The Japanese are famous for their ability to elevate any activity to the rank of art. Origami, ikebana, kanzashi and many other types of creativity have followed this path. The same thing happened with the Kinusaiga technique: the desire to reuse the rather expensive fabric of an old kimono turned into the art of creating magnificent paintings and panels.
Although the idea itself has its analogues in many nations: for example, in Rus' old things were used for patchwork. By the way, Kinusaiga’s paintings are often called the “patchwork without a needle” technique - after all, these patches do not need to be sewn!
Kinusaiga or patchwork without a needle: details about the technique and tools that are needed
The kinusaiga technique does not involve the use of a needle as in the patchwork technique, but is based on making a sketch on paper, which is then transferred to a wooden board.
A slot is made along the contour of the sketch - a recess. After that, the picture itself is made using scraps of silk. The Japanese women took these pieces of silk from old kimonos, which the thrifty Japanese never threw away - silk, after all.
The shreds are laid out on the cut elements of the sketch and the edges of the shreds are pressed into these same slots. With the right selection of paints and colors, the paintings turn out to be of unique beauty. And it would seem - scraps of an old kimono! We can say that the natural economy of the Japanese became the parent of this art - kinusaiga.
Further masonry. Keystone
Important! Since the mason is inside a closed loop, a helper is needed for further work. It is he who must supply the snow blocks.
There is nothing complicated about the spiral masonry itself; you just need to follow a few basic points.
Tilt angle
We control the angle of inclination as before using a piece of rope tied to the king pin. Only such a measure will allow us to build the right dome.
End trimming
For denser masonry, we cut the ends of the snow bricks at one angle.
The direction of the cut of the right edge of the block is set by the already familiar lacing.
We file down the left end, focusing on the already finished cut of the previous element. Sawing is done with an ordinary saw.
Keystone
The keystone is more difficult to trim. You need to work from the inside, focusing only on the finished working planes of already laid blocks.
Gallery: kinusaiga (25 photos)
How to make a painting on polystyrene foam from fabric with your own hands: a master class for beginner needlewomen
How to make a picture in the New Year style in patchwork for children? New Year's patterns always look beautiful and festive. We can talk about the art of kinusaiga for a very long time. But it’s better to see how to make at least a small masterpiece with your own hands. Below is a technique for creating a painting on foam plastic for beginners.
What you will need to start the master class:
- foam sheet (thickness not less than 1 cm;
- scraps of fabric of different colors;
- scissors;
- stationery knife (scalpel);
- nail file (for threading fabric into foam);
- sketch (your own or you can take any ready-made one);
- carbon copy.
The fabric should be selected to be non-stretchable and thin enough. The edges should not fray.
First, look at what is in stock: old scraps, leftover fabrics that were not thrown away after sewing some wardrobe item. Everything will go to work. If checking the storerooms does not give any results, then you will have to take whole pieces and cut out the elements of the planned picture from them.
Process:
First you need to decide on a drawing. For the first time, you should not choose something complex, with many elements. Let these be light geometric shapes. And from them you can already build a small cute house.
Using a sheet of copy paper, you need to transfer the sketch onto a piece of foam plastic.
Using a knife or scalpel, make a cut along the contour of the sketch to a depth of about 3 mm.
Cut the selected fabric into pieces of the desired size. Using a nail file or something more convenient, tuck the pieces of fabric into the foam sheet. Thus fill the entire “picture”. The edges of the fabric should fit tightly into the slits.
Cut off the excess edges of the foam with a scalpel or a stationery knife.
Next, the resulting panel can be framed. It can be purchased, or you can make it yourself. If there are suitable materials. You can simply make a border using decorative tape, which you need to secure with beautiful pushpins. These buttons are sold at any office supply store. Buttons in bronze or gold colors look beautiful.
The kinusaiga technique is often used to decorate lids for boxes or boxes (for example, for sewing accessories or cosmetics).
