Last of the Japanese Dolls

Comments Off on Last of the Japanese Dolls

There are a lot of Japanese dolls I could make, but this one lent itself to my very cute (kawaii) theme. This is a “teru teru bezu” doll. These are made from cloth and given a little drawn-on face and hung much like Halloween ghosts. They are supposed to ward off rain. My little teru teru bezu is soooo cute! He’s a bit dimensional, as his head is stuffed and raised up a bit. I had a great time making him on the plane to San Diego.

Read More

Kokeshi madness

Comments Off on Kokeshi madness

I have a lot of pages in my notebook dedicated to Kokeshi designs. They are so cute and easy to do with their legless, armless body. It’s all about the head and hair with these dolls. I almost made her a “Cute but Evil” doll, but that was not the theme. I also firmly decided that the beautiful soft yellow chrysanthemum batik (of which I only have a fat quarter) would be the background for all this month’s themed quilts. It’s so pretty.

I watched “Curse of the Golden Flower” and loved the costumes in that movie.

Went to see “Wall-E” this weekend with my dad. Bring a hankie. I needed mine! But I cry at tissue commercials, for what it’s worth. There’s a quilt somewhere in that EVE design….
Read More

Kawaii Hina Matsuri

Comments Off on Kawaii Hina Matsuri

What Japanese doll theme would be complete without Hina Matsuri dolls? This set of dolls of the emperor and empress are brought out for Girl’s day in Japan. I could not find a “kawaii” or “cute” version, so I was on my own for this one. After a few sketches, I found a design I liked. I added sleeves to the emperor because he looked like a shmoo otherwise.

I have lots of vintage kimono fabric, mostly “chirimen” or a rayon material made for kimono and crafts. I fused these down, and was happy with the results. The material did not get hard or stiff as I expected.
So cute!
Read More

July’s weekly theme is Japanese dolls

Comments Off on July’s weekly theme is Japanese dolls

I love Japanese culture. I especially love the idea of Kawaii (Cute) and Zakka (Simple living). This week’s doll is a daruma doll. I first learned about these from a Nohohon Zoku special edition I have that was made as a gift for “good luck with studying for tests”. The idea of the daruma doll is that the doll comes with white eyes. You make a wish, and fill in the one eye. When your wish comes true, you fill in the other eye and hang proudly in your home. I made my wish and sewed in the one eye. If my wish comes true, I will fill in the other eye and post it finished here.

I like this kawaii version of the daruma so much that I might offer it as a pattern. What do you think?
Read More