Chopstick Training Shirt #1

Back of chopstick training shirt

What to do with a single yard of 45"-wide fabric (part of the score in an everything-you-can-stuff-in-a-bag-for-$5-deal at the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale)? In the past I've had fun fooling around with a square of fabric to create a garment so I thought I'd try once again. I've also had fun fooling around with chopsticks and have often incorporated the how-to instructions on restaurant chopsticks wrappers into various assemblages, jewelry, and other creations. For this piece I scoured the Internet searching for chopsticks how-to instructions, printed them out onto iron-on transfer paper, and created patches which I then sewed onto the chopsticks training shirt.

Front with close-up of instructional patch sewn on pocket

Back (see close-up of patches below)

Close-up of upper patches

I like the effect of iron-on transfer on the cotton plaid patch (a scrap from an upcycled man's shirt), creating an homage to the Japanese tradition of mixing plaids in textiles in interesting ways. These images are from a patent application for a chopstick user's training mechanism.

Lower side patch on front

Below is an outline of the steps I took to transform a yard of fabric into a vaguely Asian-looking training shirt. The fabric is cotton and gauzy, perfect for hot weather.

Click on image for close-up

Click on image for close-up

Obviously, all measurements can be adjusted to suit different sizes (e.g., trim a larger strip off the side in the initial cutting step; use that strip to create a longer shirt/tunic; make arm opening larger or smaller, etc.).

Final shirt