How to Create Bingata - Okinawa Fabric Art

Have you ever heard of bingata? I was first introduced to it when I visited Okinawa, Japan in 2014.  It's different from painting on fabric because you use a stencil to create your design.  A stencil means anyone can learn to create bingata.

Bingata is Okinawa's traditional way of dying fabric using stencils and bright dyes.  This art form has been around for over 500 years and was used by the samurai-class and the royal family in the Ryukyu Kingdom. 

I'm certainly not an expert on the history of this fabric art form, but I do know that I love the bright colors associated with it. It is beautiful! And since I love learning about fabric art, bingata intrigued me from the moment I saw it.

For more information about it's history, go to Shuri Ryusen site. 

During my latest trip to Japan (where my daughter and her family lives), my daughter and I took a class from Bingata Kijimuna which is in Nago on the island of Okinawa.

These are the brushes we used to create our bingata.  Every color of dye needs it's own set of brushes.  The smaller brush is used to add the shadow dye to the fabric and the bamboo brush is used to scrub the shadow color into the fabric. The bamboo brushes were made by the shop owners. Their bristles are short and stubby. They are made from bamboo that grows on this tropical island with bristles that are actually human hair. In the background, you'll notice a darling flower shaped paint pallet. I just love how cute this paint pallet is!

To give bingata a whirl, follow these steps below. You may just love it as much as I did.

1. Start with your choice of a stencil.  This is the stencil I used. (I'm the older lady in the white shirt.)
2. Lay the stencil onto pretreated fabric (pretreated fabric just means you've washed the fabric and dried it in a hot drier). Squeegee on rice paste through the stencil onto fabric.
3. Carefully remove the stencil.
4. Use a blow drier to completely dry the rice paste.
5. The dried fabric will look like this.
6. Get out the fabric dyes and put into small containers or a paint dish. 
7. Using a small brush for each color, paint the dyes onto the fabric with the brushes by rubbing them into the fabric.
8. This is my daughter and I working on our projects in the shop. Once your basic colors are brushed onto the fabric, use a blow drier and completely dry them.
9. The second layer of paint is added next.  These are the shadow colors. Add the shadow colors into selected areas of the design with a smaller brush.  See the chart below to know which shadow colors are used with which basis dyes.  With the bamboo brush, scrub the dyes, feathering the dyes into the main color.
10. Once finished painting the shadow dyes into the fabric, blow the dyes dry.  Below is a close-up of what the fabric will look like before the rice paste is washed off.

This color chart for creating bingata was made by the shop, Bingata Kijimuna, where we took our lessons. There are only 12 dyes used in bingata. The 12 colors are yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, burgundy, kelly green, sky blue, brown, grey, navy blue and a dark brown. The second column on the chart shows which four shadow colors are used with which main dyes. The only shadow dyes used are red, brown, navy blue and kelly green. (Any thicker fabric dye should work.)

Once your dyes are dry, you must wait at least 48 hours to wash the rice glue off your fabric.  This step is done by putting your fabric in very hot water and letting it sit there for about 4-6 hours.  At the end of that time, some rice glue may need to be scrubbed off.  I simply turned on the hot water and with my fingers scrubbed those areas.

This is my finished bingata design. This design is called "cherry blossoms and running water." To see the variety of traditional designs, go here. There are some beautiful designs to chose from! 

My daughter painted her design onto a tote bag. This design is called "cherry blossoms."

The owners and artists, of Bingata Kijimuna are shown on the left.  They were friendly, warm and very helpful in teaching us how to create Bingata.  My daughter and I both loved our class! If you live near, or visit Okinawa, go take a class. If you love fabric art, be brave and gather the supplies to experience this fun, traditional art form.  xoxo Grandma

For Supplies go here:
 

For more information on bingata see these books:

    

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Darling Baby Doll Carrier

See this darling little redhead in these photos? She's my spunky granddaughter and to say she loves her doll is an understatement. Last time I visited her, she tried to wrap a belt around her waist and stick her doll into the belt.  Her poor doll just wouldn't stay put in her makeshift baby carrier. So this time, before my next visit to see her, I made this darling little doll carrier with adjustable straps. I mixed several patterns to come up with this one, but my favorite looking pattern was the one from Oliver + S in a book called "Little Things to Sew."  If you were to ask me what my favorite part of this project was though... I'd definitely tell you it was how much time it took to make. From beginning to end this darling baby doll carrier only took me 45 minutes to sew. 

