My workspace in Miura-san’s beautiful studio
As promised in yesterday’s ‘Behind the curtain’, this is the first in a series of posts sharing how to make a traditional noren curtain – something I learnt under the watchful eye of talented kimono designer Miura-san.
The low table and floor cushion was definitely an interesting alternative to my normal desk!
First things first – the design. I designed my three-curtain noren to feature the silhouette of two birds against the moon, to give the feel of adventure and flight, but also friendship and support – all key elements of Do What You Love. I offset the moon to sit between the middle and right hand curtains, and added ‘DWYL’ in the bottom right hand corner in the style of a Japanese hanko name stamp.
I made a mock up out of washi paper, then sketched it freehand onto a large sheet of paper and traced that onto the linen. Seemingly simple but very important – these lines become the guides for every subsequent stage.
Check back tomorrow to see how we blocked out the outlines of the moon and birds before dyeing the noren.
