MINGEI PLAY DAYS - Haddrick on Fabric

Length:2-5 day
Level:all levels

Immerse yourself into the gentle Japanese Mingei slow stitch movement. Hand print yourself tenagui fabrics to include with Japanese hand-stitching techniques; Sashiko, Boro and Chiku chiku that will create little free form textiles panels suitable for use in bags, a table runner or jackets. Participants can choose a kit and recreate Mingei style textiles using Japanese sourced fabrics, including Tenagui, Yukata, indigo fabric, Kasuri and woven commercial fabrics. A regular visitor to Japan, Julie will share a little about Mingei; the rural folk textiles of the early 20^th century Japan while her students stitch and create.

If students would like to create their own indigo shibori fabrics, an extra day is required. This dye technique is lots of fun. .

Participants can choose a kit and recreate Mingei style textiles using all Japanese fabrics, including Tenagui, Yukata, indigo fabric, Kasuri and woven commercial fabrics. A regular visitor to Japan, Julie will share a little about the rural folk textiles, the culture and some photos of the early 20^th century Japan called Mingei while her classes stitch, print and create.

The term mingei (folk art) was coined by Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961) in 1926 to refer to common crafts that had been brushed aside and overlooked by the industrial revolution. Yanagi's book "The Unknown Craftsman" has since become a classic.
In the wake of the great tide of industrialism in the early part of the last century, something of the human touch and spirit was lost in everyday articles of use. It was with a sense of urgency that Yanagi and his lifelong companions, the potters Bernard Leach, Hamada Shoji, Tomimoto Kenkichi (who later left the Mingei group) and Kawai Kanjiro meaning art of the people. MASHIKO. Name of a town outside of Tokyo that is famous as a folk-craft village. It is also the home of Hamada Shoji.