Temari definitions with illustrations

You can find some wonderful resources on the internet for temari making and here are two places to visit where you can find lots of help with terminology.

Barb Suess has consolidated a set of definitions and illustrations onto a single web page here. There are also several links (in red type) that will take you to step by step pages and other additional learning resources.

Temarikai also has a long list of how tos in the toolkit here. There are also definitions on other pages.

Why is it important to use the same words? Well simply it helps us all to communicate effectively. Temari makers are scattered across the globe and we all speak our own native languages (even English is different based on which country you live) so by learning a unified temari language we can all understand each other and discuss temari concepts in spite of our own language differences.

Video Temari Tutorial Series released

I have been quietly working on this video tutorial project over the last few months and now it has been released in our supply store. Books and Internet sites are both fantastic (and highly recommended) resources for learning temari making but (if you're like me) nothing sinks in like an actual live demonstration.  I need to see what happens between the photos.  This tutorial series shows you how to make your very first temari.

There are five episodes (40+ minutes in total) demonstrating every step from how to prepare the temari base through to measuring & marking with pins into a Simple 8 division and laying the guideline threads. This series shows you how to make a classic simple obi and includes two traditional pole designs using Herringbone stitch. Use the two designs on the same ball or make two temari using a design on each.  A handy temari supplies shopping list and printable copy of the instructions are also included on the disk. 

A handy temari supply shopping list, history, colour & motif information and a printable copy of the instructions are also included on the disk.

I planned to offer this series as a download the file but size was just too large to allow it. You'll have no problem viewing the tutorials on a Window Media Player, it is a WMV file. (Mac: You may be able to download a converter from the Internet... and if you are a mac user you probably already know how or have done it.)

This is the ONLY item in our store that is set up to ship to locations outside Australia.  Visit our store to see all the details.

Year 10 Japanese Class - Session 2

Monday 15th was my second visit (and sadly last) to teach temari at school.  Now it's back to actually learning the Japanese language.  Wow! Didn't our classes just fly by??? 

Here is another shout out to all the students reading this blog. You know who you are!! I thought the classes were great fun.  We made great progress.  I am sending along a set of videos for Sensei to help you complete the design.  But there are some photos below to remind you.

Thank you for showing your interest in these temari making classes... I know we all learned something new.

Year 10 Japanese Class - Session 1

Yesterday I was lucky to be able to bring the craft of temari to 60 students at a Perth Secondary College.  I'm not sure if privacy allows me to mention the school by name, but here is a shout out to these students reading this blog. You all know who you are!!  I thought the classes were a blast. We got all of our bases made and hopefully the balls will be divided for homework and we'll be ready to stitch next week.

Regular readers may recall me mentioning the prospect of taking this class last year. At one point I had thought that we were jinxed because it had to be rescheduled twice, but now we have had our first of few sessions.  Next Monday we will have our second lesson where I will demonstrate the bi-coloured Kiku.

The pic above is a sample bowl of balls I took along for the classes.  I always take along lots of different styles and try to mix up the sizes too.  The largest ball in the bowl is a pattern I purchased from Barb Suess and always elicits the biggest wow from people who haven't seen temari before.  I can also see in the bottom of the bowl my take on a CHA Fujix ball pattern that Glenna Kipp deciphered - this pattern always gets people asking 'How did you do this?" I also took a small selection of books along for the class to flip through. These are probably actually my favorite 'this is temari and this is how you do it' books.

In this photo are the two best English language books on temari (IMHO). Barb's book is quite easy to get hold of  and the Wood book is harder to find but can be ordered through a good book store.  There is also a Cosmo book (#1 of 7 that we sell in our store) and a few other Japanese Language books (the two center books are currently out of print) and the mini book is not out of print but is hard to find... I think I got mine from an Etsy seller.

You can probably see the corner of the little baggies in the pic above. These contain samples of the core materials I use.  Rice hull (OF COURSE my FAV!!!), socks, drier lint and orts and sliced up fabric bits are all items that are inside the sample balls in the bowl.

.... and I think I can see some budding temari addicts.

Temari Class

Our new class is almost here.... it begins on June 7th and we called it Temari 101. The very basics of this craft will be taught over 3 weeks (approx six hours in total).

I have put together a starter kit for students attending with all kinds of goodies (some of which can prove challenging to find in Perth). The emails have been flying, instructions printed and mud maps have been made. We will explore contruction of the mari and learn 4 designs. I hope to post pictures later.

If you live in Perth and are interested in attending a future class email me for details.