3/2005 - Stick your finger with your needle and how have a blood spot on your work in progress? Two hints that can "rescue" it from the stain...carefully dab with hydrogen peroxide, repeating as needed - don't saturate the area and keep it to as small an area as needed then dab with clear water. Keep the moisture to a minimum to avoid colors running....  and from Sue C: Put a yard or two of white cotton sewing thread (no color and no polyester) in your mouth and make a wet "spit' ball of it.  Roll it on the blood spot and it will "lift" the blood out.  You may need to do this two or more times, with a fresh thread each time, but it should eventually pull out all the stain. Dab with clear water to rinse. This is a tried and true tip handed down through generations.

2/2005 - it's been a common thing talked about on the TalkTemari list to make yourself a wrapped and marked C8 and C10 ball, just to keep in your workbasket so that you can be able to visualize pattern placements and such....   if you don't want to "waste" good maris, or even do be able to do more "diddling" - get three or four inch Dylite balls - that's the "Styrofoam" that is harder and has a smooth surface. Using permanent markers, mark out the basic markings on each, one for a C8 and one for a C10. Then with other colors, highlight out the lozenge shapes that the divisions create - the smaller shapes within shapes that emerge. You can use these to help you get oriented when working patterns from other source notes, or even for cooking up your own combinations.

2/2005 - I have found that instead of paper under stitches to slide the needle against to make woven designs, if you use card stock or small pieces of index cards, it sure is easier.  The needle can still catch on paper, but slides much easier on the heavier paper. Sandy E

1/2005 - when making designs using interlocked elements you can sometimes loose track of the direction of weave in locking the elements together. If you adopt and remember the mnemonic  Under Left, Over Right it's easier.  As your needle approaches the marking thread it's going to stitch on, or at,
or around, go under previous stitches at the m.t.'s left and over them at the m.t.'s right.  Under left, Over Right. Helen B and the TalkTemari group

1/2005 - A good way to be sure your stitches are straight within a design is to  try to find a marking line that runs parallel to whatever design element you are trying to accomplish.   In the past I would tend to focus solely on the marking threads where I was taking the stitch, but I have come to realize that there
is almost always a parallel marking line somewhere close to my stitching line. This is the best tip ever for getting better results.   It is always the way I teach children:   "First lay the thread where you want it to go.   Now take the stitch at the end to keep it there."   Works like a charm!  Nicole B.

2/15/02 - more tips on pulling "obstinate"needles through tight stitches....From Nicole: I have absconded with my hubby's leatherman tool so I can use the pliers to get a needle through.  I have found two other things helpful with that problem:  longer needles (I was amazed at some of the ones I saw at the meeting in Birmingham) and my leather thimble.  If I can't pull the needle through with the thimble on, I take it off my finger and squeeze the needle
between the leather and presto! (webmaster's note - be careful with pliers that have serrated jaws that they don't mar your needles). From Carol M.: If you don't have one of those silver dollar sized rubber grippers, and you do have a rubber band that comes around a bunch of fresh broccoli, just cut a
piece of that and place it around the needle and pull. Has worked for me for years with quilting and temari. From Debbie: try using the rubber circle from your kitchen (the thing that helps you get a grip to unscrew tight lids) if you don't have an "official needle puller".  From Karenleah: My daughter is a data processor and flips through a lot of paper every day. She uses - and has brought me - little brown, flexible thimbles that are covered with raised dots. I've found these to be absolutely perfect and now indispensable for my temari stitching! A big benefit is that I can pin these to my pin cushion and so keep track of them quite easily. (With 5 children at home, things have a way of getting "misplaced"!) Any office or paper supply store would carry them, quite cheaply.

2/15/02 -  I still use the rubber needle pullers, but I have added a "leather thimble."  These are pieces of leather about 3/8" of an inch wide that are formed into a circle that fits around your finger.  The outside of the leather is dimpled to prevent the needle from slipping, and the inside is lined with a thin plastic shield for support.  The size is adjustable by replacing the string that keeps it as a ring with a longer piece to fit whatever finger you need to use it on.  They are made by Clover (Art No. 612) and come three in a package for approximately $3 or $4.  I find it very useful and sometimes forget I have it on my finger when I put my stitching down it's so comfortable.  I could never get the hang of a regular metal thimble, but had no problem with these at all.  Certainly worth the investment! Anne W.

2/15/02 - When ending off threads, always bring up your thread (to finish off) and cut it, in either an area that would be covered by the design or in the matching color--if you are working on blue bring it up in the blue before cutting. And, Before cutting,firmly pull on the thread before cutting--it will then pop back down in the wrap. Then use the head of the needle to go under the threads and smooth over the cut thread to make it disappear. Doris H.

