DIY Haramaki (Stomach Warmer)

I apologize profusely to Sak in advance of this post.

The other day I was reading a manga called Kimi Ne Todoke, and the heroine knits her boyfriend a hat for Christmas, and makes her Dad a stomach warmer.  Except her dad finds the hat, and thinks it's for him, so she ends up having to give the stomach warmer to her boyfriend.  She's super embarrassed about it, since it's uncool and meant to keep the internal organs of her old man warm, but her boyfriend (being the stereotypical caring and kind shoujo man he is) not only says he loves it, but wears it even!

First, I wanted to know what a stomach warmer was.  It's called haramaki, and is traditionally part of samurai garb.  Nowadays they are worn either for function (internal organ warmth) or fashion. Or for pregnant women.  I think it's the same as a belly band?

For fashion (source)

Sadly, I have never been very fashionable, and also have no problems keeping my stummy warm (hellooo flab!)

But Sak on the other hand...he has zero bodyfat! Surely he could use a warm belly.  Plus I was imagining him romantically accepting a gifted haramaki like the boy in the manga (bad idea #1).

Off I went to find some of my scrap fleece.

Though I would have liked it a bit wider, I worked with what I had and measured it out around Sak's waist while he was playing videogames and not paying attention in the least.

Some velcro, in case I ever want to wear it and need to adjust the size..:P

Sew it on securely since velcro sees a lot of action!

Next, I wanted to add a pocket.  Sak's Dad had sent us a packet of Japanese hand warmers (slow reacting iron dust inside), and since the boy in the manga also had a pocket for warming pads, Sak needed one too!

The seal kills me with its cuteness. These things stay warm FOREVER too.

That would be a shirt sleeve. I had a scrap shirt that I've slowly been dissecting bit by bit for the fabric, and it made a perfect pocket.

I sewed it on, and added a bit of velcro to keep the pocket shut.

And then, bad idea #2 - I added some eyeballs!

Toothless Domo?

Eats a warming pad!

And then I gave it to Sak. Who was, as you might imagine, not at all excited about wearing a toothless-Domo around his waist.  Especially not every morning to work, as I had envisioned.  So it didn't quite play out like my shoujo manga story. Le sigh.

At least he let me take these headless pictures...

After much convincing from me, he did actually wear it to work the following day.  Over his undershirt and under his button-up work shirt.  As long as it's not a white button-up work shirt, it should be invisible! And more importantly, warm!

Though we're not going to mention that pin I accidently left in the pocket. Heeeh.

Would you wear a haramaki? Maybe a fashionable one and not a domo-faced one?