Stunning Christmas tree decorations and crafts are made using this technique.
Let's try volumetric kinusage using the example of New Year's toys
Using three-dimensional blanks in the form of foam balls, you can make unusual decorations for the Christmas tree.
The first stage is the most critical. It is necessary to divide the ball into “slices” that are as even and neat as possible. The dividing lines are drawn with a regular ballpoint pen.
Advice for beginning craftswomen: wrap the workpiece with regular thread, by adjusting it you can get the required number of ball parts. There can be from four to eight lobes. It's not worth doing anymore. Pieces on the foam that are too thin will also require thin fabric shreds, which will crumble during the process of “hiding” them. In principle, the design on the toy can be anything. A ball with fabric strips of different sizes looks interesting.
Along the marked lines, the foam blank is cut with a sharp knife to a depth of 1 cm.
Then, using elegant scraps of fabric, preferably with glitter or New Year's motifs, the future toy is decorated. A piece is cut from the material, which is tucked into the slots using a sharp knife or file. Everything is the same as when making panels! To make the work faster, you can make a pattern for the “slices”. The tucking allowance should be at least 0.5 cm. This is what a piece of fabric that has already been laid looks like.
The remaining parts of the ball are filled in the same way. The result is a toy like this.
Decorative ribbons, cords, lace, rhinestones and beads will make it look elegant and festive. To begin with, the joints are covered with golden lace, which is fixed with PVA glue.
The final stage is to make a bow and ribbon so that the toy can be placed on the New Year’s tree.
Kinusaiga: simple patterns and their execution
Kinusaiga allows the use of any scheme that is at hand
. You can buy templates, or you can make them yourself. The easiest way is to use stencils. As an example, below is a Kinusaiga master class using a simple template.
To complete this handicraft you need:
- A3 size cardboard;
- A4 size cardboard;
- scraps of fabric of different colors;
- padding polyester;
- glue;
- nailfile;
- threads;
- needle;
- scissors;
- acrylic paints;
- thin brush;
- cord (soutache) of different colors;
- pins;
- frame.
Scheme for creating a painting:
In your work, you can use any scraps that you can find.
- The drawing must be transferred to tracing paper. Cut into component parts - parts.
- After the division is completed, you need to number the parts of the drawing. Then cut out fabric elements using them. You need to leave a 3 mm allowance along the edges.
- Then prepare the canvas for the future painting. For this purpose you need to take a sheet of ceiling tiles. The thickness should be half a centimeter. Glue the sheet onto thick cardboard.
- Glue the second copy of the drawing, which was printed in advance, to the foam. Cut a groove in it, the depth of which should not exceed 2 mm, along the contour of the sketch.
- Apply glue along the cut grooves with a glue stick. When performing this Japanese handicraft for the first time, it is recommended to apply a glue stick to the entire surface.
- Next comes the process of creating the appliqué: the edges of all parts prepared from fabric must be pushed into the grooves so that the edges plunge into the grooves and are tightly fixed there.
Some ideas and patterns for decorating a kitchen using the Kinusaiga technique
Below are sketches and diagrams for designing and decorating the kitchen with Kinusaiga paintings.
This whole application is not done quickly, but the result is worth spending time on. Embroidery with needles takes much longer than paintings made using the Kinusaiga technique. When the basis of knowledge of the Kinusaiga technique is fixed, you can take on more complex panels and paintings, which will definitely decorate your home and become an excellent gift for any occasion.
With the spread of the art of kinusaiga throughout the world, specialized stores began to open, which began to sell tools for this type of needlework. Special sets of fabrics also appeared on sale (not every European has an old kimono at home that can be used for scraps).
In addition to fabrics, you can also purchase combination sets in such stores, which include tools, fabrics and drawings - sketches of varying degrees of complexity. Such sets are designed for both beginning needlewomen and those who have been practicing this art for several days.
