Some general info first -
          As has been mentioned, Temari depend more on attention to detail than pure artistic talent. While those that are blessed with the skills of free-hand embroidery and design will certainly be able to incorporate them into ball creation, the underlying steps of making Temari are really quite simple especially in relation to the beautiful outcome. Most follow repeating geometric patterns.

        It starts with preparing the ball. You may choose to use or not use a layer of batting as the first cover on the ball form. If starting with a styro ball or other preformed base it's not necessary; it may however, be useful to pad up the sizing of the base if you're after a particular size. It may also be that the batting layer helps to maintain roundness of the ball as you wrap the other layers, so beginners may find it helpful.

        The next layer to be applied is the yarn layer. Finer ply yarns such as sport, baby or afghan produce a much smoother result than a four-ply yarn. It is important to continue to rotate the ball as you wrap to be sure that the yarn distributes evenly over the surface and the ball maintains a round shape - and again this is more easily attained with finer ply yarns. You must also be sure to wrap around the full diameter of the ball - and not have the rounds skewed off center. They will tend to slip off, will not form tightly around the ball, and will result in an uneven layer. Errors that occur here in the early stages of ball preparation will tend to exaggerate as you progress, and the most apparent impact will be an unevenly spaced design as you embroider. As you wrap keep a moderate degree of tension on the yarn - don't stress or stretch the yarn, but do wrap tightly enough for the wraps to form well around the ball. You don't have to match the yarn color to your final thread layer color - just use light yarn under light color thread and dark yarn under dark color thread.

        The final layer is the thread layer. Regular weight sewing thread is used. A polyester blend rather than all cotton gives a very mild sheen to this background layer. For a three to four inch ball plan on a standard large three hundred yard spool of thread. It's possible to get by with lesser amounts but the wraps will tend to split and separate if you're not careful as you embroider, and you will have to be much more attentive to being sure that all areas of the ball are covered evenly. The three hundred yard figure will give a solid thread base, and allow you to pay attention to keeping it round and smooth without having to be sure that you've covered all areas of the ball - you'll have enough. If the thread color closely matches the yarn color you may be able to use lesser amounts since the problem of the yarn color bleeding through the thread wraps will not be as noticeable. However, it is difficult to find as large a selection of yarn colors as thread. It is also more economical to have a light and dark yarn color in general rather than trying to match all colors. Again as you wrap pay close attention to staying around the center of the ball, keep rotating it to spread the thread wraps evenly. As you wrap. use a fair degree of tension especially on the thread wrap. This will produce a firm and stable surface on which to stitch. Looser wraps produce a "spongy" surface which allows for a lot of give and skew when stitching. Likewise, marker threads will displace more easily. Maintain the roundness of the ball as you wrap.

        Some balls are enhanced by adding a decorative random wrap of a fine metallic thread - this layer is sparsely scattered over the heavy solid thread layer. If this is used again be sure to use an even tension and to distribute the wraps evenly for the best design effect.

        There is a nice little rule of particle mass in science to remember when making mari. 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. If you start wrapping a mari with four ply yarn, yes it's going to be a little lumpy (be careful to not build up big bumps) - but then go to a softer and thinner yarn, perhaps not your best but something a little softer and thinner - then your "smoother-outer" yarn and then your thread. Starting with cheap thicker stuff and then going to finer ones will smooth the ball out wonderfully, give you a great stitching surface and conserve precious resources. You may not like the idea of keeping two or three weights of yarn on hand but in the end you will use much less of each and end up with a beautiful mari surface - as well as a round mari as long as you start with something reasonably round and wrap with even tension. Don't kill it - the tension should be "natural" - what ever it takes to wrap but you should not be concentrating on "tight". If it takes an effort to keep tension as you wrap you are probably wrapping too tightly.

