January Noren Making Workshop
January Noren Making Workshop
It’s a New Year and a new workshop! Let’s enter it with style by making noren.
We will take the weekend to make a 3 panel noren to hang above a doorway using vintage Japanese textiles, sashiko, and shibori. The noren will be two sided so that it can be seen from either side (no front or back “right” side).
Fabrics, tools and threads will be provided as well as a wooden hanger.You are encouraged to bring any of your own fabrics/shibori that you would like to incorporate into your piece.
Each of the 6 panels (3 each front and back) will be approximately 11” square.
We will use the sewing machines to assemble them. Alternatively, you can use your blocks in a vertical manner to create a wall piece for display.
Let’s get creative with noren!
What is noren? Originally, noren were a cotton fabric curtain dividing rooms or hung in doorways to keep dust, breezes, and sunlight from entering. Traditionally, noren are longer and split down the center. They can also provide some privacy.
Restaurants often have a noren screening the dining customers from viewing the working kitchen.
Traditional shopkeepers display noren in their doorways to signal that they are open, taking them inside at the end of the day. Noren also may have images or writing indicating the shop name, the type of goods sold, or even a family crest.
These days, traveling around Japan you are likely to see noren displayed outside and inside a place of business and even at shrines and temples. They are fascinating to look at as works of art and they often display various textile techniques. Katazome, indigo, natural and other dyes may be used, shibori, and many other varieties of noren can be seen along the streets of Japan. They invite you to enter.
