Washi Paper

Primitive Originals is pleased to offer our special selection of Washi. We carry Yuzen Chiyogami Washi, which is the best choice for gourdwork.

(The links to our color galleries for ordering the washi
are at the end of this introduction,
please scroll down to order.)

Yuzen means made by hand (a traditional dyeing technique); Chiyogami means small repeated patterns on paper; Washi means traditional Japanese Paper.

This is a soft, almost translucent, but very strong paper made of interlocking fibers of the bark of a mulberry plant (kozo). Each color is individually silk-screened and allowed to dry before applying the next color. The final ink applied is the gold, giving the colorful sheets their distinctive richness. The first time you hold a true Yuzen Washi you know immediately the quality and difference between this and plain paper that has been printed. You can feel the richness and strength of the paper, and the layers of ink raised above the surface.

This is a beautiful example of Washi and gourd Ningyo (Japanese dolls) by Cindy Lee. Please visit her website at www.cindyleeartstudio.com.

The standard cut of yuzen is 6 x 6 inches (for origami). Unfortunately this is usually not long enough to circle the girth of most egg gourds; that's why directions often say to cut and piece your papers to fit. Our paper is custom cut to 6 x 8 inches, the perfect size for egg gourds or hen eggs. The 8-inch length is also a generous size for other projects, such as dressing Oriental dolls or covering gourd scraps for jewelry.

You are ordering single sheets of yuzen, each 6 x 8 inches. With each order, we will include a page of basic instructions for covering washi eggs, with photos and drawings. You can use these to create a bowl full of matching or coordinating egg gourds or to decoupage onto or inside a gourd bowl.

We've chosen carefully to give you a nice selection of fine handmade papers, never thin or machine printed ones, in a range of interesting patterns and colors that coordinate with one another.

Why not use inexpensive origami paper or wrapping paper for covering egg gourds, you ask? Try one once and you'll see that the paper becomes translucent and weak when dampened with glue. Besides tearing easily, when it dries, you may notice the overlapping and gourd imperfections through the thin paper. Our own experimental results were disappointing. On the other hand, the strong handmade Japanese papers were strong, though very flexible. We could fold and score the sheets, and those wrinkles disappeared when dampened with glue and adhered to the gourd surface. The papers have a slight "give" allowing you to fit the contours of the egg and align seams. Finally, the silk-screened colors have a depth and slight texture that just doesn't exist in modern printed paper.

For your information, we recommend and use (and carry) Perfect Paper Adhesive as the best glue for applying yuzen to gourds. It serves also as the protective covering afterwards. Also notice that we carry a washi paper ruler which was specifically designed for marking washi paper in the shape required for covering eggs.