Japanese bag therapy

This is, I notice, my 515th blog post. Seems apt that it should be published on 21/01/20.

Christmas made a serious dint in my supply of the large drawstring bags I use in place of wrapping paper. I still had a good supply of small bags but decided I needed to make more medium and large bags. My whole family uses and recycles these bags so I like to keep the supply going - and the making of them is, for me, enjoyable, even therapeutic.

In the past I have purchased vintage sari and kimono pieces for these bags. This time I unpicked a kimono jacket given to me by my daughter. It took a bit of unpicking as it turned out to be made from a huge length of obi-width fabric, folded and tacked ingeniously - as kimonos usually are. Regretably, I didn't take photos of the unpicking and ingenious folds.


The jacket was fully lined. In some cases I used the lining as a lining for a bag. In other cases I made a bag of the lining and a bag of the outer layer.

It made 23 bags of very varied size, from very small to fairly large. I like to let the fabric dictate the shape and size. Flaws and holes get incorporated. I kept as much of the original hand-stitching as I could. Much of it was stitched using two rows of running stitch.

After stitching the bags, I spent a relaxing evening finding matching ribbon or drawstrings of various cords, such as shoelaces.  A further hour or so was spent finding stoppers for the cords, using the remains of old earrings, buttons or, in some cases, knots.

I could have done with some more red ribbon, but made do with the strong pink I had at hand.

A very satisfactory result for a few hours work.

I really love recycling!

BATB: Margaret Lee Japanese Beading

This is a quick post while Beating Around the Bush is still underway. I have done two classes - a two day Japanese Beading class with Margaret Lee and a one day Whitework Button Class with Jenny Adin Christie. Three day classes are underway this week but I have not enrolled. Two new projects is my limit - otherwise I am overwhelmed with unfinished projects and unable to consolidate what I learn.

This post focuses on the first of my classes - the Japanese Beading. I found it quite demanding. I learned heaps. I'm very glad I had done the Merrilyn Whittle projects last month as preparation. They gave me time to get an idea of the genre and know the questions to ask. All my questions were answered. While I don't see myself turning into a beader, I could see a way forward with Japanese beading as long term study and work under Margaret's tutilage. It is an art form, and apprenticeship-type learning would produce terrific results.

I used a slate frame for the first time. Margaret very generously gave up the afternoon before the class to teach us to set up our frames and projects. I can see the importance and value in setting up your beading work space. Getting the position, light and angles to suit took quite a long time and my back gave me a lot of trouble in the first day.  I did a lot of standing and walking in breaks. The second day I also took my spiky ball and massaged my sacroiliac joint at frequent intervals.

Margaret is an energetic and intelligent teacher. There were 17 in the class and she worked endlessly and tirelessly to give individual attention - analysing and helping us improve technique. We began with the simplest and easiest motifs and techniques, seeing results and achievements early, building up quickly to more complex work.

By the end of two days we had covered all techniques required. I can now use a koma and know how to place my beading shoe on my work to maximum effect. I have the beginnings of knowing how to choose beads and the importance  of a laying tool. Now it's a matter of practice and repetition. This is very much the kind of work you perfect over a lifetime and that benefits from a master-apprenticeship model. It's no wonder women come to study with Margaret from around the world on a regular basis. It is the way to learn and become skilled.                                                                                                                                   I don't think I will become expert in this genre - but if I were to do so, I'd enrol to study with Margaret. I will, however, finish this piece.

I need to set the project up properly at home so I can work on it as I get the time. I don't find working at a table comfortable and I doubt my floor frame is up to the job. I need to solve this problem later this week. 

There is a great atmosphere at BATB. I enjoyed sitting back and observing the atmosphere or talking to people in breaks. The majority, it seemed to me, were from outside Adelaide - from country towns, interstate and, like my own US house guest, from overseas. It's an important opportunity from women to pursue their passion with kindred spirits and spend time focused on something of great importance to them. Much knowledge is passed on. Many who are attending classes to learn also teach in other contexts - there is a sense of community.

The market day on Saturday saw an extraordinary array of small specialist providers display and sell their wares - things you rarely see gathered together in one place. I forgot to take photos, unfortunately. 

My next post will have some photos and progress on my white work buttons - a slightly less ambitious project, but also very beautiful.

Japanese Beading: Hana

Within hours of finishing my 'Anastasia' Japanese beading project, I had begun on the second project, Hana, from Inspirations 91.  My Japanese beading learning had become an obsession. I was a woman on a mission. I needed to perfect the technique - and I needed scissor fobs.

Hana was an easier project than Anastasia - largely because the basic pattern was a simple repeat of a flower motif. While the colour varied, the technique for each was the same, encouraging practice.

This did not prevent me from making the most fundamental of errors - not reading the whole set of instructions through carefully before plunging in. I discovered, rather late in the piece, that the lower petals had fewer beads than the upper petals - which left me with a shortage of beads. This was exacerbated by the blue beads having holes too small for the beading needle provided. As I could barely thread the needle provided. I improvised by borrowing beads left over from Anastasia and living with the colour variation.

The trickiest part of this project, in terms of manipulating beads, was getting the stems crossing over each other.

To help hold the tension on the long string of edging beads I used the traditional Japanese wooden koma - which I had bought from Merrilyn Whittle. This is designed to tension your needle when laying a long line of beads. I found it a bit light for the task. For me, tensioning my needle in a heavy pincushion served me better. I hope, however, at some point (I've enrolled in a Margaret Lee Japanese Beading Class at Beating Around the Bush in October) to learn a bit more about this tool and improve my technique.




Although far from perfect, I was pleased with this piece. I like its stark simplicity.









Again, I constructed it without glue. Another pair of scissors with a fob!


An addendum to this post is that I began using these scissors with fob and inadvertently dropped them unloading my car at my daughter's home in Adelaide. By the time I realised what I had done, they had spent a night on the wet grass. They seem, however, to have recovered!

Japanese Beading:Purple Anastasia

Yes, I did continue my Japanese beading frenzy and finish the third project I had purchased - the purple Anastasia. As the pattern is the same as the original Anastasia, I will not post photos of every stage.







This time I decided to vary the order in which I worked. Instead of working the centre, then each of the corners in sequence I worked the centre, then one corner, then all the leaves, all the stamens etc. I have found this method works for me when doing tapestry or cross stitch and it seemed to work here too.  When working with thread, it enables me to use up the thread in my needle. Here it enabled me to place more beads on the 'shoe' and reduce the number of times I dipped into little plastic bags of beads.

One thing I enjoyed about this beading technique is the use of two needles (once I figured out I needed to store both to them above rather than below the hoop)-one with a double thread for threading the beads and one with a single thread for couching them. I eventually developed quite a good rhythm with this.









In this project it was the pink beads that the beading needle provided didn't go through. I managed to find a 'between' needle that was fine enough yet with an eye I could thread.










Once again, I made this up as a scissor fob.

This exercise in Japanese beading was prompted by this year's Embroiderer's Guild Ethnic Studies Group focus on beading. It's given me a feel for the process and tools of Japanese beading, and raised some questions I'll be able to raise when I do Margaret Lee's class at Beating Around the Bush next week. I'm particularly interested in any tips for threading a beading needle (or whether some brands or styles are easier than others), how to effectively use a koma and ways of laying out beads while working.