Here's what these sets look like:
The Japanese are famous for their ability to elevate any activity to the rank of art. Origami, ikebana, kanzashi and many other types of creativity have followed this path. The same thing happened with the Kinusaiga technique: the desire to reuse the rather expensive fabric of an old kimono turned into the art of creating magnificent paintings and panels.
Although the idea itself has its analogues in many nations: for example, in Rus' old things were used for patchwork. By the way, Kinusaiga’s paintings are often called the “patchwork without a needle” technique - after all, these patches do not need to be sewn!
First row
Before we start laying the first row, we make markings. To do this, we hammer in a kingpin in the center of the area we have compacted and tie a piece of cord or clothesline to it, on which we set a distance of 1.05 m. We mark the latter with a knot.
Now, using this “compass”, we draw a circle on the site with a diameter of 2100 mm - this will be the outer boundary of the snow wall.
On the inside of the circle, strictly along its perimeter, we build a snow wall exactly one block high. All bricks in the masonry should be heaped inward at approximately 17°; more precisely, we control the angle of inclination using our measuring rope. Since the igloo has the shape of a regular hemisphere, the measured 1.05 m will not only be the radius of the Eskimo dwelling, but also the distance from the center of the site to any point on the snowy facade.
When the perimeter is laid out and the blocks are fitted to each other from the formed snow ring, you need to cut out the screw with a hacksaw.
It is this spiral shape of the first row that is the main secret of the northern builders, which Europeans have been unraveling for centuries. Laying along serpentine lines is the only option to get a third support point for the “brick” and not fall.
Thus, each block rests not only on the row below it, but also on the side edge behind the standing wall element.
History of Kinusaiga technology
Kimono is a traditional Japanese garment, considered a “national costume” in Japan since the mid-19th century. The Japanese still wear kimonos to this day! The kimono is made of natural silk and, of course, lasts a very long time. Old kimonos were never thrown away, but were used to create other, smaller things.
One way to use silk kimono fabric is to create Kinusaiga paintings.
Traditionally, Kinusaiga is created as follows. First, the artist makes a sketch of the drawing on paper. Then the finished sketch is transferred to a wooden board. Recesses are cut into the board, about 2 mm deep. An old silk kimono is cut into small pieces (allowances of only 1 mm), which are inserted into the cut grooves.
Landscapes most often become subjects for cinematic films.
People appear much less often in the picture - depicting faces is a rather complex process even for masters. And if they do appear, they are most often stylized.
The Kinusaiga technique has become widespread throughout the world. Although, of course, not expensive pieces of kimono are used for production, but ordinary fabrics. And instead of wooden planks, ordinary polystyrene foam is used.
How to make a painting using the Kinusaiga technique
Take one look at exactly how Kinusaiga’s paintings are created (the master class is simple and accessible) and you will fully understand the whole principle.
Prepare in advance:
- A piece of foam plastic at least 1 cm thick
- fabric (scraps) of suitable colors
When choosing fabric, remember: it should not stretch, should be quite thin, and the edges should not fray.
- scissors
- breadboard knife (stationery knife or scalpel)
- a tool for threading fabric into foam (a nail file or a wooden stick from a manicure set is quite suitable)
- drawing (you can draw it yourself, or you can use any children’s coloring book)
- copy paper
Choose the drawing you like. Let's take simple geometric shapes and make a house like this.
Using carbon paper, transfer the design onto a sheet of foam plastic.
Using a knife, we make slits along the contour of the pattern with a depth of approximately 2-3 mm.
Cut the fabric into suitable size pieces.
We tuck the shreds into the foam using a stick or file. Let's fill in the whole picture.
Cut off excess edges.
The finishing touch will be to frame the panel. As another design option, you can make a border using fabric or a wide ribbon attached to buttons.
Our picture is ready!
Very often, box lids are decorated using the Kinusaiga technique, resulting in beautiful boxes:
Even Christmas tree decorations can be assembled using the Kinusaiga technique!
