Weave only just begun...
After meeting a practitioner this weekend at a historical reenactment festival, I have found myself enchanted by the art of Victorian hairwork (jewelry braided from human hair, more specifically the table work).
It combines the materials of hairbraiding, the patterns of kumihimo, and the settings of beadwork... three things I'm already at least a little bit proficient at. I feel a little sheepish that I haven't really dipped into this before... I had heard about memorial hairwork, but thought it was more the clipped-and-curled variety. But there is SO MUCH MORE! (scroll down...) All the tubular-looking weaves are made on marudai-like tables, in the same manner as kumihimo, and those are the ones I really want to try.
It's just a wee bit ironic that the only museum entirely dedicated to this art is located in Independence, MO... just a few miles from where I lived for six years! At least I'll stop by and check it out on the way through to California in April.
I found the original instruction book online (hooray for reasonable copyright expirations!) and it was even available on the Kindle! (although there are a ton of typos and the graphics are super-sucky). I have long hair pieces from each of my kids, too (though I won't use them until I get much better at it).
Would there be, by any fantastic chance, an LJ friend willing to loan me a marudai until I can save up enough to make or purchase my own?
It combines the materials of hairbraiding, the patterns of kumihimo, and the settings of beadwork... three things I'm already at least a little bit proficient at. I feel a little sheepish that I haven't really dipped into this before... I had heard about memorial hairwork, but thought it was more the clipped-and-curled variety. But there is SO MUCH MORE! (scroll down...) All the tubular-looking weaves are made on marudai-like tables, in the same manner as kumihimo, and those are the ones I really want to try.
It's just a wee bit ironic that the only museum entirely dedicated to this art is located in Independence, MO... just a few miles from where I lived for six years! At least I'll stop by and check it out on the way through to California in April.
I found the original instruction book online (hooray for reasonable copyright expirations!) and it was even available on the Kindle! (although there are a ton of typos and the graphics are super-sucky). I have long hair pieces from each of my kids, too (though I won't use them until I get much better at it).
Would there be, by any fantastic chance, an LJ friend willing to loan me a marudai until I can save up enough to make or purchase my own?