MY STITCHES MY RULES

T: Toby Crispy
K: Kerooo

T: 一直很好奇，為什麼你會想為我這還未認識的人造公仔？

K: 我造公仔有兩個原因，一是因為好朋友很喜歡很想要一隻，而你，是因為你也很喜歡針黹，所以我想造一隻給你。如果是送給別人的，我會很積極，就會造得很快；剛巧我的箱子裡有這個（錢幣），又有那個（戒指），便可以很快、叮呤咚隆的，每天造幾個小時，三天便完成。

T: I have been curious about this, why would you want to make dolls for me, someone who you barely knew?

K: I make dolls for two reasons; one is when a good friend really likes them and wants one. For you, because you also like stitching very much, I wanted to make one for you. When it is a gift for someone, I am proactive about it and I complete it really quickly; It just so happened that there were this (a coin) and that (a ring) in my box, so very quickly, working a few hours a day, the doll was done in three days.

T: 那麼這隻英式茶杯的靈感又是什麼回事呢？

K: 你説要來做訪問嘛！「過門都係客，梗係要整杯茶過你啦！而且我覺得英式茶杯好襯你！」

説的從容，聽的感動。

T: And what is the inspiration for this English teacup about?

K: Because you said you were coming for an interview! “A guest is a guest, of course I have to make you a cup of tea! Not to mention I think English teacup suit you well.”

That was said so casually, but I was moved.

我們的第一次對話就由Instagram裡這一張Kerooo手造的公仔相片開始，也解開了我對這虛擬世界支持者的好奇。

她慷慨地提出: 「我下次整隻送俾你吖！如果你唔嫌我手工唔靚的話！」

「你鍾意乜嘢色？我通常會因應朋友喜好整㗎！個人化啲吖嘛！」

「我之前好鍾意整公仔做禮物送畀朋友，做過好多隻但都送晒畀朋友！因為我覺得自己做禮物送畀人好有愛！」

三幾句對話，我便決定邀請她成為我「時間衣櫥」的展覽嘉賓。 

於是走到Undercover店裡找Kerooo店長，向她簡介展覽的內容，順道了解一下這特別的朋友。

Our first conversation began with this Instagram photo of Kerooo’s handmade doll, which also sparked my curiosity towards this supporter from the virtual world.

She offered generously, “Let me make you one next time! If you don’t mind my poor craft!”

“What colours do you like? I always tailor to my friends’ likings! For personalisation!”

“I used to make dolls as gifts for others, I made so many, but I gave them all away! I think there’s so much love in making gifts for others!”

Within a few exchanges of words, I have decided to invite her as the guest for my “Time Wardrobe” exhibition.

So I came to the Undercover shop to find Kerooo, the shop manager, to brief her on the exhibition, and also to get to know this special friend.

一箱又一箱排列整齊的工具和材料，像變魔術般，不知從那裡來的，隨著她一邊聊一邊從她手中翻開，不同種類的針線、布料、花邊織帶、圖章、印台⋯⋯

Boxes after boxes of neatly organised tools and materials, like magic acts, came out of nowhere. Unfolding in her hands as she spoke, they revealed all kinds of needles, threads, fabrics, lace, stamps, stamp pads…

Kerooo娓娓道來她的第一次，只因好友説哥哥今天生日，便從店裡找些閒置的布料、舊格仔褸和朋友學造公仔送給女友剩下的不織布，用一個下午的時間造了個O字形的布偶作禮物，想不到大男孩Oscar竟然很喜歡，便開展了她的針黹旅程。

Kerooo mused over her first time, when a good friend mentioned that the day was his brother’s birthday. They rummaged through the shop for leftover fabrics, old checkered jackets and unused fabrics from her friend that he made a doll for the girlfriend, and in an afternoon’s time, made an O-shaped doll as a gift. They never thought that Oscar, a boy at heart, would love it, and thus began her hand-stitching journey.

之後一隻又一隻，最初用襪頭襪尾試造人形公仔；

老闆生日，偷偷走去拍下他的愛車，造了架織物版本送給他；

朋友很喜歡某品牌的某件設計，她便造一隻穿上那件衫的公仔給他/她；

疫情持續，想學造布口罩，便先造一個給熊仔試戴，然後發現它比自己戴得還好看；

用膠樽蓋造了個特別的口罩給愛抽煙的朋友；

友人説王菀之很想在MV中有一個她造的巨形公仔，她形容為「生死時速」，用一個下午，「摩打手」地縫，成為現時為止最驕傲的作品。

After that, she made more and more dolls.

At first, she experimented on sock scraps to make doll figurines;

When it was the boss’s birthday, she sneaked a snap of his favorite car and made him a textile version of it;

When a friend really liked a design from a brand, she would make him/her a doll donning the piece;

As the pandemic dragged on, she wanted to learn to make fabric masks. She made one for a teddy bear to try on first, then realized it looked better on the bear than herself;

She made a special mask with a plastic bottle cap for a friend who likes to smoke;

A friend said Ivana Wong really wanted her music video to feature a big doll made by Kerooo. Kerooo described it as “the life and death hours” – stitched up in an afternoon with her “motor hands”, the work became her proudest one thus far.

