Japan is a rapidly developing country with the preservation of centuries-old foundations and traditions. She is mysterious, unique and very creative. Here, many ancient techniques in needlework are used to this day, and finished products are not only attractive, but also have a deep symbolic meaning. Some of the techniques are similar to the classical ones that are widespread throughout the world, some have no analogues, but are still popular, and some have remained in demand only within their homeland.
Amigurumi
This type of Japanese needlework cannot be confused with another, despite the fact that, in fact, this is a simple crochet of toys. However, there are several basic nuances:
- Products are miniature, usually their size is from 2 to 8 cm.
- The density of knitting is very high. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary to choose a smaller hook than the thread requires.
- The product is knitted in a spiral with simple single crochet columns.
- Classical amigurumi differ in imbalance - they have a large head and a small body. Although recently they have taken more proportional outlines.
- Threads should be used smooth, with a minimum number of protruding villi. Ideally, use cotton or silk threads.
Kanzashi
Initially, Kanzashis called traditional long hair clips for fixing geisha hairstyles. Since the kimono does not imply the wearing of bracelets and necklaces, it was studs that began to decorate, mainly flowers and butterflies made by hand from silk and satin. Over time, the appearance of kanzashi began to show others not only the skills of the needlewoman, but also her social status and financial situation. Many Japanese girls could decorate their hairstyles with many hairpins, turning their heads into flower beds. Today, kanzashi is a kind of Japanese needlework, which is a technique for creating flowers from satin ribbons. The main features of such colors is that all the petals are obtained in the process of adding the basic shapes - a square, triangle, circle, rectangle, and the petal is fixed and fixed to the product by means of fire or glue.
Temari
This technique of Japanese needlework involves embroidery on balls. Its ancestor is China, but it gained particular popularity in Japan. Initially, balls were made in this way, fixing a round shape with threads, later they were decorated with jugglers to attract the attention of the public, as well as mothers for young children. Later, such a technique passed into the applied arts section and became popular among noble needlewomen. Unnecessary things, yarn, wooden blanks were taken as the basis, now they use ping-pong balls or foam balls. This base is wrapped first with thick yarn, creating a layer that will be embroidered, and wrapped with thin threads on top to fix the position of the yarn and level the surface of the ball. Then it is necessary to make marks: upper point, lower, "equator", after which additional longitudinal and transverse marking is done. A ball ready for embroidery should look like a globe. The more complex the drawing, the more there should be auxiliary lines. The embroidery itself is a smooth surface with long stitches that cover the surface of the ball. They can intertwine, cross each other, giving the surface the necessary appearance.
Mizuhiki
This technique is a distant relative of macrame; it consists in knitting knots. There are three features here:
- For knitting, a paper cord is used.
- The finished product may consist of several or just one node.
- Each node has its own meaning.
There are a great many nodes, even the most experienced master does not remember by heart even half of them. Use them when packing gifts, things or as a talisman. In Japan, there is a certain language of knots, thanks to which, for example, giving a fish in this technique, you can wish good luck, wealth and prosperity, and a book whose packaging is fixed with a beautiful knot can become a wish for wisdom and happiness. Often, a gift is mainly a knot, and not what it is tied to. Thus, you can congratulate the wedding, wish you health, bring condolences and so on. Simple knots of this Japanese needlework are simple enough to knit, however, it is worth remembering that all repeated elements must be the same size, otherwise there will be a distortion of meaning, so the main requirements here will be attentiveness, developed fine motor skills and a good eye.
Kinusaiga
Japanese needlework in this technique is the creation of panels of flaps. The basis of such products are wooden boards, on which a drawing is first applied, and then grooves are cut along its contour. Initially, old kimonos were used for this technique, which were cut into small shreds and fitted each element of the panel, tucking the edges of the fabric into the cut grooves. Thus, a patchwork picture was obtained, but, unlike the patchwork, threads and needles are not used here.
Now this technique is gaining popularity around the world, you can find both ready-made sets, and just schemes for creating such panels, their complexity ranging from very simple, consisting of several flaps, and even children can make pictures, to very complex ones. In such paintings, the elements of the picture can be only a few millimeters, and the color palette of the flaps used is so wide that the finished product can be confused with a picture painted with paints. Instead of a wooden base, cardboard from boxes glued in several layers is increasingly used. This greatly facilitates the cutting of the contours of the drawing, but it is not particularly convenient to use, since in the process of tightening the elements there is a risk of wrinkling the top layer of cardboard, which will lead to a violation of the fixation of the edge of the flap and, therefore, the general deformation of the product.
Important!
- Each picture element must have a closed loop.
- The background also needs to be broken down into elements.
