Stunning Embroidered Temari Balls Created by 92 Years Old Grandma (26 pics)

Stunning Embroidered Temari Balls Created by 92 Years Old Grandma — A 92-year-old Japanese woman’s amazing collection of traditional Japanese temari handballs has been unveiled to the public for the first time – She has created nearly 500 unique designs that have been photographed by her granddaughter NanaAkua.

Temari, meaning ‘Hand Ball’ in Japanese, are embroidered toy balls constructed from remnants of old kimonos. Temari balls are a form of folk art that originated in China and came to Japan in 7th century. It soon became a tradition for grandparents and parents to stitch the balls using silk scraps from old kimonos and give them to their children for New Year’s day as the balls symbolize loyalty and true friendship. The technique requires an enormous amount of patience, precision, good eye sight and pretty dexterous fingers. According to Wikipedia the balls would sometimes contain secret handwritten wish for the child, or else contained some kind of noise making object like a bell.

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