Making Clothes as Part of Everyday Life: Online Karusan Trousers Workshop (January 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2027)

Make Your Own Karusan Trousers: Online Workshop in English
January 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2027

Our first online workshop in English

Who this workshop is for

This workshop is not intended for complete beginners to sewing.

It is designed for people who:

• Familiar with sewing.
• Follow sewing patterns but sometimes struggle to get the results they want, without knowing why.
• Find it difficult to choose the right fabric.

Learn to make your own trousers while building an understanding of fabric properties, garment structure, and sewing construction. Join us for this online class from the comfort of your home to sew a custom pair of perfectly fitted Karusan trousers. This workshop will focus primarily on hand sewing techniques.

Karusan are trousers made entirely from straight-cut pieces of fabric.

Their tapered shape makes them comfortable to wear and easy to style.

A gusset at the crotch allows greater freedom of movement within this straight-cut design. Enjoy making trousers using fabric-saving techniques rooted in traditional Japanese sewing.

Karusan comes in four sizes, ranging from size 0 to size 3. We will use the updated instructions from the second edition, published on December 1, 2025. Please select your preferred size.

A 160 cm (5′3″)--tall woman wearing size 0 in fabric option ①, natural-colored linen.

A 160 cm (5′3″)-tall woman wearing size 1 in linen-cotton denim.

A 180 cm (5′11″)-tall man wearing size 2.

A 180 cm(5′11″)-tall man wearing size 3.

Choosing your fabric

Please prepare your own fabric. Very thin fabrics are not suitable for trousers, while thick, stiff fabrics such as denim can be difficult to sew. We recommend a light- to medium-weight fabric.

What is included

• Four online workshop sessions: January 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2027, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT).

• Please expect homework between sessions. You will need to complete sewing tasks at home to keep up with the workshop.

• The English version of the 'How to Make Karu-san' text in digital format (after your participation fee is paid, a download link for the text will be sent)

• Each online workshop will be recorded, and the recording will be sent to all participants afterward, regardless of whether they attend the live session.

  You can download the recording and keep it forever, so you can watch it anytime, at your own pace.

  Even if you know you will miss some sessions, please feel free to sign up with confidence!

Additional items you will need

• Fabric of your choice for your trousers.
• Cloth (thin to medium weight. Cotton, hemp, or cotton/hemp blends are OK)
• For cloth width 30cm to 35cm (12-14in): about 5m (5.5yd).
  For cloth width 110cm (43-45in): 2 to 2.5m (2.2-2.7yd).
  For cloth width 130cm (51in-60in): about 1.5m (1.64yd).

Materials to prepare

• Sewing thread suitable for your fabric.
• Waistband elastic, approximately the length of your waist measurement.
• A waist drawstring, if desired, approximately 140–170 cm long.

Tools you will need

• Sewing tools: fabric scissors, thread snips, a measuring tape, a fabric-marking pen, 20 pins, and a pincushion.
• An iron, an ironing board, and a bodkin or elastic threader.
• Hand-sewing needles.

How to participate

• Within two weeks of your registration, we will email you a participant questionnaire via Google Forms. Please check your spam settings to ensure that you can receive emails from ws@itoshiro.org. If you have not received the questionnaire after two weeks, please contact ws@itoshiro.org.
• We will use your questionnaire responses to plan the workshop. Please have your sewing tools, fabric, and instruction book ready.
• Sessions will take place on Zoom or Google Meet. No app download is required. We will send you a meeting link before the workshop.
• If you cannot attend a session, we will send you a recording. We encourage you to attend all four sessions whenever possible so that you can complete your Karusan trousers.
• Depending on your sewing experience and progress, you may not finish your trousers during the workshop.

Registration deadline

Thursday, December 31, at 24:00 (midnight).

Preparing your fabric

Prewash your fabric before sewing. Soak it in water, use a gentle spin cycle to remove excess water, and hang it to dry. Then press it on a low heat setting with a pressing cloth.

If you plan to machine-wash your finished trousers, place the fabric in a laundry net and wash it on a gentle cycle. Iron out any wrinkles. The fabric may shrink, but preshrinking it before sewing helps prevent unwanted shrinkage later.

Instructor: Kaori Hirano

The owner of Itoshiro Yohinten, Kaori moved from Gifu City to Itoshiro, where she learned straight-cut clothing-making techniques from the village's elder women. She now shares these techniques with others. She also makes clothing using plant dyes and indigo, with an emphasis on environmentally friendly dyeing.

Interpreter: Sanae Suzuki

Sanae Suzuki is a Sashiko artist and instructor based in Santa Monica, California. She has many years of experience teaching macrobiotic principles and Japanese food culture. Her current work includes Sashiko, mending, indigo dyeing, katazome (Japanese stencil dyeing), and natural plant dyeing. Through her work, she encourages people to care for textiles and enjoy the process of making by hand. Having studied Itoshiro Yohinten’s hand-sewn clothing techniques for several years, she is delighted to help introduce traditional Japanese craft to participants in the United States.

What sewing skills do I need?

As a guide, you should be able to sew running stitches and hem stitches by hand.

Rather than simply following a pattern step by step, we will explain why each shape and sewing technique is used. This workshop is suited to those who want to move beyond a self-taught approach and deepen their understanding.

Can I learn effectively online?

We will cover the same content as our in-person workshops in Itoshiro. Materials will be prepared in advance, and during each session we will show our hands as we demonstrate the steps and explain the thinking behind them.

What if I miss a session?

If you are unable to attend, we will send you a recording afterward and help you follow along with the content so you can keep up with all subsequent sessions.

Can I join partway through?

We recommend joining from the first session. Each stage builds on the previous one, so joining partway through may make it difficult to follow.

Workshop capacity

Maximum 6 participants.

Cancellation policy

Cancellation fees:

• From the time of registration until one week before the workshop date: 5%
• 6 to 3 days prior to the workshop date: 50%.
• After that: 100%.