1/30/02 - I use corsage pins to keep my temari stationary. They are the ones that have the teardrop pearl head. Very inexpensive and can be bought by the box. I insert 4 at a slight angle to make "legs". These can easily be painted with a paint pen. I keep several on hand that I have painted in gold and silver. I also used a permanent black marker to color some. Dolores S.

10/31/01 - From Pat W. - the secret with spindles is that they are generally along one line; you divide the full distance the stitching is to cover along it into 1/4this, and start your stitching at th 1/4 and 3/4 points... growing the spindle out toward the ends. Remember on a spindle it is a SHARP point to keep the shape, and each stitch needs to be farther out from the previous one than on, say, a square. Eyeball a needle-width or more and it will work.

10/27/01 - From Anne W. - I've only been doing Temari for about 3 years or so, but I found that my thumb got sore from pulling the needle through when I stitch.  I wrap my maris tightly, and sometimes I have a hard time pulling it through, especially after I've been stitching for a while and my hands are starting to get tired.  Like so many others, I've found that stretching and flexing my fingers helps a lot, but it does nothing to help the sore spot on the end of my thumb.  I've found that using the small circles of rubber made by Dritz for quilters helps quite a bit.  Not only is my thumb no longer sore, but it helps prevent fatigue because I don't have to hold the needle so tightly.  Such a simple thing.  They come on a card, packaged 3 per card for less than $2 in your fabric store right along the needles display.

8/29/01 - From Lynne - anything 2 inches and under (balls, eggs...) will store beautifully in egg cartons! Good way to keep those maris from rolling around under the bed, and to keep them away from the cats!

8/11/01 - From Martine  -(about whether to use a paper liner when working an interlocked design to slide the needle through with) - I taped 2 plastic strips together so the folded like a book-I then slid my needle between the two plastic strips (like the clear plastic that is used for report covers) -that way i did not have to worry about accidentally picking up a stray under wrap thread or a design thread.

7/17/01 - Cutting the pearl and metallic threads at a 45 degree angle with scissors prior to threading the needle.  It creates more of a "unified point" to feed into the eye of the needle instead of a bushy end.  I've learned that some metallic threads cut at this angle will sometimes unwind but will still thread easier because of the diagonal cut.  (from a web reader....)

3/9/01 - from Carol M, for those that like to make Teenie Temari, you often need a smaller yet useful pin to mark with - she recommends applique pins - usually available with quilting supplies and related techniques. They are about 1/2 inch long - better than sequin pins since they have a little  more length to them.

8/24/00 - From Nicole B. comes another idea for marking round circles in pole patterns - use the little sticky dot labels that you can get in office supply stores. They come in lots of colors and sizes, and will peel off easily afterward.

7/22/00 - For a simple twist on the usual try adding in a blending filament with your wrapping thread on the last rounds like Chris F. does, as well as Jera P." I've done something similar....  I've done several balls & eggs with three or four strands of thread held together in the thread wrap--usually I use at least one of regular sewing thread (for "stickiness"), then a little rayon machine embroidery thread, and a fine metallic machine embroidery thread.  I've found that it helps with this stuff to keep the patterns simpler, and use a strong contrast in the embroidery, or the design gets lost next to the wrapping. I think it gives a richness to the designs, myself, and am starting to use it more often.

7/22/00 - Do you find that when you work patterns that cover the ball, some threads seem thinner than others? And you have "holes" even though everything looks to be so even? Well - in fact no ball is perfectly round and these patterns will show that up the most. But, you are not crosseyed - per Ann W. , "I've found that virtually all dyed threads have the problem that the lighter colours are thinner than the dark. Apparently it has to do with the amount of pigment needed to achieve the darker colours, which bulks out the fibres. It can be a bit of a pain when you need just so many rounds on a ball. I 'cheat' all the time and put in extra rounds if needed. As long as the number of extra rounds is pretty even over the ball ( the same number around each pentagon or whatever), it shouldn't make any difference to the finished look." And from Kathy N., "My experience with adding extra rows to fill in gaps in a design is that it depends on the design.  Most designs can easily accommodate an extra row or two in places without it being noticeable.  They can often be added after the temari is completed, when you might see a gap that bothers you (and you are convinced that everyone who sees the temari will notice THAT GAP and nod knowing that you are no match for Martha). The truth is that 99% of  the people would never notice.  Last night I picked up a temari that I stitched 8 years ago and noticed that I had left out a purple thread in a section.  It wasn't subtle, but went unnoticed all this time. The effect of a few "all over" designs, where the base is totally covered, might depend on the exact count and overlapping of different colors.  On these temari it might be best to sneak in extra rows somewhere in the middle of the section, since many times the last couple of rows stitched are a different color which outlines the design or makes the design "pop out".   Works for me.     Kathy N (PS - I'm still leaving out that purple thread!)