Yarn layer
Heavy versus light--assume that this refers to the size by diameter. The larger the yarn the more difficult it is to cover with the thread and it requires more thread. I was given some very heavy knitting yarn (I believe we used to call it "bulky" yarn) which has a fairly tight twist. It was a cheap wool and felt rather lifeless. That was some rough stuff to wrap with thread. It never did reach the point where it felt "finished" but I put a lot of thread on it. In stitching, once in awhile, I would go through the rather heavy thread layer and hit a bit of an empty-feeling area. The twist in the yarn was just simply too tight to allow it to really smooth down. It was a three or four ply yarn. Usually I use a worsted-weight yarn (that was a label once used for a type of woolen yarn or for a type of wool fabric but the usage has changed and almost any fiber can be listed as worsted depending on the twist and number of ply). I find that baby yarns work well, particularly with some of the more involved patterns but can require a lot of wrapping. The result of the smoother layer of yarn does may a difference when there are lots of stitches in limited areas. The three-ply or fingering yarn is about as small as I use and only if I have been able to get "a deal" on it that makes it worth the extra winding. The yarns I use are most often are of the medium and sport-weight yarns.  - from a TT Member, ?? please email me - I think it's Gen L.

The yarn Sensei gave us to use on our temari was very thin acrylic... like a fingering, machine or baby weight - 2-ply.  The skeins were small "ball-like" ones, not like the long sausage-like ones we get here in the US.  I found a band off one of the Japanese skeins, and it appears to mention 25g.  I assume 25 grams? weight... we were told to use half of the skein - or about 12-13 grams per 3-inch dia. styro. base. One must consider the size of the ball desired, and what materials you have at hand.  (certainly this is what the original Japanese court ladies faced).  If you desire a ball larger than 5 inches in diameter, then "wasting" good "thin" yarn, and thread on the inner core does not make much sense.  On the other hand, experience has taught that trying to wind thread (which is very thin) over a bulky-type yarn (which is very thick) will result in a lumpy base.  Similarly, if one uses only thread on foam, the thread slips, resulting in large quantities being required to create a smooth non-slip surface. Logic dictates that if one desires to use batting and/or a bulky yarn to increase the size of the base (and you happen to have a lot on hand), it should be followed by progressively thinner yarns such that the ratio of the fiber-diameter of the yarn to that of the thread in the final layer is reduced to a minimum. As you stitch, if your needle keeps hitting the foam base with each stitch - you have not used enough yarn and thread.  There should be sufficient depth between the surface and the core for your needle to get a good sized "bite" with each stitch. It never failed to amaze me when observing Sensei stitch, just how large a bite she would take with each dainty stitch compared with my own tinier (but clumsy looking) efforts. - Susan H.

I used wadded fabric or hose for the core.  I deliberately use yarn than contrasts with the core and wrap tighter in areas where the core shows.  It seems to work out about "even".  When I no longer have core showing, I've, so far at least, had a round-enough ball. I continue squeezing a bit as I wind the thread layer, again using a contrasting thread (contrary as ever).  By the time the yarn's thoroughly covered, the mari have, so far, knock wood, been quite round. - Diane H.

I use Red heart brand baby fingering yarn.... It is under a dollar skein and one skein does a lot of mari, maybe 8-10 depending on size, and I usually do 3 inch. I don't think you need to make a thick covering of a yarn wrap, just enough to get the base covered... for example, if you use a styro ball then wrap enough so you don't see the styro, make it taught (not so tight as to make it so hard that you can't get a needle into it but not so loose that you have problems with strands coming off) I believe the secret is find a yarn that is soft and thin. I don't think wool pr polyester makes a difference at all. Machine knitting yarn comes on large cones and can be a thin ply yarn. Carol Ann

While a batting layer may be optional in mari preparation, the yarn wrap layer is not. Temari beginners often have a little difficulty choosing yarn that gives them the best prep base. In general the best "rule" I can offer is the finer the better. Thicker yarns will tend to give lumpy results especially to those still gaining experience winding a smooth and even ball. The thicker the yarn, the more easily it will create lumps and lopsided balls when winding IF the coverage is not even. If you let a heavier weight yarn build up a little bit in a place rather than keeping an even distribution, you get lumps and lumps make the ball lopsided. Finer yarns avoid this problem. They will give smoother, rounder result to anyone. I tend to like to find baby yarn, or other two ply yarns of a Shetland-type weight. These can be hard to locate, so sometimes you need to just use the finest you are able to locate, and can be more costly.  There is an alternative though - Omega Chrys, which while it needs to be mail ordered, works great. Machine knitting yarn is usually a bit finer and softer, and gives very good results.

Some makers have tried using crochet cotton as a substitute for the yarn layer.... in theory it can work, but it usually is rather hard corded so that while finer in weight, it does not give as smooth a result as you might think.

