My friends from Yuza Sashiko Guild brought some of their sashiko teddy bears to our exhibition at Loch Lomond, where they were displayed in the foyer. Somehow I didn't get photos of them there, so these show some of the bears at Quilt Week Yokohama last November.
The bears were very popular with our visitors. Each one seems to have a different personality from the various sashiko patterns and the different scarves, ties, hats etc. they are wearing. The basic pattern is just a fairly typical teddy bear pattern - of course it is the Yuza Sashiko hitomezashi (one stitch) sashiko patterns that makes them so special! I had quite a few visitors asking if they could buy a bear, but these are the personal bears belonging to our quilters, so I had to say no. Also, they would take quite a few days to make, because of all the sashiko on them, plus the skill of assembling such small stuffed toys. I've made similar small toys before, without sashiko, and I know that just turning the heads right side out will have been a bit tricky with all the sashiko adding to the fabric bulk plus the relatively small neck diameter. It would be cute to try Yuza Sashiko patterns on various other soft toys - when I can find where I put my favourite 'Woman's Weekly' rabbit pattern, I'd like to make that. I have some old Japanese sewing books with much simpler toy patterns, including a tiger, that might adapt well to sashiko.
Here's Reiko Domon's bears 'at home' - so cute!
2 comments:
Absolutely wonderful, almost too cute to 'bear'! x
bears that size are definitely tricky to make and they look like they even have jointed/movable arms and legs, the stitching makes them very special. lovely
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