The straps on this carrier cross in the back and button in the front.  I added a second set of buttons 3" lower, so that when she grows, she'll still be able to use this carrier.  I even tested it out on her almost five year old brother, just to make sure. 

I added a pocket to the front of the carrier and tucked a 3" piece of black and white checked ribbon tag at the top, right side of the pocket.

I attached the bottom straps to the main straps with Velcro since this product needed to be very child friendly.

These carriers even work great for stuffed animals. Here's this cute little granddaughter watching the Presidential Inauguration with her dad the day after the rest of the nation saw it. Her amazing father (my son-in-law) is part of the U.S. Air Force and this cute family of theirs is stationed halfway around the world in Japan. That meant the actual inauguration aired in the middle of the night there. I'm so grateful for people like him, who willingly serve.

Back to the topic at hand... Do you have a child who loves dolls or stuffed animals? If they're trying to mimic their mom's who use baby carriers for their younger siblings, this might be a good 45 minute investment.  Don't want to make one?  No problem, go HERE.  xoxo Grandma

Featured at:  Threading My Way 

Warm Snuggly Nightgown from Scraps

If you are a big sewer, like me, you probably have leftover scraps from projects that were too large to just toss out.  My stash of those scraps grows daily. While going though my stack, I found two different blues that were minky and a scrap of "Frozen" fleece. So, without further ado... here is my monthly scrap busting project.

Using this pattern:  

Purchase HERE

I cut out the nightgown sleeves, neck facing, and a pocket from the "Frozen" fabric. I also cut out one of the images to use on the back of the nightgown.  I used the light blue minky for the front fabric.  The dark, royal blue minky was used for the for back of the nightgown.  I love how all three fabrics worked together.

This is how the "scrap" nightgown turned out:

The results of this scrap busting project were a warm, soft nightgown.  Plus three less scraps in my stash.  A win win situation.  Plus, that cute little girl up there lives in South Dakota. Do you know how cold it gets there? As I write this it is just 12 degrees. She'll be glad she has that nightgown to snuggle into at night. 

Happy day when scraps are used!  How do you use your scraps?   xoxo Grandma

Pattern needed for this project:

Adorable Valentine Aprons From Tea Towels

If you're big into celebrating various holidays, like Valentines Day, you might be one of those people who changes up their kitchen linens too. Let's throw aprons into the mix, and you'll be all set! 

Today, I'm going to show you how to turn Valentine tea towels into two different aprons. Any tea towel will work. So go to your local dollar store or splurge and get a nicer tea towel, whatever your preference. This project is quick and easy and I'm sure you'll want to share one of these with someone you love. Let's embrace the Valentine Day season, shall we?

Let's get started:

Supplies needed:

• Tea Towel
• Thread
• Ribbon (I found this lace red ribbon in the Christmas clearance section at Jo-ann's for 80% off.)
• Scissors

1.  If your ribbon has wire in it, pull the wire out.
2.  Measure 8 1/4" from the top of the tea towel, mark both sides of a tea towel for the back ties.
3.  Cut two pieces of ribbon 22 - 24 inches of ribbon for the back ties & sew right sides facing to the tea towel using 1/4" seam.
4.  Finish off the ends of the ribbon by folding 1/4" .  
5.  Cut a piece of ribbon around 24" for the neck tie.  Fold the ribbon in half and pin the edges together.
6.  Edge stitch the neck tie ribbon.
7.  Pin the edge of the ribbon under and sew the neck tie to the left side of the top of the tea towel.
8.  If your tea towel is large, you can add a tuck to the top, front center of the tea towel.
9.  Sew both ribbons onto the tea towel with the folded edge toward the wrong side of the tea towel.