From Sue H. A note regarding the yarn - if you use a thick 4-ply type, you will find your ball to be on the lumpy side, and will require more thread and a lot of mushing and squishing to get it into a smooth surface.  If you use a thinner yarn like baby yarn, or machine yarn, (or as I do - at times - untwist a 4-ply into single strands) you will find that you will not require as much thread in the thread layer and have a much smoother surface overall.

Thread Layer - as most have discovered, wrapping and prepping the mari is  as if not more important than the actual stitching!

1/05 - The "Toothpick Depth Gauge" was just bandied about TalkTemari, having been posted by Barbara Sp. - The tooth pick with the measuring marks is to gauge the depth of the yarn wrap ( the first mark--3/8") and the final thread wrap ( 5/8") . This way people  just starting will know how much to wrap each
fiber. It is difficult to explain how  much to wrap when you can't show someone. (Webmaster's note - Obviously any small slender piece similar to a toothpick will work, such as a slender knitting needle, bamboo skewer etc. - but also remember, the prep of the mari base is to create the stitching surface and it is the quality rather than the quantity of the layers that matters most.)

11/04 - Barbara Sp. found that a pair of the cotton utility gloves that have all the little "nonskid" dots all over them (available in hardware or houseware departments of stores) are great to wear when wrapping maris to increase your grip yet make it easier.

5/2004 -  Anne W. offered the hint on Talk Temari that wearing a latex glove (or two) gives you a much better grip on things when wrapping a larger (or for that matter, smaller including teenies) mari to help reduce the number of times it "jumps" out of your hands..... needless to say, those allergic to latex need to use the latex-free gloves that are available also. Both types can generally be found in health care sections of pharmacies.

4/2004  Janet P offers this general info about threads for wrapping....

        Since I'm a needlepoint designer I spend most of my life around threads and have studied them pretty extensively. 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) are not longer, so there are little breaks of thread all along the length.  So 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. 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.  This can be overcome somewhat by stitching in the layers as you wrap or by combining the smooth thread with a rougher thread.  I put quilting
cotton with serger thread and have no problems. However when you get to the decorative wrap itself you do not want threads that will stick to each other, you want threads which are beautiful for the fiber they are.  Although fibers and threads differ quite dramatically in their qualities, these threads need to be
smoother or else you will have problems stitching and wrapping. So cheap bottoms, expensive tops.

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.

4. And finally, my wrapping method sounds a bit different than what others have described.  I usually do about 3 wraps around the center of the base, turning as I go, so the thread make something of a starburst by my thumb, then I run my thumb down the last thread a few inches to keep it stable, make this my new center, and make another starburst.  I haven't had a problem with lumps at the cross sites, and the threads stay on fine.  Especially after I take a bunch of long stitches all over the ball to finish it off.

8/15/01 - I find the best time to wrap a mari is when I am distracted, as in watching TV, talking to friends. I also do not use Styrofoam because I knew my balls would get played with.  Try starting off with something squishy like batting/ fabric scraps to start.  Also make sure you are not using really bulky yarn, use something more like a sports weight.  Also do not make balls bigger than you can comfortably hold.  I prefer to stay away from the measuring strip method - print of some of the angle templates from temarikai.com For imperfect mari do simple division patterns and carefully pull off the dividing lines.  No one will know that your ball is more like a rounded pumpkin. Beth S. (webmaster note - Beth is correct in that balls that are a bit lopsided can be used for patterns that use simple vertical divisions if they are not too badly off - just be sure that you orient so that the "longer" dimension of the ball goes either up and down or side to side).

As far as how much? well, one rule of thumb that works for beginners is that a 300 yard spool of thread does a nice job on a 2 1/2 inch to three inch mari. Once you do this, you get the feel of what it is supposed to come out like. The purpose of wrapping is to develop a good stitching surface. While it is hard to describe, you want a firm surface mari, but a slightly soft surface. If you have even 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. Also, the more random the wraps, the better the stitch surface will be.

