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Investigating Solid and Open Shape Stitching Techniques

Understanding Kagari Orientation

Kagari is the most basic stitch in Japanese temari. It is a single small stitch (2mm or less) usually taken from right to left (or opposite for left handed stitchers) around a marking line of some sort. When done in this way there is a particular orientation of the thread; in most cases the right thread is over the left thread but it could be the opposite depending on your particular stitching style.

When building up a shape (like a square or triangle) the stitches are generally stacked from the inside out, building up in rows. If the orientation of the stitches does not match you can get gaps in the coverage. Compare the green section to the blue and yellow sections in the picture. In the green section, each stitch has a right over left orientation. But in the blue and yellow sections some of the stitches are reversed, causing some gaps. Usually we use various methods to hide any gaps that occur so we get complete coverage but, if we could control the orientation of our stitches we could exploit the gaps and create different stitching effects.

To get started you need to have a close look at your own stitching style. Stitch one row on a triangle and examine your stitches closely. Do they all have the same orientation? Chances are fairly high that your closing stitch has the opposite orientation as the others. In my example the closing stitch is left over right (circled in the picture) whereas the others are all right over left. While normally not a big deal, it does matter for the designs in this study. And, it is easily changed.

Controlling Kagari Orientation

To create the stitching effects used in the designs of this study you need to be able to choose whether each stitch is a right over left or a left over right orientation. Following are techniques you can use to do that on the last stitch of a round, for an entire round, or for a stitch in the middle of a round.

Controlling the closing stitch orientation

You can change the orientation of the closing stitch of the round by slipping your needle under the thread of the first stitch before ending the round. In the diagrams below the needle comes up at the odd numbers and goes in at the even numbers.

Special note: When you stitched your triangle in the first section and examined the orientation of the stitches, you may have found that you already have the same orientation on every stitch. If that is the case, then you already have a natural method of altering the orientation of the stitch at the end of the round and this technique may not be relevant to you. You may want to examine your usual technique closely so you can determine how to reverse the orientation when needed.

The usual method: note that the thread from 5 to 6 goes over the first thread from 1 to 2. The stitch has left over right orientation.
The alternate method: After you come up at 5, pass the thread under the 1 to 2 thread before going down at 6. The stitch has right over left orientation.

Here's what it looks like with a real needle and thread.

When you get to the end of the round, slip the needle under the thread from the beginning stitch eye end first being careful not to catch any wrap threads.
Pull the thread all the way snug, then enter the needle as usual to complete the shape.

Controlling the orientation for an entire round

We can control the orientation of the thread via the placement of the stitch. I usually take my stitches at the top of the shape I am stitching, but if I take them at the bottom instead, it reverses the orientation of the stitch when you look at it upright. It also means that I travel around the shape in a counter-clockwise rather than a clockwise directions. Some of you who are left handed may already know about this from trying to follow directions and diagrams written for right handed people. This method will change the orientation of the stitch for the entire round; once you start a round in the counter-clockwise motion you must continue in that direction to complete the round. For that reason it is a less versatile technique than the next one. Also, if you want every stitch in the round to have the same orientation, you will need to pay special attention to the closing stitch of the round.

My usual method, resulting in right over left orientation and the thread traveling clockwise around the shape. Take stitch at 1, rotate to take stitch 2, etc...
The alternate method, resulting in left over right orientation and the thread traveling counter-clockwise around the shape. Take stitch at 1, rotate to take stitch 2, etc...

Controlling orientation for an individual stitch

This method of controlling the stitch orientation is the most versatile. It can be done easily on a stitch by stitch basis whereas the previous one must be done row by row. Being able to change stitch by stitch gives you more flexibility when playing with the orientation. This is the one I used when I stitched the variations below.

My normal method of taking a stitch is to have the thread below the needle. You can also take the stitch with the thread above the needle, thereby reversing the orientation of the stitch. It takes a little practice to get the tension consistent between the two types of stitches so you'll need to pay close attention to your tension when you work this way at first.

Normal way to take a stitch: the thread is in front and below the needle; orientation will be right over left.
Alternate way to take a stitch: the thread is above and behind the needle; orientation will be left over right.

Manipulating Kagari for New Stitching Effects

So on to the fun stuff. For traditional temari it is important to have the kagari matched up nicely to get good even coverage. That's why you usually try to start each round of a shape at the same corner. But what if we intentionally mismatch the kagari? I've explored two methods of mismatching below. In either case you'll use the techniques above to control whether your stitches are right over left or left over right. It takes a little practice to do these. You must pay careful attention to your stitching tension and spacing. If you stitch with an inconsistent tension you will not get the thread to lie properly. If you place your stitches too close together you will not get the gaps that create the design. It is best to space the stitches just a bit farther apart than you would normally, so that the threads from one row to the next are just touching, but not smushed together.