10.  Sew 1 3/4" piece of the loop side of Velcro to wrong side of the top of the tea towel. 
11.  Sew the hook side of the Velcro to the right side of the neck tie ribbon.

For the second Valentine apron, you'll need a red bandana instead of ribbon.  A bandana makes a sewing project easy because it already has four finished sides and you'll be using all of those finished edges for this apron.  This heart tea towel was purchased from my local dollar store.

Cut red bandana as follows:  

• 10 1/2" long x 6.25 wide - pocket
• 2) 3 1/2" x length of the bandana using the finished edges on 3 sides - bottom ruffle
• 3) 2 1/2" x length of the bandana - neck and waist ties

Follow steps 2 and 9 from the above tutorial for the placement of the ties.

Now to create the bottom ruffle on this apron, follow the steps below:

1.  Sew the ruffle pieces together as shown, stitching the 2 pieces at an angle.  Iron this seam.

2.  Add a gathering stitch to the unfinished edge of the ruffle.

3.  Gather the fabric evenly and sew from the wrong side the ruffle to the bottom edge of the tea towel (use 1/4" seam).  Turn the tea towel over and top stitch the bottom of the tea towel.

To make the pocket:

• Mark all the unfinished edges 1/4" .
• Iron the edges under.
• Pin the pocket onto the upper portion of the tea towel.
• Edge stitch the pocket in place, pivoting at each of the corners.

Take the neck tie and fold it in half and iron.  Now fold the unfinished edges into the middle of the fabric and iron again.  This will leave all the edges finished.

For the waist ties, clean finish the unfinished edges.

To finish this apron, follow steps 6-9 above.

I shared these aprons with my youngest daughter.  Growing up, she didn't get a lot of Valentine gifts because it was her twin sisters' birthday.  So this year, I'm trying to make-up  neglecting her for all those Valentines Days and I'm visiting her family in Okinawa.  It's actually great too because now she cooks for me.  Happy Valentines Day indeed. 

Enjoy making these tea towel aprons.  xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Sunshine and Munchkins & All Free Sewing

Tips For Teaching Children to Sew

Nearly a year ago, I started teaching sewing classes for kids. At the time, my youngest student was just eight years old.

Right before I flew to South Dakota for Christmas, I decided I wanted to teach my granddaughter (that cute little girl pictured in that photo up there) to sew.  She's almost five years old.  From my supplies, I put together a kit which consisted of various colors of thread and a few needles.

Purchase this kit here.

I purchased this ballerina doll kit from a craft store. After reading through the instructions, this sewing kit mainly had you "gluing" one piece onto another. I did not want to teach her how to glue. 

Using the kit, I did a little prep work to turn it from a gluing project into a sewing project.  I used my sewing machine and sewed some of the items together like the ballerina's tulle skirt.  Then I sewed gathering stitches along the top of the tutu skirt. Next, I sewed the trim from the kit onto the ribbon to create the leotard.  I even sewed together two little sleeves.

Once I got to my daughter's home, my granddaughter was excited to sit by me as I showed her some basic hand sewing skills.  I taught her how to sew with a needle so that the thread doesn't become unthreaded as she sews.  To do this, I had her pinch the thread as she pulled the needle through the fabric.  I let her pull the gathering threads on the tutu skirt so it would fit snuggly around her doll's waist.  Next, we tied a square knot with the threads and hand stitched the threads to the doll's body so the skirt would not slip off and become lost (you know kids, right... always losing things).  We pinned the pieces onto the doll body and then she sewed the blue ribbon leotard onto the doll's body.  Using embroidery thread, we embroidered blue eyes and a little red mouth onto the doll's face.  

  

My daughter and I were amazed at how long my granddaughter sat next to me and sewed.  Usually, the attention span of a child this age is about 10 to 15 minutes.  She sat next to me for at least an hour maybe longer and stayed attentive the whole time.  After about an hour, this is the progress she made on her ballerina doll:

I recommend having all your supplies ready before you teach a child.  Involve the child in each of the steps of sewing like threading the needle, tying a knot in the thread and stitching.  Teach them how to thread a needle, sew with a needle and then how to knot the thread when they are done stitching.  The best way is to show the child and then watch them as they try to mimic what you just showed them.

