Tools of the Trade
Day Seventeen: Clear Folder
A few years ago, I spent each day in January writing about a different tool I use in my maskmaking. As I am currently redesigning my entire website in the new year, I thought it might be nice to revisit this project. Each day in January 2021, I’ll share a different item that I use in my studio. I hope some of these can help other people who are interested in making wrestling masks.
I think clear folder may be one of the best inventions ever. Common in Japan, clear folder is used to conveniently store documents and loose bits of paper. They’re pockets made of a sturdy medium-weight plastic, sealed on the left side and bottom, and open at the top and right, with a little thumb cutout in the upper part of the right side. Basically, you can easily separate the front and back at the thumb cut, and then slide whatever you want inside for safekeeping. Clear folder makes it easy to store or carry around papers.
I used to store my pattern pieces in paper envelopes of various sizes. I found that bugs liked them, little patterns got stuck in them, and various other ills. Then I discovered clear folder and my life changed for the better! You can see exactly what’s in them, they lay nice and flat, patterns go in and come out easily, and they’re quite inexpensive. In Japan, you can even get them at the ¥100 stores. In the USA you can order them online from Amazon or whatever. I use A4 for most things, and these can be filed away in most any container that is designed for LTR sized materials. I also have some B4 for bigger things, and then some A6 and B6 to keep tiny stuff from being lost. The latter two can be tossed inside an A4 for storage.
You can also get clear folder with art on them! (These are usually then opaque, but are still called “clear folder” in Japan.) You can find them with manga characters, movie posters, music idols, business logos, and just about anything else you can think of. At arts and crafts shows, you frequently see artists who sell clear folder with their own art on them, like American artists might have stickers or poster prints at their comic con booth.
Postscript:
For my mask patterns, since they’re a bit bigger and I’m grabbing them and putting them away frequently, I keep most of them in a hanging file rack on the back of a closet door. The various pieces (body, crown, etc) are clipped together with a small binder clip, and the patterns are roughly sorted by type (traditional, chinless, full-face, etc). There’s also a clear folder in there with frequently used pattern pieces (laceplates, tongues, and the like.) I’ve seen a lot of mascareros who store their mask patterns by punching a hole in them and just hanging them on the wall, but I’m low on wall space (I have a lot of built in shelves in the studio, and I gotta have wall space to put up my cool posters!) and this was a convenient alternative.