The Japanese had looms that were only 13-14 inches wide in period. They made very efficient use of their fabric and most of the sewing will be based on the width of the fabric. Start by figuring out what size your width of fabric (or standard panel) should be.

I usually use a 12” panel for a Small to Medium sized modern Western woman, 13” for Medium to Large women, 14” for Large to Extra large, 15” for X-Large to 2 X-Large, and 16” for 3-4 X-Large women. Men I will use 14” for Medium, 15” for Large to X-Large. This is sort of a rough idea. It may take a little while to find what is right for you, but this Japanese garment is very forgiving and there is some room to play. These measurements also apply to other Japanese garments that you

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may try to sew such as tops (called Kosode) or Kimono.

Now that you have a rough idea as to what size panel you will be cutting out let’s cover a few terms in reference to measurements that you will also need.

Inseam (B)- Measurement that goes from the crotch of your pants down to your ankle where you want the pants to end. Most American Men’s pants use this measurement.

Length of the leg(A)- Measure from where you would like your waistband to sit to your ankle or where the pants should end.

Rise (C)- Measuring this requires “flossing” a bit. This is the measurement that goes from your waistband in front to the waistband in the back via between the legs. To do this place the tape measure between your legs and pull up GENTLY (injuries caused by this motion are not my responsibility). Place the beginning of the tape measure in the middle of your back where you would like your waistband

to lay. Then place the other end of the tape measure in front of you on your front waistband. If you have a friend that is very close they may be willing to take this measurement for you.

Waist- Place the tape measure where you want the waistband to be. Some people wear their pants above or below their natural waist. Do not squeeze the tape measure to make yourself feel better about your size, be honest with yourself and it will make for clothes that fit you properly in the end.

Now that you have taken your measurements it’s time to start laying out and cutting your fabric.

Cutting Out the Pieces

Due to the fact that Japanese looms were significantly smaller than our modern industrial looms we will have to cut our pieces to the width that the looms were (or the size that you chose earlier as being your standard panel size) in order to have the seams be correct on the finished hakama. Please pay close attention to the direction of the grain and pattern of your fabric.

You will need:

o 8 panels that are the standard panel width and the length of your legs plus a few inches to allow for a hem and for a small amount (about 1”) to be tucked into the waistband.

o 2 panels that are HALF the standard panel width and length of the leg. These will become your crotch panels

o 5 panels that are 5-8 inches wide and are the length of your waist plus another 4-10 inches. For example, if you have a 30”waist you would cut out five strips that are 34-40”long each. This will eventually be your waist band. It should seem very long. You can always remove the excess in the end if you need to.

All that you are doing so far is cutting out a lot of rectangles. That’s not so hard, is it?

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Assembly

Start by sewing the 8 panels together in pairs lengthwise.

As shown in the picture, 1 and 2 are a pair, 3 and 4 are another pair, etc.

Next you will need to fold over the corner in a diagonal line on one of the pair panels. Fold two right corners and two left corners. One corner per pair of panels is all that is needed. Grab the top at about 4” and pull it down at a slight angle on the inside of the fabric. Since we are using cut fabric with a raw edge rather than Japanese fabric with a selvage edge you may want to fold over the edges to prevent unraveling. Sew these angles down. It will make things easier later on.

Take one left angle pair and one right angle pair and place them with the outsides in and the angles on the same sides. (#1 attaches to #8, #4 attaches to #5)

Sew down the length of these starting at the bottom of the angles and going down to the bottom of the

pairs. (Note for most men I make the opening 10-14” long, modern women tend to prefer a shorter gap so you may want to measure how far from the waist you would like the opening to be. If you make it too short they will not look right. )

The Crotch

Now, sew the crotch panels together so that it creates a long strip with a seam running down the width in the middle. This will create a strip that is a half panel wide by two leg lengths long.

The next step is a little tricky but once you understand how it works it will suddenly become obvious. What we will be trying to do is create the crotch of the pants by sewing the middle front and middle back seams and adding the crotch panels. First take the measurement of your rise and add an additional 2 inches. Then measure the width of your crotch panel minus the seam allowance. For example, if Seimei normally has a 14” standard panel then his crotch panels which are half as wide will be 7”. If he wants to use ½” seam allowance on each side this reduces his crotch panel width to 6” (½” + ½” = 1”total seam allowance, 7”-1”= 6” wide panel)

Now take your rise plus two inches and subtract the width of the crotch. If Seimei has a 28” rise, he then adds two to make 30”. 30” minus 6” is 24”.

