Making of the Haru NY
Scarves
Go behind the scenes
Two sided Yuzen Scarves
Each meisen scarf is carefully handpicked and sewn together by Haruko. First, she displays all of the materials that she has on the table to look over the various options she has to work with. Through trial and error, she mix and matches different fabrics to find potential combinations. Once the fabrics are chosen she irons them out to smooth out her canvas.
After all the creases are straightened out, she lines up the fabrics to make sure that they are the right lengths. She cuts off any excess, and saves scraps for later projects. Using sewing pins, the fabrics are lined up and loosely held together before being brought over to the sewing machine. Once the fabrics are sewn together, Haruko turns them over and irons out the hems. This gives the divide between the two fabrics on the visible side a clean look. The process is repeated until the scarf is completely sewn together.
As a finishing touch, the Haru NY label is hand sewn on to the scarf. The Japanese character on that label and of this brand reads “haru” in Japanese, and also means Spring.
Hand-painted Scarves
The hand painted scarves are truly one of a kind products, as no two scarves are painted the same. Each one is painted on a white silk scarf, that is first rinsed and then hung up to dry. Once the scarf is dry, Haruko stretches the material out with some clips on a self-made stretcher frame. The paints are laid out before the canvas in labeled bowls, to be able to tell them apart when they all inevitably turn into a similar dark color as they start to dry.
Using traditional Japanese paintbrushes, or “fude”, Haruko paints directly on to the scarves. She often draws inspiration from things that are close to her, such as nature and Japan, using vibrant colors that flawlessly blend into one another.
Once the design is complete and the paint is dry, the steaming process begins. By steaming the scarves, it ensures that the dyes will stay on the fabric and remain a rich color. The scarf is rolled up in brown paper and taped completely shut and wrapped in aluminum foil. A giant pot of water is put on the stove with a steamer placed inside. The wrapped scarf goes into the pot and is closed shut with more brown paper, towels, a lid (for weight) and is steamed for two hours.
After it’s been steamed, the scarf is hand washed in cold water, where it loses any excess dye. Placed between two towels, it is then patted dry before being ironed and hung up to dry completely. The final step in completing a Haru NY hand-painted scarf, is to stamp it with a self-made “hanko” of the brand logo!