Many times temari making relies more on attention to detail than "artistic talent". The underlying steps of making Temari are really quite simple, especially in relation to the beautiful outcome. Most follow repeating geometric patterns outlined by the marking threads. What will make or break the finished design begins with preparing the ball. Thus, making the mari and wrapping it are important skills to lean and master. There are two important things happening with wrapping the mari. First, you are completing the construction of the ball itself - being sure that it is and remains round (or as round as humanly possible). Secondly, you are creating the stitching surface that you will work on. If this surface is not adequate, the placing of your stitches can slide and completely disrupt your efforts.

        Whether you make a mari core or start with a preformed one such as Styrofoam is your choice - benefits of making the core are discussed on the mari making page . Wrapping the mari is (usually) a two-step process in that underlayers of yarn are laid down, and then the final thread layer (by definition, a temari has a final layer of single strand sewing thread. There can be some artistic variations if needed for the design but, the traditional temari is has an outer layer of simple thread). I mentioned "usually" since you may find a few older references that only use a layer of sewing thread. This is rarely done and if it is, requires a much deeper thread layer since it's the sole component of the stitching surface. I recommend and always use both yarn and thread layers, and all references to prepping the mari on Temarikai.com function on this concept. In either case, wrapping the mari generally adds between 1/4 to 1/2 inch to the size of the mari core (it will vary based on the personal style you develop).

       Wrapping the mari does two important things: it makes the ball round and it builds the surface into which you will place the stitches. The mari needs to be as round as you can possibly make it - and yes, with a little practice you will make them round! Getting a round ball will come about easily if you remember three things: Keep the ball moving as you wrap, keep even tension as you wrap, and work from thicker to thiner wrapping materials.  Building the stitching surface will happen as you wrap - but it's important to remember that you are doing this. Even though using several layers of materials helps to make the ball round it also provides the base. Don't skimp or you'll end up frustrated later.

       As the mari is wrapped, it helps to go from thicker to thinner materials. There is a nice little rule of particle mass in science that helps out: Think of filling up a bucket with rocks. If you use only big ones you won't get a smooth top and not many in the bucket. If you start with big ones and then fill in with smaller and smaller ones, and top it with sand (sand is tiny rocks) - you'll get a nice smooth top and the bucket will be full, with no air holes between the rocks. The smaller and smaller pieces fill in the holes between the bigger ones. When you start wrapping a mari with four ply yarn, it's going to be a little lumpy - but then go to a thinner yarn, then the thread. This smooths the ball out wonderfully and it will give you a great stitching surface. The smaller the stuff, the smoother it will be. Go from thicker yarn to thinner yarn to thread. Each adds to the stitching base and each goes another step in smoothing out the surface of the ball.

       Having chosen your mari base, begin wrapping with four-ply yarn (if you have a large supply of thinner weight yarn, by all means use it in place of 4 ply). It need not be "good stuff" - and it need not match the color of the thread you will use to wrap the final layer. The thick yarn layer is deep inside the mari when all is finished. You want to cover the mari core completely and as evenly as possible - but not add so much that you are "exploding" the size of the ball. When wrapping (now and all times) keep the ball moving - you never really want two successive wraps around the ball to be in exactly the same place. The wraps should be random but they should always go around the full circumference of the ball. Keep an eye on things and as you wrap, use your fingers to push in any lumps or bumps. If using Styrofoam you can literally "crunch" bumps down (use your fingers or roll it on a hard surface); if you have made the mari, especially out of rice hulls, you can continue to "mold" the core into roundness as you wrap. It sometimes is easier to see if a ball is round by "looking past it" - hold it up and focus more on the wall behind the ball while you turn it around slowly. You'll be able to see if it's round or not.

        The next layer is one of thinner yarn. Ideally, one or two ply sport, fingering, sock or similar is great - but it can be hard to find and a bit expensive. Some folks will unply regular knitting yarn (no, I don't). Good alternatives can be weaving suppliers, knitting machine yarn, punch needle yarn or the like. Check out places like eBay for odd lots of thin yarns. Again, they don't need to match the thread you will use for the final wrap. I keep one light and one dark color on hand and choose accordingly based on what thread color I will use. It can help to do this to help avoid "bleed through" - the yarn showing through the thread wrap (ideally your thread wrap will prevent this but, it's something to consider). Another compromise I found can work is to use baby yarn for the 4 ply layer; it's softer than regular 4 ply yarn and with a bit of practice you can go from this to the thread layer, although you'll need to ramp up the thread wrap. And again, - as you wrap, keep the ball moving, be sure the wraps are going all in random directions over the full circumference of the ball and you're checking to be sure the ball is coming up round. You should be adjusting for roundness as you wrap - not when you are finished. A ball that is not round will only give you unevenly spaced stitching designs at best - or be impossible to divide and mark at worst.