Alternating Kagari by Rows

For this variation, you alternate the orientation of the kagari in each row. That is stitch one row with right over left orientation on every stitch and the next row with left over right orientation on every stitch. One way to do this is to alternating stitching direction (take stitch at the top and go clockwise or take the stitch at the bottom and go counter clockwise). Or you can alter the position of the thread when you take the stitch (thread below needle vs thread above needle). You will need to be sure that the closing stitch in each round has the correct orientation for that round. The result is a zig-zag effect of the threads in the shape and a much less dense coverage than you get with traditional kagari. You do need a fairly large area to see the zig-zag effect. The first few rows end up looking very much like a chain stitched rose in conventional embroidery. A tightly twisted thread such as perle cotton is a must and it helps to have a high contrast between the mari and the design thread. In some of the sample pictures I have used two colors of thread so you can clearly see how the rows come together.

A view of the first two rounds showing the chainstitch effect
Stitch one round with the thread below the needle. Notice how the thread is used to judge the placement of the stitch, spacing it so the threads are not crushed together.
Stitch the next round with the thread above the needle to reverse the orientation. Notice the stitch is taken so the bottom thread will lie right next to the previous row.
When closing a row, travel under the thread wrap to the next marking line to start the next row. Notice that on this row the closing stitch had to pass under the first thread to keep the orientation correct for that row.

Here is a page with a left handed view of stitching with the thread above or below the needle.

Alternating Kagari by Stitch and Row

This variation only works for shapes with an even number of sides. You change the orientation of the kagari with each stitch, and you do the opposite orientation on each stitch in the next row. That is, if the stitch in row 1 is right over left, then the stitch right above it in row 2 will need to be left over right. This entire arrangement is best done by alternating the thread above and below the needle when you take your stitch. The result is a ladder like effect to the stitches. It works best for closed shapes and is very effective on both large and small number of rows. There's a good technique pictured below for keeping the orientation correct at the beginning and end of each round.

A view of the first round
The end of the third row. Notice the needle closing the third row, going under the mari wrap to the next marking line to the left, and coming up close to the thread to start the next row.
After the closing stitch is pulled through, the next row is ready to start. Note the spacing between the thread and the previous row.
This stitch is a thread under the needle, notice the spacing leaving room for the thread to lie next to the previous row without being crushed.
This stitch is a thread over the needle, notice the spacing right next to the previous row so that the threads will lie snug together.

Here is a page with a left handed view of closing the round and taking the first stitch on the next round.

Variations

Unlike other pattern investigations, the variations in this section will not necessarily give you the complete instructions necessary to complete the design. They are all created by applying the two kagari techniques described above to open and closed shapes. The specific applications of the kagari techniques are noted. Click on the picture for a larger image. For each variation there is a link in the text to the pages in my notebook that will have information about the original pattern source and diagrams as necessary.

Simple Octagons

These are created on a S8 with obi division. Stitch the kagari variation on the eight lines at the north and south pole, decorate the obi as desired. Notebook #060404 and Notebook #060403

C8 Octagons

Wrap with cream and a random gold overwrap. Mark a C8, add support lines at the 8-way intersections to make them 16. Work an octagon on the 8 support lines at each intersection using alternating stitch and row kagari. Outline the octagons with two rows of black using regular kagari. Notebook #060402

C6 Hexagons

Mark a C6. Work a hexagon on four of the 6-way intersections using alternating row kagari. Work triwing variations in the remaining four 6-way intersections. Notebook #060503

Squares

This is the standard beginner squares design. Work the north and south pole squares with regular kagari, rotate and work another pair in alternating row kagari, turn and work the last pair in alternating stitch and row kagari. Notebook #060501

Woven Diamonds

This is the traditional pattern of woven diamonds done on an S8 division. Alternate rows between purple and blue diamonds using alternating stitch and row kagari. Work gold outlines of the overlapped areas using a zigzag stitch (chidori kagari) crossing at the obi. Notebook #060505

C6 Interlocked Hexagons

Mark a C6. Using alternating stitch and row kagari, work orange hexagons on four of the 6-way intersections and green hexagons on the other 4 interlocking them. Work pink squares on top using two strands in the needle and regular kagari. Notebook #060504

Pinwheels

Mark a C8 in a color to match the background. Using alternating row kagari, work orange octagons on each of the 8-way intersections. Work background colored zig-zag rows across every other section of the octagon leaving a pinwheel shape showing. Rows will cross at the 8way intersections. See notebook page for diagram of black stitching path. Notebook #060506

Design #060509

Mark an S12, no obi. Wrap 4 sections with purple. Using alternating row kagari, work a dodecagon (12 sided shape) starting close to the N pole. Continue to stitch the shape all the way to the S pole, breaking it up with a few rows of purple in the top and bottom half of the ball. Wrap 4 more sections with purple. Notebook #060509

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