Christmas Ornaments Guide

I have a story about one of my handmade Christmas ornaments - a temari ball. When my children were younger I used to go to a mothers group and one day they invited a lady to come and show us some craft. She introduced me to temari balls, although for a long time I had no idea what they were called! Temari balls are an old Japanese folk craft for making toys. The balls are usually 3-5inches but can be any size. The balls were probably made from old kimonos, but became an extravagant art form in terms of the richness of the designs and colors and the intricate nature of the sewing involved.  We started off using some felted wool to make the basic ball shape, but these days Styrofoam balls can be used, scraps of materials or even a bag filled with rice hulls or tissues. The next step is to choose a color scheme for your Christmas decoration I love blues and silvers, so mine was a lovely blue.

We need

Temari design

Basic ball either felted wool or Styrofoam ball

yarn any color will do as it will not be seen, 4 ply or thinner.

thread a reel in the color of your choice.

embroidery threads to suit your design.  Can be pearl cotton, silks, metallics or ribbons

long needles

long pins

scissor

paper to help with marking and dividing the ball

Tassels optional

Steps

1.Take the ball shape and wrap the yarn around it randomly so that the ball is evenly covered. You are looking to cover the ball with this step.

2.Take the thread (ordinary cotton sewing thread is ideal) and wrap this around the ball in a similar manner until all the yarn is covered. This gives you an interesting texture to base your embroidery on. About 300 yards of thread will be needed for this step.

3. The next step is to mark out the poles and equatorial regions on the ball. Most of the temari designs are geometrical. Depending upon your design you may need marking threads as well as pins. The marking threads can be in the same thread as the background (to be invisible) or can be in a contrasting color and form part of the design or can be a thread that will be removed at the finish. The divison are based on mathematical interpretations and will vary with the complexicity of the design. The best thing here is to choose a simple pattern and follow detailed instructions.

4. Sewing using long lengths of thread following the pattern.

There are many designs available so look out for books on the subject. For free patterns try TemariKari

Photo Courtesy WKlager