To all nervous sewers

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  • Dainin
    Member
    • Sep 2007
    • 389

    #16
    Re: To all nervous sewers

    Originally posted by Jundo
    Hi Jundo,

    I must say i am very keen on the idea of using the Katagiri instructions for two reasons: they follow exactly the nyoho-e school ( which is the one of Sawaki Kodo [and Nishijima Roshi's Lineage]) and it will be easier for everybody (including me...)...As soon as you get the permission i could send you copies of the pages and if you can scan them, then everybody would be provided with something reliable and clear. Please, can we make it possible?

    Ros is right, by light cotton we mean the kind which is used for shirts. Cotton is the very best option because it is "stable", silk and linen require experienced hands. Colour is essential, please, ask for dark broken colours, black is quite an easy option.

    The nyoho-e traditional rakusu is without a ring for very complicated historical reasons which are...Japanese. These days, a few teachers in the West agree that rings are fine. As a mere student of the kesa, I think the ring is OK. [So, we can have the rings].
    So, it seems we won't be going the route of some Zen centers and lineages where colors will be used to designate our standing in the Sangha (e.g., black for monks, blue for householders, etc.). I think that's very cool. I'm kind of keen on sewing either a green or a blue rakusu.

    Regarding fabric, I once saw a rakusu made of hemp cloth. How's that to work with?

    Gassho,
    Keith

    Comment

    • lindabeekeeper
      Member
      • Jan 2008
      • 162

      #17
      Re: To all nervous sewers

      Hi all,

      I was thinking that green would be cool. Ya know, Treeleaf and all that.

      Gassho.

      Linda

      Comment

      • chessie
        Member
        • Jun 2008
        • 266

        #18
        Re: To all nervous sewers

        Originally posted by lindabeekeeper
        Hi all,

        I was thinking that green would be cool. Ya know, Treeleaf and all that.

        Gassho.

        Linda

        Emphatic agreement. Question tho--I don't understand the term 'broken color' that has come up once or twice. How is a broken color different from a solid color--different shades?
        Gee, we have to find out! I think it is fine to use any darkish color, not too shiny, not bright or pastel color. Like a medium to dark brown or green. That is pretty standard. I will ask our experts!

        By the way, green sounds great for Treeleafers! No obligation to do that, but nice if folks want to. I think I will.

        Gassho, Jundo

        Comment

        • Jinho

          #19
          Re: To all nervous sewers

          Hemp is a fiber and therefore can be woven in various ways with various thicknesses, etc. You might buy a 1/4 yard, try drawing and cutting out, say 2 pieces 3 inches x 6 inches and sewing them. However I seem to recall that as you piece things, you get up to many more layers on some of the seams, so it might be tricky unless you can get a light-weight hemp. It might fray a whole lot, there is this stuff called "fray-check" that is a thin glue (I think) and you put it on the raw edges of the cut pieces. I have never tried it so I have no idea how it works. If you are a new sewer, you might be handling the fabric more and more roughly than us 40 year needle veterans. But I firmly believe that if that is what you want - go for it. The worst that can happen is that you have to make a second rakusu, and how bad is that? There is also bamboo fiber cloth now available. I don't know how the shopping is in your area. I know several people who buy from fabric.com.

          your schmata kibbitzer,
          rowan,
          nee wexelbaum
          (who stole "rowan" and kept "sherwood" in the divorce settlement)


          Regarding fabric, I once saw a rakusu made of hemp cloth. How's that to work with?

          Gassho,
          Keith[/quote]

          Comment

          • Eika
            Member
            • Sep 2007
            • 806

            #20
            Re: To all nervous sewers

            I know . . . SPANDEX RAKUSUs! That way we could use them as slingshots when we are not wearing them. Booooiiiiiiinnng.

