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You will need:
5 scraps of cotton fabric, or one larger piece
Needle and thread
A larger piece of fabric to make a drawstring pouch, if you wish
Cord for the drawstring pouch
Dried lentils or aduki beans
Instructions:
Cut 5 rectangles 6.5 x 4 inches from your fabric. You might find it easier to
print our otedama pattern
and use it as a template. We made each of our ojami out of a different fabric,
but you could use the same fabric for all of them if you prefer.
Cutting our fabric
Fold the fabric in half so that the short edges match, with the "good" side
of the fabric facing inwards. Pin.
Fold and pin
Stitch the seam together. A simple running stitch will do, as long as you
keep the stitches fairly small, although of course you can use a machine if you
wish for speed. Knot at both ends.
Stitch the seam with running stitch.
Using a new piece of thread with a good knot in the end, stitch along the top
edge of your fabric, gathering the fabric together as you go. Pull tightly
together and then finish off the thread securely.
Gathering the top edge
Turn the fabric the right way out and hold the gathered edge at the bottom.
Turned right side out
Now turn the top edge in by about 1/2 inch, and use a fresh length of thread
to stitch with large gathering stitches all around the top. Do not finish off,
and leave the needle on the thread.
Turning in the top edge with a gathering stitch
Measure out 2oz of beans or lentils.
Pour the beans into the fabric tube, then gather up tightly and stitch closed
securely.
Our first ojami, filled with beans and stitched closed
You might want to take a few extra stitches through the top from one side to
the other, just to make sure all the beans stay inside!
From the top
From the bottom
We made a simple drawstring bag to store our otedama.
Now that you've made your otedama, you need to know how to play!
Otedama games
Here's another (more complicated) way to make otedama, that will appeal to
the quilters out there - a perfect way to use up your stash!
http://melyndahuskey.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/basic-otedama-a-tutorial/
Really cute penguin otedama!
http://blog.foxdowns.com/tag/otedama/
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