From Sue H.  Regarding wrapping the ball... one can use a variety of things as a "base core" - everything from grocery bags, scraps of fabric, old socks and dryer lint, to pre-formed Styrofoam style balls... (and lots of other things as well). Once you have decided on a "core", there are again several schools of thought regarding the preparation of the mari.... one can use batting around the core followed by yarn then thread, or one can skip the batting and go straight to the yarn and thread.  Both are OK!!! here are tricks regarding color, too... some prefer using a different color yarn to thread so you can tell when all the areas are fully covered, others prefer matching yarn to thread so that if you get a bit thin in some areas, it will not show through as badly.  Both are OK!!! Don't skimp on the thread!!!  It takes a lot of thread to make a smooth ball.  You will wind and wind and feel that your mari will never be round and even, then suddenly - there it is... it firms up, the surface is smooth, and your mari is ready for marking.  Random winding is the key for both yarn and thread.  At our Temari Southern style gathering, someone noted that I kept my ball in constant motion as I wound it.  That was the way I had seen our Sensei do it in Japan, so I hadn't even given it a thought since it had  become such a second nature... but it is something to keep in mind.  If you find that your thread layers are slipping, it may be because you are not winding tightly enough... or you are using some of the beautiful but slippery acrylic threads on the market.  For beginners, try to use simple cotton or cotton-poly threads for your thread layer - they will keep in place better.  Ginny has many "tricks" on her Temari-kai site garnered from our group here on Temari Talk... using small stitches in your final layer to hold threads in place, or even hair spray on the slippery ones to keep the winding in place. Always.. just do what it takes to "get the job done"... and be sure to have fun while you're doing it!  - 

From Kathy H. I have a few things to add about wrapping the mari.  As Sue mentioned, the threads should be randomly wrapped.  This will insure that the stitches you make on it don't slide.  When you make a stitch, you will (hopefully) catch several layers of thread.  Since these threads are going every which way, there will be less slippage of the stitch and that's what makes it secure. As has been mentioned, whatever works for you is fine regarding the layers of the mari.  I now use rice hulls in nylon stocking sections, then cover that with a small amount of 4 ply worsted weight yarn, following that with a small layer of baby or thinner yarn.  I used only enough of each yarn to cover the ball. The size of my ball is determined more by the amount of rice hulls I use.  I like the light but squishy feel of the mari done this way.  After I apply the yarns, I start winding the thread.  The mari becomes a little more compact as I apply this final layer.  Usually the finished size of the mari is the same size the mari was prior to wrapping the
final thread layer.  About thread - I recommend beginners use the thread available on cones or 100% polyester thread.  I started out using this and had little problem with the threads sliding.  It's also fairly inexpensive. Recently I've had a desire for more color variety and have been using the spool thread or thread labeled mercerized cotton covered polyester. This is a bit slicker to me and a little more difficult to wrap.  I think it is prettier though.  There's more of a sheen to the spool or mercerized cotton thread. 

From Sue H. Mari that use a solid foam core tend to be quite light in weight, but very "firm" to the touch - the only "cushioning" really is the yarn layer. Mari that use rice hulls tend to be heavier.  The squish factor is a bit softer than a foam core, but firmer than fabric or bag cores.  I have felt some of sensei's mari in Japan that are as soft and squishy as a "Nerf" ball!... she says that she often uses old stockings (tights for our Brits)... yet, I know that if I tried it , mine would be a whole lot more solid than she seems to be able to turn out. This difference of firmness is most definitely in the style, and tightness of winding the layers.  One can definitely have a mari of a soft squishy nature, but it will be a definite challenge to keep it round, and keep the base as well as design threads from slipping.  There is also the "rebound" factor to consider when working with "soft" mari... if your mari does not return to it's round shape when squished, (like when using shopping bags that have not been well "packed") you will end up with a very lumpy out-of round ball.  (this is experience talking!)  You will also find that your threads are "suddenly" loose, with all their accompanying aggravation.  Soft mari require good shape-retaining cores. There is no right or wrong regarding softness in a mari... do what is comfortable for you.  Beginners are strongly encouraged to use Styrofoam-like cores... this will start you off "round", and give you a firm layer to work your pattern stitches on.  Once you have learned to "walk", then you can "run" with softer mari, and varying cores.  Another note that I recall from our gathering was that many were amazed that I did not push my pins in all the way.... again, reflex habit is my excuse for not mentioning it before...   Pins are only used to show you where your marking thread should be, therefore, you need the smallest "foot-print" as a guide.  Thin shanks on the pins seem to work best, as well as ones with large colorful heads (colors can help you keep track of what is north and what is south, as well as which order you need to follow in all-over patterns that are done one round at a time, and must be repeated in the same order.

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