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Ever Made A Hat In Stockholm? Why, Yes. Yes I Have.

Posted on February 5, 2016 by No Map Required Posted in Art, Art & Engineering, Places, Sweden .
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Welcome to our second Sweden post! If you read our last blog, you know how excited we are to share our day with the Japanese origami hat maker. That’s right: we went to Stockholm and found ourselves at work with a Tokyo based artist making hats. Crazy, but we don’t make this stuff up!

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Outside the gallery was this poster mentioning workshops. Unfortunately we were leaving Sweden on the 23rd…

Wandering around towns often allow our best experiences to pop up. We were about to walk in the Old Map Shop near our hostel in Stockholm when one of us said, “Hey, hats!” and we darted across the cobblestone road. We could see through the gallery window that these weren’t regular hats…they were hand-crafted, really cool, literally origami, hats. The artist, Atsuko Fujii, has designed a technique of folding material this way and that – then running a few seams here and there — and **poof** a really super cool hat!

Walking in we were greeted by the owner of Galleri Yamanashi, and her guest artist from Tokyo, Atsuko Fujii. They were both lovely and invited us to try on all the hats we wanted. Ohh, we wanted! “Try this one!” “Wait, what about this one?” It was awesome. As we were looking around, Aaron remembered the poster outside and took the initiative. Our motto is: “If you don’t ask, the answer’s always ‘no’” – so Aaron asked if they’d do a special private workshop for us and they suggested 2:00pm the next day…unless we wanted to start immediately.

Not just any hats...really out--there creative and fun hats.

Not just any hats…really out-there, creative, fun hats.

For the second time in as many weeks we took up sewing and this time Aaron joined me. Atsuko speaks very broken English, but was quite high energy and used a folded piece of paper to show us what was going to happen with the cloth. Then we got the fun of picking our material — already cut to size and with a basting line on it so we barely had to think about where the fold should go because most of the measuring was done for us! Aaron didn’t have the benefit of growing up with a dad who sewed his clothes, so he was new to the sewing machine as Atsuko used pantomime to teach him. I just leaned over and said, “It’s just like your scroll saw, put the pedal to the metal and let ‘er go!” and like that he was off and sewing! We pinned, we pressed, we made some very warm and funny hats.

You can do it, Aaron!

You can do it, Aaron!

I wanted to make sure there was video proof of his sewing education, so here’s 30 seconds of Aaron sewing, all on his own:

Aaron totally has skills. By the end of the day he was asking me how much I knew about sewing machines and sergers and was trying to figure out where, in our little tiny house, we might put one. We were all having a great time as the gallery owner made tea and brought out chocolate and snacks. It’s sooooo slooooow in winter, they must have been bored without us. So glad we could help the time pass! Then, before the final seams were even sewn in our first hats, we heard Atsuko ask, “One more?” Heck, yeah! So we got to make two hats each! The second was a different design and even easier to make.

Sure! I'll make another one.

Sure! I’ll make another one.

Aaron’s mom loves textile arts and we were so proud of our pieces we went directly home and called her on Skype. The second the camera focused on us she let out a squeal about our fabulous hats! Guess we did ok.

As we pack up and head to Iceland, you can know our ears are warm and artfully covered!

 

HATS: STEP BY STEP

Pick the fabric! So many one to choose from.

Pick the fabric! So many to choose from.

Review the directions.

Choose a design and review the directions.

DSC01469

Start a-sewing.

Steam the seams.

Steam the seams.

Pin the heck out of it!

Pin the heck out of it!

TaDaaa: A Hat!

TaDaaa: A Hat!

 

THE ARTIST and HER HATS

Anner and ___ in front of a bunch of hats.

Anner and artist Atsuko Fujii with some of the 150 hats she brought with her from Tokyo.

Atsuko threading the sewing machine for us. Don't you love her hat? And the white line is a tape measure sewn to her jacket --- which she deisgned, of course.

Atsuko threading the sewing machine for us. Don’t you love her hat? And the white line is a tape measure sewn to her jacket — which she designed and made herself, of course.

examples of the hats she makes and how to make the folds

A couple of example boards showing hats she makes and how to make the folds. The blue example is the first one we did.

Hats on display (And she made the displays)

Hats on display. She made the displays, too.

My favorite hat. It can be up or folded down.

My favorite hat. It can be up or folded down like this.

Modeling the cool hat.

Modeling my fav.

No way! You too!!

No way! You, too?!!

15 Comments
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What it Cost: Boston »

15 Responses

  1. lisa hinchliffe says
    February 5, 2016 at 9:56 am

    Another great story. I silkscreened in Kyoto and had an amazing interaction with a master weaver in Fukuoka — Japan has great textiles and textile artists!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 5, 2016 at 10:36 am

      Sounds like we need to make a trip to Japan!!!

      Reply
  2. Allison Welch says
    February 5, 2016 at 10:21 am

    When you get back to Seattle I have a serger you can have. A friend gave it to me when she bought a new one and I’ve never used it. Just let Gail (Pfeiffer) know. She’s the one who got me hooked on your blog!!!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 5, 2016 at 10:35 am

      That WONDERFUL, Allison – thank you so much! And now we know who you are – it’s been fun seeing you like our posts on Facebook and now we know the connection. We’ve just gotten home and are getting our house set up again. We’ll contact you once we settle back in. Much appreciated!

      Reply
  3. Julie says
    February 5, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    I cannot wait to see you and your hats in person. I want to get a sewing machine too:)

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 19, 2016 at 2:12 pm

      Will we see you at the 520 bridge opening? We can exchange hat patterns. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ruthie says
    February 5, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    Omg….u got home today?
    Love the origami hats…..what’s the fabric? Fleece, wool?
    Does it feel weird to be back in Seattle? We must have planned the afternoon rain just for you
    Welcome Home!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 19, 2016 at 2:14 pm

      Rain does make us feel at home – yes, indeedy! Luckily we’ve spent the last two weeks inside repainting the house!

      The hats are a mix of wool (for our faves) and fleece. Our teacher had a wonderful fabric selection – just choosing was a challenge.

      Reply
  5. Andrea says
    February 5, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    I want to see you and your hats in person! You can start a business and make hats! I want one!

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 19, 2016 at 2:15 pm

      Great! You’re first on the list! We just need to get that sewing machine…

      Reply
  6. Casey Gluckman says
    February 5, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    Japanese do amazing quilting, too. I love their aesthetic. Hint: so when do we go to Japan? Love the hats. I especially like Anner’s fav. How about a whole new line of A/A Art in Fabric.

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 19, 2016 at 2:16 pm

      A/A Art Studios sounds like yet another dream come true! We could take a trip a year to explore some new art form. I LIKE it!

      Reply
  7. karen says
    February 15, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    Love the hats — maybe Worthy of Hope Hats??? just a thought 🙂

    Reply
    • facebook-profile-picture No Map Required says
      February 19, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      Just need to find the perfect shade of purple fabric…a chill-o version. Fleece would be just too warm!

      Reply
  8. Pingback: No Map Required | What it Cost: Sweden

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