Tiny Treasures
When Paula Brewer of Cranberry Township is feeling stress or simply wants to fill some free time, she escapes to her own world: Japan.
Though her work as a wellness coach and her home life and family are far from the island country, Brewer uses traditional Japanese folk crafts as a means to escape from the mundane tasks of the day.
The crafts she creates are known as zakka, a Japanese term used to describe everyday items, and kawaii, a Japanese term used to describe "cute"items.
The general terms encompass several craft forms that include sewing and knitting and an endless variety of supplies, including felts, fabrics and found items.
Crafts described as zakka often include useful items such as sewing kits, purses or pouches. Kawaii items crafted by Brewer include handstitched stuffed animals made from simple patterns.
An Asian affinityAs the daughter of an Army and Air Force father, Brewer experienced many cultures while moving from base to base.Through a brief visit to Japan and a period spent living in the Philippines, the young Brewer developed an interest in all things Asian."I have a fairly recent (European)immigrant family. The Asian culture is so different," she said.Though she had been exposed to origami and kite making during her school years, it wasn't until Brewer was living in Germany in the early 90s that she picked up her first skills in Japanese folk art.While in Germany, she met a Japanese woman who showed her how to make temari balls, ornamental spheres wrapped or embroidered with colored string.Though she had read about the process of marking reference points around a simple ball and carefully wrapping and stitching designs, the concept was difficult for Brewer to grasp."Once she showed me how to do it, it made sense," she said.An avid crafter, her introduction to temari led her on a path to other projects, including making fabric thimbles and embroidery using temari techniques.As her thirst for more projects grew, Brewer turned to crafting books for ideas and to learn about the cultural background behind the projects."I believe you learn about a culture by immersing yourself in it," she said.Her collection of craft books and magazines includes some texts in English and several written entirely Japanese, forcing her to use only photographs and illustrations to try and piece together the directions.In the past several years, however, the popularity of Japanese crafts have increased, bringing about Web logs and online videos as sources for patterns and instruction."There's a group of women in the United States that are completely enamored with this,"she said.Bloggers not only exchange patterns, but International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) in hopes of tracking hard- to-find books written in Japanese.
One of the key crafts Brewer has created is a sewing box.Small enough to fit in most purses or bags, Brewer's sewing box contains several needles, thread, a handmade fabric thimble and pincushion.The box, made with scraps of cardboard, is also large enough to hold the tiny felt pieces used to create small stuffed animals, like owls and whales.She also uses her basic sewing essentials to create tiny purses or pouches and sashiko, a type of quilting where layers of fabric are stitched together with contrasting threads to create decorative patterns.The size of each project not only makes Brewer's hobby portable, it also makes it faster to finish projects and less stressful to make errors."Because they are small and not too time consuming, it's not heartbreaking to say, 'Start this one over again,'" she said.Another item Brewer makes and uses is a small purse that hangs from her wrist, just large enough to hold a ball of yarn.Brewer noted the small handbags, which she sometimes decorates with sequins and beading, can also be useful purses.Yukako Ishimaru, a Japanese student pursuing a master's degree in English at Slippery Rock University, said in Japan, she is accustomed to having a pouch or container for everything, a custom she does not see as commonly in the United States."Students were carrying their books and notebooks with their own hands, without a bag. Many of them don't even have a pencil case, which is very different from my culture," she said.While their portability and size might seem small in comparison to other popular craft projects, zakka items are created in a size deemed normal to the Japanese."One thing I found in this country is the size of things which are so much bigger than the things in Japan," Ishimaru said.She said crafts considered small in her culture are often called komono, meaning small crafts.
Though Brewer's collection of pattern books and magazines from Japan proved costly to purchase and ship, supplies for each project are found with little or no strain on her wallet."Old clothing will work fine for (fabric) scraps," she said. "You can re-use loved items over again."For the cardboard base for her sewing kits, Brewer cuts up old cereal boxes.Bases for pincushions are made from caps taken from water bottles.The reuse and recycling of found items and old possessions is also a cultural lesson for crafters.Ishimaru said that when war limited the goods Japanese people had access to, recycled crafts were a way to improvise."My great-grandmother was a queen of recycling,"she said. "For instance, she used to teach me how to unwrap a gift without ripping off the beautiful wrapping paper so that we can reuse the paper for wrapping or origami. She used to say 'There is nothing to throw away.'"Even though tough times have been alleviated in Japan, the trend to recycle is still strong.Ishimaru mentioned a television program in Japan, "Ito-ke No Shokutaku" (Ito Family's Dining Table), on which audiences compete with their best ideas for recycling.The trend toward recycling has changed the way Brewer looks at items around her house."I always think 'What can I do with that?'" she said.Even when she can't find just what she's looking for around the house, Brewer said buying supplies is economical.With many crafts using less than a fourth of a yard of fabric, Brewer sometimes springs for expensive silks, made affordable when purchased in small pieces.The availability of patterns and ideas online has also eliminated the need to pay international shipping costs for foreign language texts.
By repurposing items found around her house, Brewer is at no shortage for craft supplies."I drink bottled water all the time," she said. "I probably made 50 pincushions or more."The results of her work, however, are harder to come by, as many have been given to friends, collected by family members, or snatched up by her playful cats.But sharing her creations is another way Brewer connects with the Japanese culture.She noted that in Japan, gift giving is common for many occasions, and handmade gifts are considered meaningful.Though Ishimaru pursues zakka crafts as a hobby, many of the items are made on an as-needed basis."In my great-grandmother's case, she definitely needed to create crafts, but in my case, it's 50-50. Of course I enjoy the process, but Ialso make things I need."In addition to the joy Brewer gets from crafting and sharing the results, her hope is that by practicing and sharing the techniques with others, she will help to preserve a bit of culture."We've kind of lost handcrafts. What we lost in that is a way to communicate and a way to manage stress," she said.For Brewer, her next project will be sewing house shoes, commonly used in Japan, a potential Christmas gift for family and friends."I jump around,"she said of her crafting habits. "I'm kind of like 'what's next?'"
