Since rain was the weather of the day, I thought a rain cloud based kanzashi would be ideal but what to make the clouds from? I wanted a soft and wispy feel to them because they are suppose to be clouds but what materials should I use?
I thought about using many fabric from white cotton to felt but all didn't give the puffy look that I wanted. Then I came across needle felting while I was just strolling through the internet, could this be the answer to my question?
My good friend Katie Chaplin who runs Japan Crafts sold needle felting kits and I thought why not give it a go.
First I needed to get the hang of needle felting by making something simply. A little yellow star.
Isn't it cute. It looks like the stars the Mario collects from the games (or that could be my imagination)
So practice over time to make a cloud. With a vague look in mind I set about making this cloud. The off-white roving was good as it gave the impression of a raincloud and after a new minutes of stabbing the needle, I built up a cloud that fitted my ideas.
I added some blue roving to give the cloud some more definition and for a second go not bad at all.
Time to make the clouds for the bridge part of the maiko kanzashi. This time I wanted a series of small clouds which I could arrange rather then one big long cloud. While I was making those, the blue roving gave me an idea of making raindrops as well. After some more stabbing with the needle my results was these little darlings.
I have created my soft and wispy clouds! Hooray!
I still have a bit more work on this kanzashi as I need to make the rainfall for the large cloud and then give the whole design some sparkle but it is on its way.
For all of you who are interested in the needle felting kit, you can purchase them from Japan Craft here.
