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Sewing at home

Sewing at home was an essential way for many Japanese Canadian women to provide clothing for themselves and their families, as well as a means to supplement their income. The culture of sewing at home began young, as Emiko Nakamura's stitching book from the 1930s shows, and was an important aspect of family life.

The women made clothing for work, such as the uniforms Rito Otsuji made for her son, clothing for everyday, like the children's clothing resourcefully made by Sayoko Hattori during internment in Lillooet, B.C. in 1943 and the dresses Kimiko Nasu and Motoko Sakamoto designed and sewed in the 1950s, as well as more glamourous gowns for life's special events, like the graduation dress Ayako Kohara made for her daughter Marge and the wedding dress Yoshiko Nakata sewed for her friend Kimiko Nasu.

Equipment for sewing would include the indispensable treadle sewing machine, spools of thread in a rainbow of colours, fabric of course, a bone 'hera' marker, calipers and tapes for measuring, a pair of scissors, leather or metal ring thimbles, pins, and much used wooden rulers and French curves for pattern design.

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Child's hand stitching book
1930
Mission, BC

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Geometric designs sewn in child's hand stitching book
1930
Mission, BC

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Designs sewn in child's hand stitching book
1930
Mission, BC

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Designs found in child's hand stitching book
1930
Mission, BC

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Two geometric designs sewn in child's hand stitching book
1930
Mission, BC

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Motoko Sakamoto's Singer treadle sewing machine, ca. 1920s. JCNM Collection, gift of Minnie Hattori.
1920
Vancouver, BC

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Spools of thread used by Sayoko Hattori
1930
Vancouver, BC

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Brass and wood caliper, and bone hera
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Tape measure and leather thimble
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Bachelor Buttons, ca. 1940s, and pin cushion, ca. 1950s or '60s. Mary Ohara Collection, JCNM.
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Child's hanten
1920
Vancouver, BC

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Heavy white cotton bell boy uniform jacket worn by Harry (Kaji) Otsuji
1930
Vancouver, BC

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Sayoko Hattori's children wearing clothing she has sewn for them
1943
Lillooet, BC

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Kimiko Nasu's (nee Saito) wedding gown
1946
Toronto, ON

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Detail of thirty lace covered buttons on back of Kimiko Nasu's wedding gown
1946
Toronto, ON

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Blue grey crepe party dress sewn by Kimiko Nasu
1948
Toronto, ON

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Back view of blue grey crepe party dress designed and sewn by Kimiko Nasu
1948
Toronto, ON

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Sawae Nishikihama

Grace Eiko Thomson remembers her mother Sawae Nishikihama was always dressmaking when Grace was growing up from the 1940s through the 1960s.

"I remember she would take a roll of brown paper and with a flourish she'd roll it out on the floor, and set to measuring out the pattern with her wooden square. She would make all her patterns from scratch, drawing them full scale on the brown paper."

"For us, her daughters, she made us gowns for the proms we went to. She'd look in Vogue magazine and find what was stylish that would suit us, and she'd say, 'This would look really good on you;' and then she would make it. We'd look glamourous."

From a conversation with Grace Eiko Thomson, 2003.

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Bone hera and wooden handled brass tracing roller used by Sawae Nishikihama
1930
Vancouver, BC

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Detail of wooden scales used by Sawae Nishikihama
1930
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and pattern for child's dress taken from Sawae Nishikihama second pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Evening gown sketch and pattern taken from Sawae Nishikihama's second pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Lay out pattern guide from Sawae Nishikihama's first pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and pattern for a mid length women's coat
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and women's coat pattern from Sawae Nishikihama's first pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and women's evening dress pattern from Sawae Nishikihama's first pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and women's sleeved evening dress pattern from Sawae Nishikihama's first pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Sketch and women's evening gown pattern from Sawae Nishikihama's first pattern book
1940
Vancouver, BC

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Graduation portrait of Marge Kohara
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Haruko Kobayakawa at her sewing machine, ca. 1950s, (in Toronto ?). Haruko Kobayakawa Fonds, JCNM.
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Two piece women's suit of chocolate brown on black coloured silk
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Details of jacket collar on women's suit
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Women's suit by Motoko Sakamoto
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Women's dress with matching jacket by Motoko Sakamoto
1950
Vancouver, BC

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Clothing sewn at home was often beautifully designed and made, demonstrating a level of skill, finesse and custom fit that was rarely matched when ready-made, off the rack fashions became more prevalent after the Second World War.