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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Kimekomi Japanese Doll WIP

What's better than your own WIP (Work In Progress)? Well, someone else's WIP of course. The nice thing about a passed on WIP is that there's no guilt that it's not finished. And if you never finish it, that's okay because you never started it to begin with, right? Okay, moving on...

My husband's Grandmother recently gave me one of her WIP's (Work In Progress), a kimekomi doll. The picture above is what the doll is supposed to look like when it's finished. From my understanding, kimekomi means "tucked in" which best describes how the doll is made. You start with a doll base (picture below) and tuck the fabric into the grooves. I've actually been wanting to try this ever since I saw them at the Cherry Blossom festival. So I'm really excited about getting to make one, not so excited about finding the time.

Below are a couple pictures of the materials needed for the doll. I thought some might find it interesting.

Close-up of doll base

In the background are the patterns for the fabric. Each piece of fabric needs to be cut into a specific shape so it fits on the doll perfectly. There's also a diagram at the top that tells one where each piece of fabric goes.

8 comments:

Christine said...

I've always wanted to see how one of these is made. Thanks for the blog!

guurrrl said...

Oh I can't wait to see what happens next ;)

Jennifer said...

What an interesting project, and the outcome will be beautiful!

Katria said...

For cute! I want one!

elizabeth said...

Who knew? I would never have guessed the doll was made this way. I love it! Have you a source where one can buy buy kits like this one? Other Japanese crafts?

Nishant said...
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Katherine said...

My mother-in-law has made several of these -- she lived in Japan for a decade and took classes. One of her dollmaking teachers was so impressed with her work, she gifted her with a few pieces from Princess Masako's wedding kimono. I have them now, and I treasure them. The dolls are now gracing her home, and my daughter always has to be dissuaded from playing with them!

Lisa U said...

Cute! She kinda looks like your daughter! hehe Keep us posted!

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