Master class “New Year’s toy ball”
Description:
The master class is designed for children of secondary school age, additional education teachers, educators, and simply creative people.
Purpose:
New Year's toy.
Goal:
making a New Year's ball with your own hands.
Objectives:
teach the kinusaiga technique; consolidate skills in working with a stationery knife and nail file; develop fine motor skills of the hands and eye; develop artistic and aesthetic taste; develop creativity, fantasy, imagination.
Preface to the work.
The New Year's toy is one of the symbols of the holiday and has its own extremely interesting history. At the end of the Middle Ages, residents of European countries began to decorate their homes for the New Year. Until the mid-18th century, decorations were exclusively edible. These are apples (today they are balls), nuts, all kinds of sweets and fruits. From the second half of the 18th century, Christmas tree decorations became more elegant: paper flowers, gilded fir cones and empty eggshells, as well as hammered brass figurines - fairies, angels, etc. In Russia, as you know, the custom of celebrating the New Year on the night from December 31 to January 1 was introduced by Peter the Great, and he also ordered that the spruce become the main New Year tree. The most favorite toys for many years were, again, edible products - figurines made of shortcrust pastry, which were wrapped in colored, gold or silver foil, as well as gilded nuts, apples and, of course, candles. Many toys were made by hand from scrap materials. Since the early 2000s, original, “homemade” toys have become popular. Figures made of straw, paper, skeins of wool and pieces of fabric; plush animals, felt swans and angels. In this master class we will make a New Year's toy - a ball using the Kinusaiga technique.
To make a toy using the Kinusaiga technique, we will need the following:
- foam ball,
several types of fabric matching each other in color and quality,
stationery knife, thin nail file,
various ribbons for the final decoration of the ball,
scissors, ruler, pen.
Glue gun.
And so let's get started. First, we find the poles of the ball. We stick a tailor's needle into the poles, then stretch a thread between them and draw it along the contour with a pen. And so on from all sides. We draw 8 stripes on the ball to make 8 parts. Everything needs to be done as neatly and evenly as possible so that all parts are the same.
Now take a stationery knife and cut along the marked lines to a depth of about a centimeter.
The technical part is over. Time to use your imagination. We take the fabric and cut off a piece of arbitrary shape from it, approximately the size of our drawn slice on the ball plus 1.5 centimeters on the sides. To save fabric, you can prepare a pattern. Now, using a nail file, we insert the edges of the fabric into our slits.
We do it carefully, without folds, cut off the excess and finally hide all the edges.
Take another fabric and do the same. By filling all parts of the ball with pieces of fabric, we get this “raw” ball.
Now you need to make a real holiday attribute out of it. Take a golden ribbon or lace and fasten the end on top of the ball in the center.
Now we wrap all our slits with lace, gluing the lace with glue.
We thread a thin satin ribbon to match the fabric onto a needle and attach it to the center of the ball. From the lace that we have already used, we make a loop and fasten it, this will be the ball pendant.
The long-awaited New Year holidays are approaching, on the eve of which we invite you to make Christmas tree balls with your own hands. Such a ball will not take you much time; you will definitely have time to dress up your green beauty.
Kinusaiga is a Japanese technique for creating silk paintings, an artistic genre that arose, so to speak, on the basis of economy. Or rather, Japanese frugality. Originally, it was a way to “recycle” old, worn-out kimonos.
In the modern handicraft world, based on this technique, needlewomen create boxes, decorate Easter eggs, create panels and paintings, and, in particular, decorate New Year's balls, which is what we propose to do today.
Digging the exit
After finishing the masonry work, you can think about the door. This is the tunnel under the wall of our snowy hut (that’s why we needed deep snow on the construction site); it is this design of the entrance that ensures the free flow of oxygen into the room, but prevents warm air from escaping from the hut.
From the street, the “undermining” is decorated with snow blocks, making from the latter a kind of short snow pipe.
Video: how to build an igloo with your own hands
