Here is my recent creation, a ribbon embroidery Japanese Knot bag.
It might be a bit of too much. It could have been just either of these two features, a ribbon embroidery work or a Japanese knot bag.
I know I was very ambitious, but to balance an busy life with a little one and too many ideas that you still want to try out, you gotta be more efficient and creative, as you don’t have the luxury to try one by one.
Like this project, I have been wanting to do ribbon embroidery for almost 8 months. But I need a meaningful project to do it, not just plain-do, so I was holding if off quite a bit. This Japanese knot bag is just perfect, in terms of its size, shape, design and the message it is trying to convey. So here it is, my interpreting of an oriental themed handmade item.
I really enjoyed both embroidery and sewing parts. It took me totally 7 nights to finish the whole project. 6 nights embroidery + 1 night sewing with LOTS OF interruption from Vivian waking up.
The embroidery patter is from Yukiko’s Japanese book Ribbon Embroidery. The plant’s name is called mimosa, but I think it looks like golden wattles in Australia. It was fun to do it and it wasn’t that hard and time consuming as I thought. But the final result is rather dramatic than plain floss embroidery. However, the ribbon I used are all crap. They are not silk ribbon as it is supposed to be, due to the difficulty in getting them in a brick and mortar shop, and I couldn’t be bothered to buy them online, so they are all cheap satin 3mm stiff stuff.
The bag pattern is from Helen Heath at showyourworkings. It’s so darn cute and I just love its construction and the whole idea of having a knot. I actually got addicted to making it. I might make another one later if I found some prettier fabric.
Well, the bag turns out great, except the black cotton fabric looks a bit strange. I could have used velvet, but it probably would make the whole bag look more like a grandmom’s old fashioned accessory:-(
Anyway, I think I am quite happy with what it is. Would be good for many formal or informal occasions. Can’t wait to find a chance to use it, hehe……
I think your bag is beautiful. I made one yesterday for my son’s girlfriend. I like the idea of the embroidery with ribbon on the bag. Will have to try embroidery on the next bag. I also found another web site that has a Japanese Knot Purse PDF and tutorial for a Japanese Purse and another one with a little different design. The site is Mirkwood Designs.