6/24/00 - If you are having trouble working the chrysanthemum pattern to get even stitches, check out the photo essay on the site and also try Sue H.'s tip - be sure that you have a deep enough base prepped on your mari. If not your stitches will just melt into it and not be well defined, making it look rather ragged. Personally i use batting, yarn and thread, and this gives a nice base so that a several mm stitch can be taken and then it pulls together nicely.

6/7/00 - If you have ever wondered if the large cones of Pearl Cotton that can be mail ordered would work - they will. These usually are NOT name brand like DMC or Coats/Anchor - but for basic colors like white and black that you usually use more of, the grade is comparable to work with brand names for your other colors. Herrschner mail order has large cones..... see the supplies page for catalog and ordering info.

5/11/00 - there are some patterns that require even circles at the poles, and you can best achieve this by using a circular template to stitch around. Gen L uses drawn circles (you can predraw a bunch in varied standard sizes, and make them out of more durable heavy paper or light weight cardboard, or laminate them) and then pins them through the center to the pole. Janice H. uses buttons! You can get buttons in all graduated sizes for the most common you would use, and the hole in the center (be sure to get flat two or four holers - not ones with shanks) is perfect to insert a pin or two through to hold it firmly to the pole center of the ball. More noisemakers ideas: Other noisemakers suggestions: single jingle bells, beads, rice or other dried beans or pasta, etc. - placed in a small holder deep inside the mari. You can make a small cube from lightweight cardboard, put two screw-on soda bottle tops together with tape, cut down a film container - anything to suspend the "rattle" or "jingle" within the mari so the sound is not muffled. I personally use a small jingle ball in a cube made from an index card, and add a penny of the year the ball was made when making my own mari. If I use styro, them I just hollow out a bit after cutting the ball in two - make a big enough hollow and the bell will float enough that you do not need another container for it - same with most other rattles.

5/2/00 - from Anne N. - for a quick way to make a temari with a jingle in the middle - start with a cat's bell in ball toy - pad it up in size with yarn, hose, fabric, bags - the usual culprits for making a mari base - wrap with batting and or yarn - then thread - instant jingle Temari.

4/29/00 - From Susan C. - if you like to make Temari eggs, try using the plain stretch gauze that is kept in first aid kits as an underwrap - works great! (web master's note - I agree, I tried it and use it all the time now for eggs) - If you are not using all those little snips of yarn or thread put them outside now that it is spring, you'll have bird nests that Martha Stewart would approve of.  If you need a quick fix for a needle puller, try a piece of a kid's regular latex balloon (not mylar).

02/01/00 - Judy M via Kathy H. suggests taking your Temari books to any office goods/supply store and have them (the paper bound ones) spiral bound. This allows them to lay flat, and make page turning much easier especially the ones where you need to refer to photos. It is not expensive to have done, and is very well worth it.

10/23/99 - The more tension that is kept on the thread as you wind the mari , the smoother and firmer the base will be for you to stitch on, and you will also have less trouble with the threads slipping off as you wrap if you're a bit off center on the winding.

9/28/99 -  A couple of the discussion group members discovered a discrepancy on a pattern in Anna Diamond's new book : "Anna Diamond's book (Square Within a Square  Pattern 2, page 45).  In the course of working the design we discovered something I want to pass along.  The photo of the temari does not match the instructions given in text.  The number of thread colors used and the number of rows stitched do not match." So - if you're working the pattern and thinking things don't match - they don't.   

9/99 - As the embroidery is done use a moderate degree of tension - enough to keep the threads straight and snug but not tight enough to skew them. Pick up a few threads of the thread wrap, but do not pull so tightly or go deeply enough as to separate the threads of the layer so that the yarn wrap shows through. Likewise, the stitches are place over and around the marking threads - be sure to keep the marking threads true and don't pull them off line. Be precise in placing stitches - lay the thread down where it is to be secured and place your stitches accordingly to enhance straightness and sharpness. Allowing or hoping the thread will "slide" into position as you go, as very often works fine in basic sewing, isn't as acceptable for the precision needed for Temari balls.