I gave a Christmas present to the children in a nursery school.
It began when a mother of my daughter’s friend at the nursery asked me “would it be possible to make some playthings by using cloths because there are not much in the nursery”
As a sample, she showed me a set of large size silk cloths which is also used as the Waldorf learning toy.
Silk cloth’s unique softness and gloss might turn into a mantle or a dress that wraps up children, or it might turn into a doll to play with or all the other things that children can ever imagine. It will expand the world of children’s imagination.
So I decided to dye white silk cloths with plants and held a workshop in the nursery school. In the workshop, we used 6 kinds of summer green leaves for dyeing. Subsequently, I opened another workshop where we used 4 kinds of autumn nuts & berries for dyeing.
With help of many participants, some mothers kindly joined the both workshops, we managed to dye the colourful 10 colours cloths.
At each workshop, mothers made rice and sweets using foodstuffs such as walnuts and chestnuts in combination with dyestuffs we used and we had a relaxing time after work.
When I asked Yutaka SATO from “Yamanokami Mokkojo” (woodworking shop) if he could make a wooden box to store the dyed cloths, he was willing to make it and what’s more, he kindly made the box out of Akamatsu (Japanese red pine) which he had in his keeping ever since he felled the tree in the nursery’s woods.
In addition to this, the leaves and the nuts & berries that were used as dye were painted on the inner lid of the wooden box by a woodcut artist Ko KOBAYASHI so that children could see what they dyed the cloths with.
The silk cloths were finally finished off after hemming the edges by the hands of mothers.
The gift was made finished in a form that I had never thought at first, thanks to many who took part with caring thought. The series of events were soft and warm and it was a pleasant moment.
It was my pleasure to take part in the event which was held in the place I value and I am grateful for allowing me to make such a gift in the final year of my daughter’s nursery school.
I wish the children will play having fun with the cloths and the box that are filled with warmth.