            Bill
            [size=150:m8cet5u6]??[/size:m8cet5u6] We are involved in a life that passes understanding and our highest business is our daily life---John Cage

            Comment

            • will
              Member
              • Jun 2007
              • 2331

              #21
              Re: To all nervous sewers

              Swiss army rakusu ? hmm...
              [size=85:z6oilzbt]
              To save all sentient beings, though beings are numberless.
              To penetrate reality, though reality is boundless.
              To transform all delusion, though delusions are immeasurable.
              To attain the enlightened way, a way non-attainable.
              [/size:z6oilzbt]

              Comment

              • Longdog
                Member
                • Nov 2007
                • 448

                #22
                Re: To all nervous sewers

                :lol: utility bib rakusu.

                random pockets for pocket for incense, lighter, bell, blow up zafu and survival rations to sneak when you're on sesshin :lol:

                I assume plans/link wil be posted when permission is gained for using it, along with a patent for util-rakusu :lol:
                [url:x8wstd0h]http://moder-dye.blogspot.com/[/url:x8wstd0h]

                Comment

                • lora
                  Member
                  • Jun 2008
                  • 122

                  #23
                  Re: To all nervous sewers

                  Hi,

                  My hands tend to get cold, so I'd like to see one with the sides open so that I can use it like the old-fashioned hand muffs! No fur though, I believe that might violate precepts. It gets cold in canada.

                  Many blessings,
                  lora

                  Comment

                  • TracyF
                    Member
                    • Nov 2007
                    • 188

                    #24
                    Re: To all nervous sewers

                    Originally posted by Charles
                    Originally posted by Jundo
                    Do you know about the circumcision that that requires? :shock: Even if you already have one, I think they redo it.
                    Well, yes, but it is literally just a symbolic pinprick.

                    --Charles
                    Thanks for sharing... ops: :mrgreen:

                    Comment

                    • CinnamonGal
                      Member
                      • Apr 2008
                      • 195

                      #25
                      Re: To all nervous sewers

                      I guess I don't know enough about it to get nervous and you guys have been doing the terrific job of finding out what to do and how to do it best, the patterns etc. Especially knowing so many of us will be doing it and so many have done it before makes me feel relaxed about it. It can only be... perfect.

                      The word "ring" or even "rings" in one of the posts made me wonder though. :roll:

                      Gassho,

                      Irina
                      http://appropriteresponse.wordpress.com

                      Comment

                      • Longdog
                        Member
                        • Nov 2007
                        • 448

                        #26
                        Re: To all nervous sewers

                        :lol: I don't know if the unusual heat here has got to me but every time I see the title of this thread I think of sewers as in sewerage, nervous sewers takes me to IBS and now there's talk of rings :lol:

                        Oops I gotta rush ops: , nervous sewers :lol:
                        [url:x8wstd0h]http://moder-dye.blogspot.com/[/url:x8wstd0h]

                        Comment

                        • Undo
                          Member
                          • Jun 2007
                          • 495

                          #27
                          Re: To all nervous sewers

                          lol

                          Comment

                          • Jundo
                            Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                            • Apr 2006
                            • 40868

                            #28
                            Re: To all nervous sewers

                            These kinds of rings ...





                            It is one thing that you need not make for yourself (unless you are good with woodworking or the like!), and can purchase online (many sources) ...

                            ... They are usually plastic (modernity) or light wood ... but bone is cool too. Jade is you want to go the posh Chinese traditional (ivory is also a historical favorite in China, as I guess nobody thought about the elephants).

                            Gassho, J
                            ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

                            Comment

                            • Skye
                              Member
                              • Feb 2008
                              • 234

                              #29
                              Re: To all nervous sewers

                              Speaking of rings, I was wondering if I could use this brass gear that I found in a junkyard when I was a kid. I've had it stashed in my "junk drawer" for years and came across it recently. Its a good reminder of my sometimes overly analytic mind. And its just the right size.

                              I'd like to know more about what the ring's symbolic and historic function is though, before I make a decision.



                              -Skye

                              Edit: found this:

                              Japanese rakusu have sewn designs on the straps, or on the collar covering, where they fall across the back of the neck to indicate denominational sects: Soto is a pine, Rinzai is a mountain-shaped triangle, and Obaku is a six-pointed star. In addition, Rinzai and Soto traditions sew a large flat ring on the left strap. This ring is not functional, but recalls the shoulder fasteners of the full-length kesa. As a result of a reform movement known as the fukudenkai in the mid-20th century, some Soto Zen groups have eliminated the rakusu ring.
                              Decoration as a shadow of functionality? I love it.
                              It seems more meaningful to me, to have the cheapest mass produced ring possible in this context!
                              Even on one blade of grass / the cool breeze / lingers - Issa

                              Comment

                              • Jinho

                                #30
                                Re: To all nervous sewers

                                Hi.

                                Regarding rings, can we please get an outside diameter measurement in inches and centimeters so we can all go shopping?

                                gassho,
                                rowan
                                who is thinking of the next bead show..............

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