Wire Wrapping

So, I have begun wire wrapping the different flowers and pearl stamens for the hana.  This is a pretty long, meticulous process.  I took several different shots, though, to include in my how to guide.  Wire wrapping is an essential part to mounting traditional japanese kanzashi pieces.  Since you can not use glue to fasten wire on wire, masters would wrap their stems and wires in silk thread for the glue to adhere to.  Then it is wrapped again to fasten two wires completely.  Since this kind of silk is expensive and as far as I know inaccessible, I substitute with a 2 ply nylon thread.  This is also the same thread I used for the shidare. The stem is wrapped about 6 - 8 inches down, so you use a lot of thread.  But the trick is, to twist the kanzashi and let the thread wrap itself, instead of wrapping the thread around the kanzashi in loops.  This keeps your thread line clean of knots and straight, white making the process go much faster.