Please, do not copy this pattern. I have to say this because it is a commercial one. To try it, please purchase the kit. You’re more than welcome to draw prettier hina figurines and use the techique, of course!
押し絵のひな様
1) You need a design. Any design with easily traceable lines is ok. Woodblock prints or the like are great.2) Plan the design: You will need a simple line drawing, like the ones in kids’ coloring books. Colour it – that is, plan how you will use the pieces of fabric you have available, and see, if you need to buy new fabric.
3) Use cotton, wool, or synthetic padding. Cotton is the traditional, but not the cosmetic cotton…
4) Copy the original design onto thick paper or cardboard with the help of a copy machine, charcoal paper, or tracing with a hard pencil on soft surface. Cut the copy into a puzzle along the lines.
Make sure you cut pieces /shapes that are meant to represent diffenrent things or angles of your finished work. That is, even if you have a kimono of only one fabric, it is advicable to have the fabric run in different angles, as a real kimono. E.g. a sleeve, especially if the arm is raised or in front of the body, will be creased. In oshie there are no creases, but but it will look equally nice, if the fabric is running slightly differently from the body part.
You can plan obis and other accessories two ways: a) the obi will not be padded, but glued on top of the padded kimono part b) the obi is a separate padded shape, and the piece disrupts the kimono piece in two parts; the upper and the lower.
5) Cut the pieces out – both cardboard and padding, especially if your padding comes as panels.
6) Cut the pieces out of your fabrics, too, but REMEMBER to add enough of fabric to be folded on the reverse! 1 cm should be more than enough.
7) Glue padding to cardboard, piece by piece.
Glue the fabric over the padding and fold and glue the small dents to the reverse of the cardboard. The corners are best folded diagonally over the corner towards the middle, and then the both sides are folded and glued in place. Use glue generously. Use a toothpick to spread the glue, and another one to help fold difficult parts. Do not cut dents all the way to the cardboard, otherwise the cut will show on the right side.
9) From time to time, check to see if thepieces of the puzzle will fit together. Fix any mistakes.
10) Solve the puzzle and glue the pieces on the desired surface. Plan this well! Glue shapes tightly next to eachother. Remember to add obis and other accessories at the proper moment.
The above hina, or rather the emperor is made of a padded face, flat (unpadded) hairpiece and hair ornament. He has a padded kimono and the hakama / pants are made of two separate padded pieces in order to display the two legs clearly. His obi is a metallic, rectangular piece of fabric, which is first folded lenghthwise in three (a tube) and then tied on a knot, and glued on top of the hakama part. The empress is a round head plus a rather tubleike body / kimono.