Unfortunately I've been very naughty and neglecting our Friday posts a bit. I even forgot to announce the winner of last week's giveaway (hooray for Ms. Holland!). Too much work, not enough sleep, make for one snooze-friendly Friday. So let me share this post with you to help redeem myself a bit.
I meant to write a post about this AGES ago, and maybe now for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's a bit silly. When I used to go to the sento, or public baths, in Japan, I was amazed at these teeny-tiny women getting undressed and seeing what looked like a girdle. I mean - what does a 90lb woman need a waist-slimmer for?!!! Then I asked one of my Japanese friends who came with me, and she informed me that they're not waist slimming garments, but instead, haramaki, or waist warming garments! The belief is that the heat of the body escapes from the belly (which is true at least in my case when I sweat like a pig on my belly in the summer) and therefore this extra bit of warmth and protection will help keep you toasty on those cold days! This idea is more than perfect for the colder than cold Japanese winters, and for those of you who are expectant mamas, you can whip up these belly warmers and use it as a bellyband to cover the growing space between your tops and pants!
So even though I am not gifted enough to know how to make these from scratch without any help, helpful tutorials can be found here and here, and I *think* you could even make these by hand without a sewing machine. I've made a few in the past and love them in warm fleece or remnants from sweaters or sweatshirts. Get creative, and whip one up quickly before the snow has completely melted and you need a belly shirt and not a bellywarmer anymore!!
For those of you who don't want to make your own try http://www.nukunuku.co.uk in Europe or http://www.haramakilove.com in the Americas.....
Posted by: Midori | March 19, 2010 at 09:49 PM