Katagami: hand-cut fabric stencils

We love to work with traditional craftsmen and women in Japan and try and create new outlets for their talents.  For example, even our old blog header was hand cut katagami paper (after a re-design we no longer have a header on this page).  It is painstaking, exacting work, sitting cross-legged hunched over a low table.  Above is a picture of Kobayashi Sensei creating a very fine stripe.

Traditionally katagami is used to create a stencil for dying cotton or silk.  We have started stocking cotton Kasuri cushions and hope to find some good stencil dyed fabrics soon!