What does a kanzashi maker do on a rainy day? - Part 3

So out of the four flowers that I have created that. 

That just leaves one more.  What could this fourth flower be?

I will tell you right now!

It is a periwinkle and I choose this flower because of the unusual shaped petals.  They have a slight asymmetry to them and I have not made petals using the tsumami technique that are asymmetric because it is not as easy as it seems.

Anyway it is a good petal to try and recreate and after much pondering, sticking petals to my sleeves and general fabric flying around, this is the end result!

I do have some issues with the petals like although the general shape is pleasuring, I wish I could form the sharp angles that are on the flower.  I suppose with a little bit of starch I should be able to do this however this version is softer in appearance.

What so you think?

Kanzashi experiment continue!!!

So I have taken a break from making new flowers and came back to my old favourite KUSUDAMA!!!

I do love kusudama as they are little balls of cuteness and it took me ages to perfect them.

However I have only once made one from cotton fabric so I thought I should make some more.  Therefore off I want to my fabric shop, brought some quilting fabric (and a bit more for kimono project) and here are there results.

The fabric I use is a beige/cream fabric with little pink/red roses all over it and it has created a kusudama with a country chic feel to it, don't you think?  It is always interesting to see what sort of kanzashi one can create when they use non-silk fabric.

What does a kanzashi maker do on a rainy day? - Part 2

So earlier I told you that the top two flowers were my attempts to create a white lilac flower.

What about the other two?

The next one I decided to have a try to recreate is the primrose.

I think you can guess why I wanted to create.  Don't the heart shape petals look cute?  Now I could create this flower using the same method as making cherry blossoms but I felt it deserved a new way. 

Therefore using the round petal as a base, I decided that adding additional pleats in the centre would give the petal a flatter look.  Then of course the only thing left to do is add the little pinch at the centre to create the heart shape.  Unfortunately some of the pinches didn't last very long as I used un-starch fabric but you get the idea.

As always comments and criticisms are welcome.

What does a kanzashi maker do on a rainy day? - Part 1

It is beginning of February and all I see out of my window is rain, rain and more rain.

Well that spoilt my idea of wandering out for a walk so instead I got my thinking cap on and created some more kanzashi flowers.

Inspired by my friends re-enactment I decided to concentrate on flowers that are popular in the regency period.  You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to find a list but I managed it and I picked three flowers to start off.

The first flower I thought I would recreate is this one.

This is a white lilac and as you notice, it is a four petal flower with a little yellow centre.  

My first thought was to use a round petal and create a narrow petal but somehow this does not look right.  It has the slight curve at the edge but the centre just does not work.

So I had a thought and decided to use a petal design that I rarely used.  The folded pointed petal, it starts off life as a pointed petal but then you fold up the edges to create something similar to the round petal.

Anyway the results are this!

This is much better then the first design as it gives the impression of a concave petal and the best thing about this design is that it naturally creates a trumpet shape in the centre.

What do you think?

New kanzashi design!

So I have been toying with the idea of making a rose kanzashi for a long time and after a conversation with a good friend of mine, I have decided to make them.

Another reason why I made them was that fact that the weather has once again forced me to stay indoors.  It is raining cats and dogs right now!

Here were my trial ones.

The first one was one made using round petals and give a soft romantic rose.

Whereas this rose design is made using opened pointed petals.

Both are very cute especially the second design which has a modern feel to it but as I am making these for friend of mine who is into reenactment I went for the first design.

So the next stage is to make them with proper fabric.  I had some soft white cotton fabric leftover from a dressmaking project which I thought would be perfect as I wanted the kanzashi to fit in with her reenactment.

Now I need to get them into some hair to see how they look.

It has been so long since my last kanzashi post!

Hello my followers!

Things have been very hectic for me in the last couple of weeks.

If going home for Christmas was not stressful enough, I had to organise a tiny relocation.  Tiny being that I moved all the stuff from Sheffield to the lovely city of Belfast!

Yep everything had to be packed away and it was a bit sad moving away from Sheffield as I did love living there but my partner got a job here in Belfast which he couldn't refuse so off we went.

It has been just over a week since we got here and so far to good.  We have located all the shops which we need to survive and found the most efficient route to his new work place.

For me, I still need to re-organise my work table but it will slowly be done.

Anyway Kitty Kanzashi is back in business but now operating from Belfast!

Don't forget you can buy any of the following kanzashi from my etsy store.

Midnight Sparkle
https://www.etsy.com/listing/88859163/kanzashi-navy-blue-hairclip-midnight

Union Jack Kusudama
https://www.etsy.com/listing/96383555/tsumami-kanzashi-union-jack-kusudama

And as it is Valentine Day coming up how about some valentine day kanzashi?

Two Hearts
https://www.etsy.com/listing/92459099/kanzashi-red-fabric-flower-hairclip-two

Intertwine
https://www.etsy.com/listing/92459099/kanzashi-red-fabric-flower-hairclip-two

Side by Side
https://www.etsy.com/listing/91564668/red-heart-kanzashi-hairclip

Why I love Kimono - Reason 6

They say variety is the spice of life and kimono is always full of variety.

Whether it is the designs available or the way you style your outfit, there is so many things you can do with kimono and this is especially true for the obi!

Of course these ones are for special occasions like the Coming of Age ceremony where the flashier the musubi the better!

But even the humble otaiko musubi has variations as well.

This is the standard version which I normally tie when I am casually wearing kimono with my friends.

However this is not the only way to tie a otaiko musubi.

Here are a couple of more ways to tie it.

http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~tomasan/kawaritaiko.html

This one is actually very cute and I must try this one day!

So as you can see, this is another reason to why I love kimono!