Fabric Haul - Blue with mixed motifs silk

Now something usual, a silk kimono bolt.

I normally I favour wool or cotton bolts as they are easy to work and look after but I would not resist this one.

It is a love blue with lots of tiny strips of paper.

The back of the bolt.  Hmmm the blue dye has not gone through to the back.

What is nice about this one is the markings.  They are actually dyed into the fabric.  Look at gourd border!

The bolt has two names on it.  

And this one which is inside a gourd, what does the gourd mean?  There is also a plain white square which I will assume is where a stamp would normally be place but this one does not have one.  I wonder way?

What is lovely about this bolt is the little motifs on the strips of paper.

Here you can see some seigaha wave, maple leaf and chrysanthemum.

Where as this one we have kasamatsu and I'm not sure what the pattern is called on the left.

I really would love to use this to make a kimono out of it as it would be a lovely simple komon but it would also make a lovely dress as well.  I have a feeling this will sit in my collection for a couple of years before I turn it into something.

Back to relaxing kanzashi - Black and Red Kiku.

Have I ever mention that I like making kiku kanzashi?

If not, then I will say it now.  I love making kiku kanzashi!  Yep they are just fun to make.

Yes they do take forever to make due to the sheer number of petals that each one has but I think the results just speak for themselves.

So what was the design in my head?  Well a black and red maiko style kanzashi.

Similar to one of these but in black and red.

So the first thing to do is get some fabric.

For some reason I wanted to revisit habutai silk because it is easier to make kiku kanzashi with rice glue as you can fold all the petals at once and then slowly assemble them.

However getting black and red habutai is not cheap so off I went to buy some silk and a home dyeing kit.

Then there is the starching and cutting all the 1 inch squares of fabric.

Before finally making the rice glue and prepping the bases.

Here is the first 3 kiku petals folded.

And then the next 5 lots.

In total these 8 kiku used 512 petals!  That is a lot of petals even by my standards but look at them.  I love them already.

Now to create some interesting falls and additional bit and voila we have a funky maiko set!

Closeup of the falls.

The finished kiku.

and here you can see the extra bits for the bridge.

In total this kanzash used wait for it 601 petals!  This has by far been the most petal intensive kanzashi I made but I live it.  I am very pleased with the falls as they turned out just how I wanted them.  I was scared they would not fall properly but it worked.

Now I will enjoy them for a little while before deciding what do to with it.

Wedding Kanzashi - Part Three

For the past week, all I have been thinking about is my wedding. My partner and I have sorted out the reception, menu and guest list. Table decorations have been brought and they are all around my future mother in law house ready to be assembled closer to the date.

Oh and my own mother is constantly changing her mind on the type of cake I'm having. First it had to be a three tier cake because it will look good, then it was mini cakes and one large cake because she saw them in a wedding magazine and thought they look good and now it is back to the three tier cake because she is having trouble finding boxes. Sigh.........I don't need this at all.

So to calm my nerves I decided to make my kanzashi and following my partner's excellent advice, I made the kanzashi that will be used to decorate my hair!

I had trouble deciding on the arrangement because I actually do not know how big my hairdo will be on the big day since it has grown a couple more inches since the wedding hair trial and I'm torn between having flowers all around the bun or just concentrating them on the top.

Therefore the solution is to mount them on individual hairpins which will allow the hairdresser the freedom to arrange them.

The pins I used are 6.5cm which may seem long but my hair bun will be huge so the length will ensure they stay in the hair.

As normal, the pearls are not glued onto the flowers because in the past they have fallen off on my own personal kanzashi. Instead they are attached to the flower and hairpin with a thin wire which keeps them in a stable position.

I am now tempted to make them for my etsy store now.

What do you think?

Wedding Kanzashi - Part two

Playing around with silk dupion is fun but I also got sent some purple lace as well from Bound by Obsession.

I have always wondered what kanzashi would look like made from lace and at first I was a little hesitant to cut up this lovely lace but I bit the bullet.

And now it is time to make the kanzashi.

The flower at the back is not a kanzashi but a rose that I made because it dawned on me that I may need some more substantial flowers in my bouquet.

What do you think?

And so the adventure begins.....

My wedding day is fast approaching and it is time to begin the mountain of kanzashi I have to make for my hair, bouquet and buttonhole flowers for the wedding party.

I though wouldn't it be good to make the flowers from the same fabric that my dress will be made from and I was lucky that Bound by Obsession was kind enough to post me some of the fabric. The fabric is lovely, there is something about dupion silk that I just love the look of.

So as you may have gathered that I couldn't wait to use it and I wanted to take more photos of the process however I got a little carried away and by the time I realised what I have done I have already finished the first batch.

What I can't decide is what to make first?

I could make the buttonhole flowers. This one is for my mother and father to wear.

And this one is for my future husband, his brother/best man and his mother.

Or I can start to arrange my bouquet.

I haven't had a chance to think about my hair ones but it will be very similar to the buttonhole flowers but with something extra.

Candy Amore-Japanese inspired hairband and buttonhole flower

Here is another one of my wedding designs which combines two of my passions, kimono and kanzashi. This one is just so sweet!

Candy Amore-Japanese inspired hairband

and buttonhole flower

“I want candy”

A “kawaii” or cute matching set made from a vintage piece of kimono fabric to give the bride and groom something unique.

The hairband measures 17 x 15cm x 8cm while the buttonhole flower measures 10cm x 3cm x 1.5cm.

This one is priced $100.00 (not including postage and packaging)

If this one does not take your fancy then please visit my etsy store for more designs. I am sure there will be one which will take your fancy. I can also customise your kanzashi to match your wedding theme if you like, just drop me an email (kittykanzashi@gmail.com).

Golden series - new kanzashi designs

After being a good girl and spent the last few days studying, I have come up with three new designs titled the "Golden series".

Called this because the silk fabric is golden in colour.

I will keep the designs under wrap until I have made them so keep your eyes peeled for them.

New Kanzashi

After much planning I have created my new kanzashi which I have called Jade Ume.

My inital design is below.


The design uses the graduate green silk that I brought on ebay and I wanted to take advantage of the graduated green.

I also wanted to add some falls onto the kanzashi as it has been a long time since I have done this. As you can see from the plan, the falls are not the traditional ones used on kanzashi.

Anyway the end result is this!



I have to say, it has turned out nicely. I have not decided whether to mount this onto a haircomb or hairband. My inital thought is a hairband but I'm not so sure now.

Here are close up of the kanzashi.





As normal, if you are interested in this kanzashi then let me know! I am trying to figure out a way of painting silk to create the graduated colour. Any suggestions will be welcome.