Temari Ball Embroidery Kit Tutorial - Swirl, Japanese handcraft

Please find the following link if you would like to purchase the kit Swirl Stitching (Uzumaki Kagari) is one of the basic Temari patterns. If you are not good at dividing the core ball, then the Swirl is a must try, since it doesn’ t need a very precise division. Once you know the secret of the Swirl, you will have the magic power to turn a core ball into a Swirl wonderland. Basically, you can fill in any shapes with swirl , diamonds, pentagons and of different shapes, different directions (clockwise and counterclockwise), or even change the density, would give you so many variations in the final look. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Temari (手まり) balls are a folk art form and Japanese craft, originating in China and introduced to Japan around the 7th century A.D. Temari are highly valued and cherished gifts, symbolizing deep friendship and loyalty. Also, the brilliant colors and threads used are symbolic of wishing the recipient a brilliant and happy life. Traditionally, becoming a craftsman in Japan was a tedious process. Becoming a temari artist in Japan today requires specific training, and one must be tested on one’s skills and technique before being acknowledged as a crafter of temari. Traditionally, temari were often given to children from their parents on New Year’s Day. Inside the tightly wrapped layers of each ball, the mother would have placed a small piece of paper with a goodwill wish for her child. The child would never be told what wish their mother had made while making the ball. Alternately, some balls contained “noisemakers“ consisting of rice grains or bells to add to the play value. It is said that traditional temari were wrapped so tightly they would bounce. Temari are also known as “gotenmari“. All temari are made according to some specific method of construction that involves dividing the mari into a number of sections through the use of temporarily placed pins and permanently placed threads. There are three “standard divisions“ which are recognized: simple division (tanjun toubun), 8-combination division (hachitoubun no kumiawase), and 10-combination division (juutoubun no kumiawase). ---------------------------------------From wikipedia--------------------------------------