Keep in mind the attention span of the child you're teaching. It'll help you keep your patience. Hopefully. Also keep in mind the project's simplicity. Children generally like the project you choose to be finished the day you start it, so choose something easy to start with. Do some of the prep work first. You'll be thankful you did.

We tweaked the pattern as we went. For instance, I did not like the all ribbon ballet shoes the kit came with, so I created some of my own using pink felt and some of the pink ribbon that came in the kit.

I'm so glad I took the time to teach my granddaughter how to sew.  It was fun seeing her little hands enjoy the power of sewing.  Go ahead and be brave and teach a child to sew.  Pass along this skill...you'll be glad you did.  xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Threading Your Way

Fun book for beginner projects:

Refashion Licensed Apparel

My husband has several favorite sports teams he loves.  He usually makes sure our grandchildren have licensed apparel from these teams.  His favorite team though is the San Francisco Giants. He is a die hard fan! I love that he wants our grandchildren to learn to love his teams! Well, as you're probably aware, purchasing licensed apparel can be costly.  Months ago, I was given a child's San Francisco Giants sweatshirt. Sadly, the zipper on this sweatshirt was broken. What good is a sweatshirt you can't zip? Replacing the zipper would have been tricky on this particular jacket, so instead I decided to cut off all the team logos, because they were in perfect shape. 

I then purchased a fleece-lined black sweatshirt for $11.00 from Walmart.  I took those MLB logos, pinned them onto the new sweatshirt and using a close zig zag stitch (see the image above to show you the size and width of the stitch), I machine embroidered the logos in place.  I recommend using the same color of thread as the jacket.

In less than 30 minutes, I had a new Giants sweatshirt for my youngest grandson.

When I showed the newly decorated sweatshirt to my husband, he actually approved. Out of curiosity, I looked to see what a new SF Giants sweatshirt with a zipper down the front would cost, they were at least $40.  

This simple refashion resulted in a nice savings, a happy resourceful grandmother and a darling, warm grandson in his new San Francisco Giants sweatshirt.

Happy refashioning licensed apparel!  xoxo Grandma  

Make a Doll Sized Shopping Bag

It's coming down to the wire, Christmas is almost upon us.  Time to get that last minute shopping done.  To help with that shopping, I've created this doll sized shopping bag to share with you.  Never fear, this is an quick and easy sewing project.  An added bonus for this project is that today, I'm sharing with you my pattern along with the tutorial to help you make this darling doll accessory.  

These are so easy to sew together, you can make a bunch in very little time.  After you're done making your doll shopping bags, wrap a mini present or two and add them to your shopping bag.

These shopping bags also make a cute container to put a gift card into or a small piece of jewelry.   I'm sure you'll think of other creative ways to use these mini shopping bags.

Supplies needed:

2 beige felt squares,

18" of jute

Beige thread to match felt

Accent pieces of felt to decorate the bags

Mini red pom poms, optional

Contrasting embroidery thread

Free Pattern:  Download the pattern here.

Instructions:

1. Cut out beige felt using this pattern.  Pin the sides together and sew using a 1/4" seam.
2. Sew the bottom seam together using a 1/4" seam.
3. Fold the fabric together and punch small holes in the felt at marking.  (I used a tool called a Crop-a-dile to punch my holes.)
4. Pinch bottom seams on both sides of the bag together and pin.
5. Sew the bottom seams together with 1/4" seams.
6. Cut jute into two, 9" pieces.
7. Thread jute from the middle of the bag to the outside of the bag.  Tie a knot into the end of the jute.
8. Now the fun part, decorate the bag with small felt items like holly leaves and berries or mini red pom poms.

Have fun making this doll shopping bag.  Once you've made one, I'm sure you'll want to make more.  How are you planning to decorate your bags?  xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Craft Gossip