A Denim Jacket with Sashiko Flair

Growing up on a dairy farm we always had “barn clothes”.  They were one-piece coveralls, with long sleeves and long pants, that could easily be worn over our play clothes.  Our barn clothes were lovingly sewn by my mother on her Singer sewing machine.  She used denim fabric for its strength and durability.
Flash forward a few decades (OK… a lot of decades!) and I no longer wear denim onesies!  But I do still have a fondness for denim.  After learning about sashiko Japanese stitching and trying it out (see My Little Stab at Sashiko), I was eager to tackle a more ambitious project.
Sashiko is typically done with white thread on indigo-dyed fabric so it’s a great option for embellishing a denim jean jacket.  Unlike most of my making projects, I didn’t plan out the entire design in advance.  Instead, I took advantage of the jacket’s construction and addressed one section at a time starting with the back yoke.  Here’s how that section turned out.

This is a traditional pattern called Shippo-tsunagi (Seven Treasures).  I used DMC Pearl Cotton (Size 5) in white with a long, sturdy needle.  It was surprisingly easy to stitch and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.
The biggest challenge was transferring the pattern to the dark denim.  It took a little trial and error but eventually I found a technique that worked.  I printed the pattern on paper, then traced it onto the jacket using Saral wax-free transfer paper in white.

The Saral transfer paper creates chalk-like lines on the fabric.  The lines were quite visible but, unfortunately, they rubbed off quickly when I started to stitch.  Redrawing the chalk lines with my trusty Pilot Frixion Erasable Marker Pen in neon green solved the issue.  After selecting the longest lines possible, I sewed over the lines with a short running stitch.  It was easy to hide my starting and ending thread tails inside the jacket’s seams.

Here’s an image of the Shippo-tsunagi (Seven Treasures) pattern.

Next, were the jacket’s front yokes.  I debated using the same pattern on the right and left sides but then decided they’d look better with different designs and settled on this modified basketweave for the left yoke.

Printed patterns were helpful for selecting the design.

The modified basketweave pattern is a little tricky—over 4, under 2—to draw but it was quite straightforward to sew.

Here’s an image of the modified basketweave pattern.

For the right front yoke, I selected a pattern with wavy lines to contrast with the rectangular lines of the basketweave.  It’s a traditional pattern called Chidori Tsunagi (Linked Plovers).  This was, by far, my favorite pattern to stitch.  The curvy lines are quite forgiving and there was no need to align intersection points so stitching was fast and easy!

At this point, I’d improved my marking technique.   The first improvement was to create a paper template in the same size and shape as the section I wanted to stitch and to draw the entire stitching pattern on the template.

The second improvement was to use a colored pen to trace the lines.  This made it much easier to keep track of which lines had been traced and which ones remained to be marked.

Finally, I learned that inserting a firm, flat surface, like a hardcover book, under the jacket’s fabric resulted in crisper chalk lines.

As before, I traced over the white chalk lines with the Pilot Frixion Erasable Marker Pen—the yellow and orange colors worked as well as the neon green color.

This is the Chidori Tsunagi (Linked Plovers) pattern.

The final section I decided to stitch was the right front.  Rather than stitch the entire panel I decided to let the pattern fade away.  I chose a variation of the traditional Kikko (Tortoise Shell) pattern.

The repeating hexagon motif was ideal for creating an uneven edge.  I used a paper pattern to find a pleasing size and shape.
The remaining piece served as my template for marking the stitching lines.

This was one of my favorite patterns after stitching the samples (see My Little Stab at Sashiko) but I found it difficult to stitch on the jacket. The problem was ensuring all the hexagons were the same shape and size and all the flower petals were the right length and angle.  I like how the design turned out but I probably would not use this pattern again.

Here’s an image of the variation of the Kikko (Tortoise Shell) pattern.

The final step was to iron the jacket to remove the erasable marker pen lines.  It’s important not to press the front of the stitching though—instead, pad the working surface with a folded towel and place the jacket with the stitching facing down on the towel before pressing the back of the stitching.
I’m really pleased with my sashiko-inspired jacket—it’s the perfect little reminder of my trip to Japan.

More Info

To learn more about sashiko stitching, see my previous blog post My Little Stab at Sashiko.
Another option for embellishing a denim jacket is to use fabric paint and embroidery.  See the FanningSparks blog post, From Classic Jacket to Wearable Art, for a detailed explanation of this technique.
The FanningSparks’ Maker Apron also features denim fabric albeit from repurposed blue jeans.  See the blog post, Maker Apron – DIY Tutorial, for step-by-step instructions.

Today’s Takeaways

1. Use a plain denim jacket as your blank canvas.
2. Experiment with paper templates to visualize design options.
3. Consider making one-of-a-kind wearable art with sashiko stitching.