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Magazine cutouts and drawings in one of Yayoi Negishi's pattern books1920
Vancouver, BC
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A page with magazine cutouts and drawings of clothing for a child and a woman1920
Vancouver, BC
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Magazine cutouts and drawings in one of Yayoi Negishi's pattern books1920
Vancouver, BC
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Diagrams illustrating how to take measurements for a dress1930
Vancouver, BC
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Dressmaking measurements diagram1930
Vancouver, BC
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Full pleated skirt pattern drawing1930
Vancouver, BC
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Women's fashions pattern drawings and sketches1930
Vancouver, BC
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Various women's fashions pattern drawings and sketches1930
Vancouver, BC
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Women's garments pattern drawings and sketches1930
Vancouver, BC
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K. Iwata Dress ManufacturerIn the 1930s the Iwata family lived at 368 Cordova Street East in Vancouver. Their dressmaking factory, K. Iwata Dress Manufacturer, was located at the back of the house, where they also ran the Vancouver Button Works business. There were over thirty women working at the factory. The row of machines was run with a long belt operated by an electric motor. Apart from making dresses, they were also producing covered buttons, buckles and embroidered items. Mr. and Mrs. Iwata also owned a ladies' fashion wear shop called Mode O Day, located on Hastings Street, where they retailed their finished fashion apparel. Woodwards department stores also sold their products, and Army & Navy Stores took their outdated inventory. Mr. Iwata often rented a hall for a day in various parts of the Fraser Valley, where he sold clothing to the local farming communities. In 1942 when the Japanese Canadians were ordered out of the coastal area of British Columbia, the Iwatas found a home in Salmon Arm. They boxed up the sewing machines and took them with them, with the hope of starting a business there. However, they found there were not enough women around to do the sewing, and instead they ended up storing the machines and started farming. When the Iwatas were finally allowed to come back to Vancouver (after 1949), Kinichi Iwata purchased the Roosevelt Hotel and returned home with the boxes of sewing machines. The machines were rusted and inoperable, and so he was forced to give up his dream of starting over again.
Mary Ohara in conversation with Louise Iwata, 2003.
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List of dressmaking topics1930
Vancouver, BC
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Found in one of Yayoi Negishi's pattern books, a sheet of letterhead from K. Iwata Dress Manufacturer (which suggests a connection between dressmaker and instructor Negishi and the Iwata factory), is written with the following list of topics:"How to measure for:
The basic pattern for blouses, including the drop sleeve, French sleeve, short sleeve, one piece sleeve, tight sleeve, and Raglan sleeve;
Collars, including the flat collar, roll collar, sport collar, sailor's collar, and flare collar;
The design of blouses;
The basic pattern for a one piece dress;
Skirts, including the straight skirt, circular skirt, and bias cut skirt;
Coats and suits, including the box coat, semi-fitted coat, and two piece suit;
Bloomers, chemise, slip, and bathrobe."
Perhaps this was a syllabus for one of the many dressmaking courses that Yayoi Negishi taught.
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Yayoi Negishi conversing with Sayoko Hattori28 April 1997
Vancouver, BC
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Sayoko Hattori (left), Susan Michi Sirovyak, and Yayoi Negishi (right)28 April 1997
Vancouver, BC
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