Best material for Obi?

By Interstella. 24/07/12, 03:41 pm

Hi
I'm making a Lolita cosplay and I would like a traditional Obi for the middle... what's the best material to make this from? Any ideas?

By Pura. 24/07/12, 04:10 pm

Obi is traditionally made with thick silk, I'm pretty sure Razz

But any thick cotton should work, it just depends of what kind of texture/look you want it to have.

By sakuramiyabi. 24/07/12, 04:29 pm

While as Pura said thick cotton is the best choice I have made obi's with regular poplin and interfacing before. You just have to make sure that you iron the interfacing on really well with no air bubbles XD

By Lucca. 30/07/12, 10:06 am

There are actually obi for sale on trademe and in Welly, there's actually a store that sells the unmade Obi fabric (Asia Gallery).

Probably easier to make your own though since the ones on sale on trademe are the traditional ones and they take a lot of effort to put on >.<

Hope I helped, sorry I didn't have anything too helpful to say D:

Good luck on that lolita cosplay!

By Kicho. 30/07/12, 12:25 pm

Obi is traditionally made from heavy silk. A piece of hardboard is then inserted between the obi and the waist to maintain the stiff shape.

From experience I find that heavy cotton is not a good option. It is not stiff enough to maintain a bow shape. The best option would probably be a light-medium weird cotton lined with heavy interfacing. Make sure the cotton is not a blend or a knit or it will stretch and lose it's shape.

There are basically two types of obi that cosplayers make: one that requires a 3m by 30cm piece of fabric that is tied the traditional way. The other one is requires around a 1.5m by 15cm and is called a 'pre-tied' obi, where the bow is made from a separate piece of fabric. The second one is much lighter and quicker to put on. :)

By Ember. 18/11/12, 09:55 am

Some of the quilting fabric at Spotlight is nice and thick and would be suitable for an obi if you ultimately decide to go for a heavyweight cotton. At the moment they have some cotton Japan-print quilting fabric with cherry blossoms and fans which would look nice if you're doing a Japanese themed lolita? (it's also imported to Spotlight from Japan - it says 'Made in Japan' in Japanese script along the edge of the fabric).

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