Kikyou Maiko Kanzashi Set

I'm hard at work getting ready for Anime North's 2011 Kimono Fashion Show! Part of this preparation has been kanzashi making. This is the kanzashi set I've prepared for the maiko's ensemble. The bira (ougi) kanzashi and maezashi are antiques which I polished up. I had to polish the ougi kanzashi one bira at a time too. Unfortunately the ougi kanzashi and the maezashi don't have matching crests, but they'll do the trick on stage. The red ribbons are from my ryuu-sama kanzashi set: [link] and the tsumami kanzashi were made specifically for this event.

Eventhough the fashion show will be held in May, both my maiko and geiko will be wearing more autumn themed ensembles (that's what I have available to use), so I chose to make bellflower kanzashi for both of them. Bellflowers are the official flower or September in the maiko and geiko calendar. The violet colour is generally associated with autumn, winter and cold weather in Japan, so the bellflower's violet petals hint that September is the time when autumn's cold begins to be felt.

The purple petals for this set were all hand dyed. Along with the Niwasaki kanzashi I posted earlier, this was the first time I've used rice glue for creating the falls and I quite like the result. The falls are lighter and creating them was much less messy. I still prefer hot glue for the actual petal forming, but for attaching the petals to the falls, rice glue is really nice!

Time to Completion: 19 Hours

OTHER MAIKO KANZASHI SETS:
Winter
Ichiyuuki (First Snow) - [link]
Yuuki Onna (Snow Demon) - [link]
Ume (Plum Blossom) - [link]
Ume (Plum Blossom) - [link]
Matsu (Pine) - [link]

Spring
Sakura (Cherry Blossom) - [link]
Nanohana (Canola Blossom) - [link]
Fuji (Wisteria) - [link]

Summer
Ajisai (Hydrangea) - [link]

Autumn
Momiji (Turning Maple) - [link]
Kiku (Chrysanthemum) - [link]

Seasonless
Ryuu-sama (Dragon Lady) - [link]