My first chirimen class ( 始めのちりめんクラス)

I had a lot of fun at my very first chirimen class today at The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur. They organized a chirimen handicraft workshop conducted by Mrs Ama.

We made a flower-shaped accessory pouch.

Had to hand stitch the whole bloody thing from scratch and oh my goodness, it took me almost 2 whole hours to do it!

Chirimen is a kind of Japanese fabric. "Chirimen" is traditional craft with the history from the Edo period (1603-1867). Chirimen(crape) is beautiful silk fabrics with small wrinkles, and it has been loved as a material of a Japanese kimono from the Edo period to the present age. And, the "Chirimen work" which sews up the small remaining cloth of silk crape and makes pouches, animals, dolls, toys, etc. were popular. "Chirimen work" is the handicraft which cultivates the mind and aesthetic sense which esteem a thing, and makes a hand skillful. And it made as one of the culture of a Japanese woman.

The project we did today consists of 3 parts
a) the base
b) the central trumpet
c) the pull strings with flower bud ends

So this is what happened in class :)

These are the materials we worked with. Two large circular pieces of cloth and two smaller ones (not in picture), two rectangular pieces and two pieces of string.

Making the base

Here's the round pieces of cloth. you can see that the one on the right has actually been reinforced and will act as the main piece. These two round pieces will form the base of the flower pouch.

So first you start by hand stitching from that marked line... all the way to the other end and then back. Leave that little "X" area because you'll need an opening to flip this inside out.

When you're done, it should look like this. It looks prettier if you use different colors and patterned cloths to make the base.

Then fold in that little"X" spot and pin it down. You'll want to do an inside stitch so that it doesn't show. Make sure you keep it in a nice circular shape while you sew this up.

It should look something like this.

Making the central trumpet

The next step is to make the central trumpet of the flower. Take the two rectangular cloth pieces and sew in the for corners towards that pencil marking area. It should look like a long tube with two slits at the side.

When you're done stitching, you need to turn it inside out and make both ends meet at both ends. Then you'll see that the part that has no stitches will form a little passage way which will be used for the strings later. You'll want to stitch around that side - give it about 1.5cm in length from the top so that the strings won't go elsewhere.

When you're done with that, do a similar stitching to the bottom of the central trumpet and tuck it inwards so that you can attach it to the base.

Attaching the central trumpet to the base

Attach to the base and sew it in firmly, but not too tight because you don't want to see any snagged cloth.

Then use a pentagon piece to mark the five points which you will pull in and stitch onto the central trumpet.

It should look like this. Stitch it following the earlier line of the central trumpet to "disguise" the marks.

Adding on the strings

Then string the pieces of string in. One will go in the left, come out the right, in the top/bottom and come back out the left forming a "U" shape. Do this for both sides.

Secure both ends of the string with some string and then here you sew on the smaller round pieces to the end. Take the small circles and fold it in half, sew the string ends in firmly and flip it inside out.

It should look like a small flower bud when you're done. As you can see, the strings are hidden inside the flower bud.

Tadaa!!!! and you're done
My first Chirimen flower accessory pouch!

These are the other people in class sewing away. Too bad the JFKL only organizes these stuff once a year... would really love to attend more! :)