       Change to sewing thread for the final layer. Use plain old thread - nothing fancy. In fact, specialty or fancy threads make things more difficult rather than help. Cotton, cotton blend or polyester is preferable. You'll need about 300 yards for a  2 3/4 inch ball or so. It's much easier and less expensive to purchase thread on cones - fabric stores and online sources carry thread like this for serger machines (be careful not to get thread for machine embroidery - stay away from rayon, quilting or other "fancy" things. You may want to use something like this on a special project but not general use). Most folks agree the "cheaper the better" - a rougher thread wraps better and gives an overall fine result, even better than a pricier one. Some stitchers begin wrapping the thread layer by using two or three spools/cones of thread at the same time - the extra strand(s) cover a bit more quickly and help to further smooth the ball surface. This is fine and can be a big help - but then drop to a single thread - the final layer should usually be a single thread unless a special design calls for multiple threads.  Again, keep the ball moving, wrap around the largest reach of circumference - the thread layer should be totally random in appearance, similar to a "felted" surface that has no warp or weft to it. It's this randomness that will hold your stitches in place.

         Tension should be firm enough to hold the threads in place, but not so that you are "burning" your fingers, stressing or breaking the thread, or compressing the ball into something that is so hard you can't insert a pin or needle. The thread wrap needs to be tight enough provide a firm and stable surface to stitch into - otherwise the thread layer can skew so that both marking threads and stitching threads slip and move out of place.  When you are finished, clip off the thread, and run some large staggered stitches randomly through the mari surface to secure it.

        Learning the "feel" of wrapping takes a little practice, and nothing really compensates for that. When finished a well-wrapped mari will not "unravel" - that is the threads will not slip off - yet there will be a little "give" to the surface (even though the ball itself holds its shape as round and is not "squishy"). It's sort of like kneading bread dough - it's very difficult to describe when the dough is ready, but once you "feel" it, you know it. And, that feel can change in a matter of seconds from "not ready" to "fine". The mari is the same. One stitcher routinely says that if you have to ask yourself if you've wrapped enough, keep wrapping. Another says that when you think you HAVE wrapped enough, wrap a little more. Both are good pieces of advice. You need to be sure to cover the ball completely and with a deep enough thread layer that the yarn is not showing through, nor will when the stitches are placed into the mari. If, as you start to stitch, your needle is hitting or grabbing the mari core, obviously you need to add some more layers in there.

Some thoughts: 
+) Crochet cottons don't work well for wrapping - they are too hard a cord to smooth out and stitch into.
+) For yarn, there is no preference/ difference for wool over acrylic.
+) If you are truly unsure if you are wrapping "too much" - use a needle, toothpick or similar and "measure" how deep the layers are - insert till you hit the mari core; most common is 1/4 to 1/2 inch. 
+) Yes, the mari is going to "play" with you and pop out of your hands from time to time as you wrap - it's all part of the process :>). If you really need to, try using rubber gloves, or slightly dampen your fingertips to help control it.
+) If you have ever stitched on felt, or pieces of a knitted garment together, you know that you can take a bite of the base that looks large, but when you snug the stitch it almost disappears. This is the type of surface that you are striving for on the mari. You need for it to be secure enough to precisely hold the stitch placement, yet have a little give.
+) Cheap threads work better:  "You want cheap threads for the underwrap of yarn on the mari and for the mari itself, so skimp here.  Cheap threads are cheap because the staples (the fibers which make up the yarn or thread) are not longer, so there are little breaks of thread all along the length - the result is it is not smooth (think of hair with lots of split ends). Smoothness in fibers comes from using material with longer staple length (although this is not the proper term for anything except plant fibers, length is a factor in all fibers.)  The rule to remember is the smoother the thread the longer the staple. The longer the staple, the more expensive to produce. When you wrap the mari you want the wraps of thread to stick to each other, which is why you want a thread with short staples - and that means cheap thread. Threads which are smooth (like quilting thread) will not stay on the ball because they don't have anything to hold onto" (Janet P.)  So - spend your thread budgets on stitching threads, not wrapping threads.

And, remember - making temari is supposed to first and foremost be enjoyable..... thus Nicole's thoughts: "Learning to wrap was the hardest part of the process for me!  I would pull so tight I would get thread burn on my fingers, just to have all the threads pop off like a bad hair day when I tried to roll my way to round.  I crunched Styrofoam balls until I had balls that looked like the moon.  Here are a few things I finally learned:

1. Perfect Roundness is a lofty state which is acquired after much practice.  It also helps if you learn to fudge a bit and work on Nearly Perfect Roundness.  This state can be acceptable, although it does not bring the same level of bliss.  (Being a very literal person, I just about gave up for my lack of perfection, until several of the more experienced mari makers confessed that Perfect Roundness is the goal, but it is rarely achieved.)

2. If you are getting yarn and/or thread burns you are wrapping too tightly!  Again, I took the "wrap tightly" part of the instructions a bit too literally.  If you have a large cone of thread and put in on the floor, the tension it lends as you pull the thread up to wrap is almost perfect.

3. This one was a shocker to me:  I get better results making my own maris than starting with Styrofoam.  I had gone out and bought oodles of styro balls to use, which are now rattling around in my craft cabinet.  Once, in a fit of desperation when I had to stitch and had not brought any styro forms, I just grabbed some tissues and started wrapping.  I was amazed at how well it worked up!  Since then I have tried rice hulls and plastic bags and have had much rounder bases to work on.  Another advantage is being able to mush instead of crunch.

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Last updated 7/08  © 1998 - 2008 G.Thompson with thanks to: Gen L., Sue H., Carol Ann, Barbara Sp., Anne W., Karin K., Janet P., Nicole B.