説到最難忘，莫過於為好朋友亞奴和Jan仿照他們的禮服而造的一對結婚公仔，立體熊仔婚紗加上Jeremy Scott的熊仔波鞋，花了一個星期，以針線送上祝福，比現成買的還要珍貴得多！

聽進耳裡的不是手工分享，而是靈活變通和製作祝福的快樂。

K: 即興地拿張紙來畫紙樣，就地取材，一天造隻杯，一天造隻碟。同事笑問為什麼杯柄的形狀每天都不一樣，紙樣其實也不是完成後的樣子⋯⋯但無問題呀！無須要特定喔，都可以呀！我從來不嫌自己，我很少拆線，一拆便不想再造了，反正我的線步從來都沒有直過，哈哈！而且，我不會逼自己，天黑就要收工，光線不夠就不想造，對眼睛不好。

十多年來，造了約30隻公仔，喜歡造便造，沒心情造便可以幾年不拿起針線。

The most unforgettable work would have to be a pair of wedding dolls she made for her good friends Donald and Jan, with reference to their wedding attires – a three-dimensional teddy bear wedding gown, complemented by Jeremy Scott bear shoes. It took a week to finish, but a blessing conveyed through stitches is so much more precious than ready-made products!

What I heard here was not a sharing about crafts, but flexibility, openness to change, and the bliss of crafting blessings.

 K: Improvising a sketch on a piece of paper and sourcing materials on the spot, I made a cup one day, a plate on another. My colleagues asked me laughingly, why are the cup handles shaped differently every day? The paper mock-ups do not actually look like the finished piece… it’s no problem! There is no need for certainty, all is good! I never pick on myself, and rarely unstitch things. Once I unstitch, I lose interest, my stitches were never straightforward anyway, haha! And I never force myself. When the sun is down, it’s time to finish. If there is not enough light, I don’t want to do it too, it’s bad for the eyes.

In the ten years or so, she made around 30 dolls, making them only as she pleased. When she did not feel like it, she could lay down the stitches for years.

我就是欣賞她的沒章法，很純粹的隨性帶來驚喜，她把喜愛的Undercover男裝大衣用她可一不可再的針法修窄肩闊。

I admire her precisely for her lack of method, a simple spontaneity brings surprises. She took an Undercover men’s coat that she liked and narrowed the shoulder with those stitches that were impossible to reproduce.

想要一對米白色的波鞋又在市面上找不到，便翻開寶藏找出英式繡花棉質花邊，嘗試用普洱茶、鐵觀音和綠茶等染成不同層次的米色調，再縫合到鞋上。

When she wanted a pair of creamy white sneakers that was unavailable in the market, she opened her cove to source English floral cotton lace, dyed them to different shades of creamy white with pu’er, tieguanyin and matcha tea, then stitched them onto her sneakers.

Kerooo一開始是因為喜歡送禮物，但不想朋友拆禮物後即把包裝紙丟掉，所以選用布包禮物。

K: 天氣好，我便會去深水埗基隆街的排檔，見到喜歡的布便會買來收藏；而工具多是去旅行時買的，我很喜歡到日本的Tokyu Hands、渋谷的手作材料店和下北沢、高円寺的古著小店尋寶。

It started off because Kerooo liked giving gifts, but did not want her friends to dispose of the packaging when they unwrapped them, so she chose fabrics to wrap the gifts.

K: When the weather is nice, I visit the stalls on Ki Lung Street, Sham Shui Po, and buy any fabrics that I like for collection. Most of my tools are sourced during my travels. I like to treasure hunt in Japan’s Tokyu Hands, handicraft material stores in Shibuya, and vintage stores in Shimokitazawa and Kōenji.

K: 這些是我去家附近公園探望松鼠時，考慮到不想招惹其他蟲鳥，便帶幾粒連殼的合桃給牠們吃，而自己也把吃剩的合桃殼用來造針包，不過我發現它有點太輕，我正在想辦法加一點重量。

These are from my trips to visit the squirrels at the park close to my home. Considering that I didn’t want to attract other insects or birds, I brought a few unshelled walnuts for them to eat. With the kernels that were left behind, I made pincushions out of them, but I found them a bit too light and I am thinking of ways to add a bit more weight to them.

Kerooo坦言她很少留意針黹藝術家，反而會留意婘川實花媽媽為她手縫花口罩，或趁Porter Classic來香港時，請他們在衣物上刺繡。她期望Slow Stitch能成為一種文化，而不是一股潮流，也希望消費者更關注和支持有靈魂、恆久的服裝設計。

Kerooo admitted to paying little attention to stitch artists, but was aware of Mika Ninagawa’s mother sewing Ninagawa floral masks by hand, or Porter Classic’s visit to Hong Kong, during which she requested to embroider on her apparels. She hopes that Slow Stitch will become a culture rather than a fad, and that consumers would pay more attention to and support long-lasting apparel designs done with heart and soul.

對於每個公仔，Kerooo都能一一説出朋友喜歡的時裝品牌，甚至是哪一款設計；她會親手逐一蓋上每一個字母，一針一線地縫上名字。

K: 如果多點人喜歡造針黹，這也算是一種嗜好，人與人之間的溝通也會好一點 —— 當我想造公仔給你，我便會留意觀察你多一點，交流傾偈也會好一點⋯⋯而且，都係幾好玩㗎！

With each doll, Kerooo was able to mention the respective fashion brand that her friend liked, even down to which design; she would stamp each letter and sew each name by hand. 

K: If more people enjoy making stitches, which is a kind of hobby too, people could communicate better – when I want to make you a doll, I observe you and pay closer attention to you, and our exchanges and interactions improve… not to mention, it’s quite fun too!