Take this measurement and divide by two. (24” divided by 2 is 12”)

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This is how long you will sew down in the center front and the center back. Fold your hakama so that the angles are on the outsides. Meet up the two front pieces at the middle. (In the drawing you are meeting up panel #2 with panel #3) Measure down the length described above (12” for Seimei) and sew together. Do the same for the center back pieces (#6 and #7). Note that you may want to really reinforce this seam as it may take some stress. All eight panels will be attached to one another in some fashion after this step.

It’s time to insert the crotch panels. Line up the center seam of the crotch panels with the seams that you sewed in the center front and back. The long strips of the crotch will then run down the unsewn parts of the pant leg panels. So, in essence, the crotch strip runs from one ankle, up the inside of your leg, up to your crotch, back down

the inside of your other leg and ends at the ankle. I usually cut these a little long so I need to remove excess fabric at the hem, but I would rather do that then have to patch in a piece or have extremely short pants.

Take a moment and look at what you have sewn so far. Make sure that the pattern of your fabric is going the right direction on all panels. Make sure that all seams meet up in the crotch and that there are no holes. If you have done everything correctly you should have a frightening looking garment that resembles clown pants. Don’t worry, they’ll get smaller! Which brings us to our next step…

The Front Pleats

This is another step that many people are intimidated by but really isn’t so bad. This may take a little bit of patience, adjusting, and pins. Hakama traditionally had only 4 or 6 pleats in the front.

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When I first started sewing these I was used to sewing huge Western European skirts with many pleats so I way overdid it and wondered why they didn’t look right. The pleats will go toward the center seam, so your right pleats will be folded the opposite of your left pleats. The entire width of the front of the pants at the waist should be about one standard panel wide. Some people are a little more modest and want less of a gap on the sides. Just measure how wide it should be in order to still have a gap on the sides of roughly 3”- 6” per side. The Japanese in period tended to have a standard width for all pants, but I’d rather have them look as though they fit correctly on the person and have the person be comfortable in their garb. The gap is what makes hakama look like hakama. If there is no gap and your pants completely overlap they will look like Thai fisherman pants rather than Japanese pants.

Here’s an example. Kiki is a very curvy SCAdian woman. She has a 40” waist which puts her in the large to extra large category making her standard panel about 14”. So she would have 28” total for her front and back pieces leaving her a gap of 6” on each side. (40”- 28”=12”, divide by two and it’s 6”) This is fine. However, her hips are 50” and she is self conscious about them. She may want to make her front and back waists a little larger to give her a smaller gap and a little more hip room.

Make your first pleat by grabbing a little way down from the center seam at the top and fold towards the center. There should be about a ½”-1” space between the center seam and the fold of the pleat.

Repeat this for the second pleat and third pleat depending on if you want four or six pleats. When doing three pleats per side with standard measurements I usually find that the seam between the pairs lines up with the fold of the second pleat. If this is not the case for you do not be worried.

The width of the pleats all together from the center seam to the beginning of the angle should equal half of your front measurement. Seimei’s total front measurement is 14”, so from the center seam to the angle with 2-3 pleats should be 7”. There may be some adjustments and pinning needed. Try to make your pleats as close to the same width as each other as possible. Take your time, if you get frustrated walk away for a few minutes. It will be worthwhile in the end.

Now go to the other side and fold the same as you did before but the mirror opposite.

The total measurement of the front left and front right after pleating should equal your total front measurement. For Seimei this is 14”.

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For the sake of ease stitch these pleats in place close to the top with one long seam about ½” from the top. Be careful when doing this as the fabric underneath sometimes will get folded up into this seam. Make sure that everything is lying as flat as possible on your machine. I have done plenty of seam ripping in the past due to this. Taking your time now will save you time later.

The Back Pleats

You will want your total back waist width to be the same as the front. For Seimei this is again 14”. The back has two large folds that overlap slightly (1-3”). For the standard pattern you can usually grab the seam between pairs and fold it over towards the center, passing the center seam by 1-3” and wind up with the correct measurement. Take piece #6 and overlap slightly onto piece #7. From the center seam to the angle should be half of your back waist width. For Seimei this is 7”.

Create the mirror image on the other side.

For Seimei this makes the back waist 14” total.

For the sake of ease stitch these in place close to the top with one long seam just as you did before for the front pleats.

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The Waistband

Congratulations! You are mostly done with your hakama! There’s not much more to go and the worst is over. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back and take a deep breath.

