Kanzashi Bracelet, Part Quatre

It's cold. Here I am in one of my Winter Places, next to a heat duct. It's where I live. Helen lives there too, always has, I hear. She keeps the house at 64 degrees F, so who wouldn't be huddling in front of the heat?

So, more bracelets. These are bridal, and more variations and colors are on the way, I understand. The idea is similar to Helen's kanzashi headbands.....Greek goddess-like wreaths of laurel leaves, or something. First, the shantung silk single-leaf bracelet.....

...You might notice that the flower is not a kanzashi flower. Helen said she couldn't make one that small. Its purpose is to cover the snap closure, and of course, it's pretty. Here's our model wearing it.....

...and the other way.....

Buy it here . Next, a double-leaf, criss-crossed version of the same thing......

with a silk kanzashi flower. Another view...

Buy it here . So yeah, more of these on the way. Meanwhile, I'd like to show you Helen's new morning glory comb.....

Kimono silk with white tulle and a freshwater pearl. It's here in the Etsy shop. More stuff soon.

Wisteria

So, kanzashi are seasonal in Japan. Certain flowers go with certain months. Sometime in the spring, wisteria are all the rage. Wisteria are interpreted in kanzashi as....well....these dangling things, perfect for a cat to play with. A younger cat, that is. I'm certainly not amused with such trifles at my station in life. I am a Snowball Princess, you know.

Helen was scared of the whole idea and never tried it until her wedding-dress designer friend Lannette in California http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignByLannette was fantasizing about a dress with wisteria kanzashi dripping from the shoulder. Helen thought she'd give it a try as a comb hair accessory. About 3 months later (it was a slow, deliberative process) she came up with this:

And you can buy it here https://www.etsy.com/listing/102226652/blue-flower-hair-fascinator-kanzashi

OK, here are versions of wisteria from other kanzashi artists....sorry I can't name all of them:

By lilyashes on Etsy:

By littlecookie on Etsy:

By PolishedKanzashi on Etsy: 

My First Blog Post

 

I am Sadie the Snowball Princess, and I am a cat. I live with Helen, who makes these fabric hair accessories, and I told her that I would blog about them, since Helen doesn't seem to want to do it herself. Helen has been mainly making kanzashi lately. Want to know what that is?

Tsumami kanzashi are traditional Japanese flower hair accessories, originally worn by maiko, or geisha-in-training. Kanzashi flowers were usually made from old kimonos, which means silk, most of the time. They can also be made from other fabrics, such as cotton and linen. If you're cheating a bit, you can try making them from synthetics. Helen has a design made from fine wool, a pin-striped fabric given to her by Janine (J9), her seamstress/organic farmer friend who lives in the countryside. J9 makes a lot of men's garments....suits, ties, dress shirts, and gives Helen the remnants, for which Helen is eternally grateful!

Anyway, back to kanzashi. They are usually flowers. You make the flowers one petal at a time. It can be slow and tedious. There's the traditional way, and there's Helen's way. You are supposed to glue the petals; Helen hand-sews them. You are supposed to use rice paste to glue the petals together; Helen uses a hot-glue gun, because she is impatient. It's a slow art, and it takes time to understand the huge diversity of what you can do with it. Kanzashi makers are fabulously inventive!

All this writing has got me pooped! I need a nap, but first I'll post a few photos so that you can get some idea of what I'm talking about. Oh, I see I already have. Here's a set of bridal combs https://www.etsy.com/listing/97183120/bridal-flower-fascinator-combs-ivory made from vintage kimono silk that Helen's pal Jason's aunt gave to her. Three kinds of petals are represented here. Helen usually likes to sew beads in the center of her flowers, and she doesn't like manufactured stamens, which many kanzashi makers use. These beads are blue jade.

All right, nap time. More tomorrow, or something.