Temari are Japanese thread balls. They are a folk art form originating in China and later introduced to Japan. Temari means “hand ball” in Japanese and these were originally created as children’s toys. Historically, Temari were constructed from remnants of old kimonos where pieces of silk fabric would be wadded to form a ball, then the wad would be wrapped with strips of fabric. Today many use styrofoam balls and wrap these with a base thread. Designs are embroidered to the core base often in geometric patterns, usually symmetrical with many design elements from nature.
I mentioned in my previous posts that I needed to find some talented individual who would make me some. I follow Judy’s blog who is a Canadian fiber artist. She sometimes posts lovely photos of Temari balls created by a friend of hers. SO, I contacted her friend Verna!
Verna created this gorgeous ball for my collection!
Verna started with a background of an aqua/green blend to wrap the ball. The pattern is “Merry-go-round” from Barbara Seuss’ book Temari Techniques. She has used size 8 perle cotton, colour #184 which is a spring green monochromatic blend. She has accented this with colour #185 – a purple blend and colour #145 – a green and purple blend, both in size 8 perle cotton.
Thank you Verna! I’ll be posting more of these soon so stay tuned. Have a great weekend.
