Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part V

A very welcome email arrived in my box early Friday morning from Anne Weaver: I will speak for the little guy.  He is now being made whole again by filling the missing surfaces of his body.  The clothing is the biggest challenge due to years of dirt and aging.  His face is in the early…

Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part IV

After a few days of airing the kimono out, I decided it was time to dress the little fellow properly at last. Once the hakama was on, he looked quite the little samurai. You may have noticed in the first photos that his hakama was tied on backwards and up to his neck. While this…

Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part III

After removing the layers of kimono and juban, I spread them out to air for the night. I wrapped the doll in a tea towel, laid him flat on a table and went to bed. In the morning, I found the smell from the dirty, dusty clothing to be cloying and not particularly pleasant. Even…

Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part II

Loading the doll and his glass case into the back seat of my car, I wedged the case in between some blankets and a sleeping teenager. Another teenager, surly and tired from waiting in the car while I’d chatted with the shop assistant and owner, looked over from the front seat. “Can we go now?”…

Meiji Ningyo Restoration, part I

Wandering through a local estate liquidator’s shop last week, this little fellow caught my eye. He stood in a glass case, carelessly dressed and dreadfully sun faded. His hakama had been tied up as if it were a pinafore, and his face was cracked and poorly repaired. Still, I thought he had a charming smile…

Summer Projects

Just this week I started three new projects… despite my inability to finish several more from the past two years. Every studio seems to have its share of UFOs (UnFinished Objects), so I don’t feel so bad. Projects One and Two are sashiko pillowcases. The first is a scrap of yukata cotton that caught my…