To make the waist band I usually attach three strips end to end for the front and two strips end to end for the back. The back waistband will only need to wrap around you once and tie in the front. The front, however, wraps around to the back, crosses over and then ties again in the front. (See “Seimei the Samurai Helps You to Get Dressed” later in this packet)

This works the best with an iron, trust me.

After sewing your two sets of strips iron your seam allowance flat.

Take the ends and fold them over ½”-1” and iron so that the rough edge will be on the inside along with the rough ends of the joining seams from earlier.

Now take the long side of the strip and fold it over about ½” and iron it along the entire length of the strip. Do the same on the other side.

Fold the entire waistband lengthwise by lining up the edges so that all of the rough edges are on the inside.

Find the center of the waistband and mark it with either a pin, chalk, washable marker or by ironing a sharp crease. Sandwich the waistband around your pleats at the top.

Align the center of your waistband with your center seam. The waistband should overlap the top of the pants by about an inch. Your seams that keep your pleats in place should be covered by the waistband. Sew along the bottom of the waistband to close it.

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Try your pants on (See “Seimei the Samurai Helps You to Get Dressed”) to figure out how much hem is needed. It usually helps to have a buddy, but you can eyeball it yourself. Sew your hem. (See me after class or ask your local seamstress if you do not know how to sew a basic hem)

After hemming put your pants on and see if you need to remove excess waistband fabric. Leave enough to tie your pants on and give a little bit of wiggle room should you gain a few pounds. If necessary cut the ends and finish them by folding them over and sewing them in place.

Now you have reached the point where you can say that you are done! Congratulations! You have now successfully sewn a pair of hakama! Take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, do a happy dance or go to bed if you’ve been up all night working on them.

Using the porta-castles while wearing these pants depends on your gender and what is comfortable for you. This will be discussed in class if we have time. Feel free to take notes if you like.

Remember, it takes a little while to get the hang of this. If you are new to sewing it may take longer than for a person who is more experienced. Cut yourself some slack. Take frequent breaks if you find that you are getting frustrated. It is an easy garment to make once you know how, but getting to the point of knowing how to do them may take some time.

Don’t be surprised if after you have made a nice pair of hakama that fit you well and make you look fabulous that others may be asking you to make a pair for them or to help them through the learning process.

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Seimei the Samurai Helps you to Get Dressed

(Feel free to add your own notes to help you with the process.

1. Grab the waistband of the back of the pants and bring the end forward.

2. Tie in the front.

3. Pull up the front waistband over the bow from the back ties.

4. Pull the ends toward the back.

5. Crisscross the ties in the back.

6. Pull the ties to the front.

7. Tie a bow.

8. If you have very long ties that you don’t want to cut you can wrap the ends around the waist a bit.

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Basic Tips for Dressing in Japanese Garb

Usually a Japanese belt or sash known as an obi (OH-BEE) is worn on top of the waistband and ties. During period these were not terribly wide (2”-5”) and tied in the front for both genders. It wasn’t until the Edo period (1603-1867) that women’s obi became too wide to tie in the front and they were moved to the back. Men wearing an obi tied in the back indicate that they are a homosexual or a homosexual prostitute. Men wearing solid red hakama were often homosexual as well. Solid red monpei are okay.

When getting dressed with a Japanese shirt called a Kosode or a Kimono please be careful to wrap the LEFT SIDE OVER THE RIGHT. You should be able to slip your right hand into your kosode or kimono to resemble the popular Napoleon portrait. Another way of remembering it is that you should be able to place your right hand over your heart (like when saying the Pledge of Allegiance) with one layer of fabric over it. They crossed the top or kimono the opposite way when a person died.

Although everybody loves how beautiful Geisha are, the typical geisha that we think of really isn’t period. Again they are from the Edo period. They started to become really popular in the 1700’s. Dressing like a Geisha, although fun, is just as appropriate in the SCA as dressing in Baroque, Edwardian, Victorian or Antebellum outfits. .

The hairstyle of the Geisha is not during the SCAdian time period as well. Most Japanese women wore their hair down or in a low ponytail. There is a theory that the Japanese Geisha got their hair from the “Gibson Girls” of the 19th century.

Many of the Samurai films that are around romanticize the Edo era as well so please try to be careful when choosing an outfit to create.

One last note- Lady Roxanne would like to thank all of her friends who have helped her to get to this point of understanding and to make it possible for her to teach this class.