For the love of Japan

About 9 years ago I got to know my husband. I moved in to his flat and started to look in to his stuff. One of the first things I noticed were boxes of anime series. My first thought: seriously? Then I got curious. One time browsing a DVD-shop I found a copy of "Spirited away", I picked it up, brought it home, watched it and I've been hooked ever since.

Since then I've been watching anime a bit on and off, read about Japan, seen documentaries, tried to figure out the language a bit, but what really caught my interest were the different types of textile techniques.

Kanzashi

Kanzashi is a way to fold small square fabric pieces and join them into pretty flowers, mainly used for hair-ornaments.

Kanzashi flower hair pins

Shibori

Shibori are techniques used for making pattern on a fabric when dying it.

Shibori samples

Sashiko

Embroidery technique using simple running stitches to make geometrical patterns.

Sashiko sample

Clothing

Japanese traditional clothing is a complex world of how to dress proper. I've taken an interest in the construction of kimonos and other traditional garments.

Haori - worn over a kimono as a jacket.

Amigurumi

Simple crochet technique used to make 3D objects.

 

Amigurumi pokemon

Indigo-dying

Japanese have a long tradition for dying fabrics blue using indigo, Indigo creates lots of beautiful hues of blue.

Indigi-dyed fabrics

I haven't got the time to dig into it all, but I've started to sew a bit of clothing and are playing around with some sashiko embroidery. Hope to have my first haori finished within the next week and some small pouches and bags with sashiko, also done in November.


Some day I hope to go to Japan and experience the whole country from north to south!

Sonja