Guide: Hack Your Han-Eri
Han-eri are a decorative collar that is attached to your juban collar, and are visible as a sort of second collar when worn with your kimono. Han-eri are generally sewn on by hand with large lose stitches, which means that most people do not frequently change them. However we are going to show you a great way to hack your han-eri and up your kitsuke game! With this guide we will show you a simple system to add to your juban and han-eri to make them easily and quickly interchangeable. Supplies: Velcro strips ($0.99), fabric glue ($1.99), measuring tape ($0.99), chalk for marking fabric ($0.99), juban, kimono / juban collar stiffener, and han eri. We offer a great selection of juban and han-eri for sale! When working with fabric glue, scissors, an iron, and sewing needles please handle with caution.
Step 1 - get your materials together and lay them out on a flat clean surface for you to work on. The velcro strips that you will be using to create your interchangeable collars can be secured through various means such as fabric glue, hand stitching, and there are even some fabric tape and iron on setting methods. The most important thing is that you work with what you are comfortable with and it provides a strong grip on the fabric.
Tip: When placing your velcro remember to leave space for your collar stiffener to be slipped inside the pocket the han-eri will create when wrapped around the juban collar.
Step 2 - measure out your Velcro into roughly 1 inch sections. The Velcro sections can be longer, but avoid making them smaller than one inch. Smaller Velcro sections do not grip as well, and are larger to line up. First place these strips onto both sides of your juban collar. The juban comes first, because all han-eri will be tailored to accommodate the juban, not the other way around. This is where chalk will be useful, for marking your fabric.
Start with your first point being at the center of the back of the neck. You need to secure the han-eri on the outside and inside of the juban. From there measure and place your velcro. I prefer to put a total of 5 velcro anchor points per side of the juban. Once satisfied secure it. TIP: A great way to test the placement of your velcro is to first secure everything with safety pins and then try on the fit and look. Just be careful when removing your test that the safety pins do not pull too hard on the fabric and tear it.
Then measure out and place your velcro on your han-eri lining it up to the strips already on the juban. Make certain that when the han-eri and juban strips meet that they stick together. Don't forget to leave space for your collar stiffener to be slipped inside.
The velcro should run length wise to the juban collar and han-eri, because it needs to leave space to create a pocket for a collar stiffener to be slid inside of.
Step 3 - test your line up then rock our your new han-eri and dazzle the world with your extra fancy sense of style. Your han-eri should create a sort of pocket space when added to your juban, which allows for you to slip into it a collar stiffener.
At this point you just attach velcro to your other han-eri and can easily trade them out as you so desire.
The photo below shows what your collar should look like when your juban and kimono are worn together. Note that there is not a collar stiffener present and so the collars are much more wrinkled than they usually should be. Typically women wear a collar stiffener with the juban and the kimono each.
Love the unicorn han-eri? We have them for sale as well as many other kinds of stylish han-eri and juban in our online Japanese kimono store!