- The finer the details of the drawing and the wider the palette of shreds, the more beautiful and realistic the finished panel will be.
Teriman
This type of Japanese needlework is very close to the Russian people due to the similarity with the manufacture of amulet dolls - egg caps and herbalists. They also represent bags made in the form of people and animals and flowers, however, they are smaller in size - about 5-9 cm. They were used to flavor rooms, clean linen or as perfumes. Now Terimen are miniature soft toys designed more to decorate the interior than to play. Some needlewomen still add to the inside of the grass, but already mixing with a synthetic filler. The main difficulty in creating these products is their size. Small parts are quite difficult to sew and twist, so working in this technique requires perseverance, accuracy and well-developed fine motor skills.
Furoshiki
Japanese needlework from fabrics of different sizes, aimed at packing and carrying things. To be more precise, this is a whole art. With one cut of matter and several knots, you can create different types of bags, backpacks, carrying heavy purchases and gift wrapping. Moreover, they look very attractive and can harmoniously complement any image. The standard size of the material is a square with a side of 75 cm, but other sizes suitable for the particular case are also acceptable. Furoshiki is perhaps the most practical kind of Japanese needlework. Bags can be formed depending on fashion trends, and when the material gets tired or loses its attractiveness - use for domestic needs or in other types of needlework.
Kumihimo
Weaving cords in Japan is of great importance. This technique has a long history, and the translation literally sounds like "shifting threads." Shoelaces, and, accordingly, and machines for their manufacture, are of two types:
- Round. The machine looks like a large wooden spool. Threads are wound on bobbins and laid out in a circle in a certain color order. Then they begin to shift in a circle. Depending on the type of lace, the pitch can be equal to 1.2 threads, 170 °, etc.
- Flat. The machine has the shape of a right angle, the master is located between its beams, on which the threads are fixed.
However, it is not necessary to use a special machine, for example, for weaving a round lace, a cardboard circle with notches on the outside and a hole in the center is enough.
Such shoelaces were made for attaching armor, clothing items, for hair and other items, and the colors, order, and even situations when the shoelace was presented had a special symbolic meaning. Now this type of Japanese needlework is actively used to create bracelets, key rings, pendants and other jewelry.
Sashiko
The Japanese technique of stitching layers of old fabric to create warmer clothes in poor neighborhoods went into the category of embroidery, retaining only the appearance and symbolism of the ornament. Classical embroidery is done on a dark blue canvas with white threads. It differs from ordinary embroidery in that the lines are broken, the distances between the stitches are equal to the length of the stitch. The complexity of the sashiko technique is difficult to overestimate, not only should all the stitches be small and the same, so it should not overlap, there should always be an equal distance between them. Today, other colors of warp and threads are used, multi-colored embroidery is also found, but this is a more European variation, which does not have a Japanese identity.
Anesama
This Japanese paper needlework was intended for children to play. A blank doll was prepared, which consisted of a white head circle, black paper hair (a circle on the back, a semicircle with a straight side cut under the bangs) and a wooden flat stick instead of a body. Then it was wrapped in beautiful paper, imitating a kimono. Girls liked to play with such dolls, easily changing outfits, and sometimes hairstyles. A feature of the toys was the lack of a face, as well as on Russian charm dolls. It is very easy to create products using the anesama technique, the base can be made from cardboard, and expensive Japanese paper can be replaced with ordinary colored paper, beautiful dense napkins or bright pages of magazines.
Shibori
Needlework in Japan does not always have its own roots, for example, this technique was borrowed in India, but was first recognized in Japan and then conquered the whole world. Its essence is a kind of staining of the fabric. Unlike the classic one, where the fabric is simply lowered into a tub with dye, here it is pre-twisted, folded or knotted, and then paint is applied. It can be one or several colors. After that, the fabric is dried, straightened and completely dried. The dye falls only in the upper, accessible layers, without touching those that are in the nodes and folds. Thus, all kinds of ornaments, decorative stains and color transitions arise. Now you can find many items of clothing - jeans, t-shirts, scarves, dyed in this technique.
One of the applications of Japanese Shibori crafts is the creation of jewelry. To do this, the silk fabric is corrugated, and then the upper folds are stained. Such tapes can also be bought in the store, but the cost is quite high due to the fact that all the materials in the production are natural, and the work is manual. Using such ribbons in combination with beads and stones, you can create quite voluminous, but at the same time practically weightless products that will become a worthy decoration of the evening look.
There is nothing more soulful than a handmade gift. Japanese needlework offers great opportunities in creating a unique product that will not only decorate the interior, but will also be filled with a certain meaning. And the Japanese propensity to create miniature things will make it possible to make a unique thing from a small amount of material, as well as give a second, and maybe a third life, to unnecessary scraps and threads.