One of the craft-related purchases I made during my recent trip to Japan was a sashiko DIY kit. Sashiko, which roughly translates to “little stabs”, is a type of Japanese stitching.
The Hana Fukin (Dish Towel) Sashiko Sampler is from the Japanese company Olympus Thread. It includes a pre-printed square of white cotton with a pattern called Rose Garden. I also purchased sashiko thread in a pretty variegated blue/green to stitch the sampler.
The kit comes with instructions in Japanese which I translated using the Google Lens built-in camera translation feature of my Google Translate app. That app, by the way, was a godsend during our trip. We used it to translate signs, timetables, instructions, maps, exhibition signage, package labels, menus and countless other written material. It’s amazing how the Google Lens app overlays the original Japanese with the English translations, especially on the instructional diagrams in my kit.
Olympus Thread also provides a number of videos and instructions in English on their website. There are, in fact, dozens of articles, tutorials, books and videos about sashiko available online. Anyone interested in fashion or fiber arts is likely already aware of sashiko. This form of Japanese stitching has been very popular over the last few years and interest remains strong. I can see why—there’s an understated beauty in the simple stitches and geometric designs sewn in the classic white-on-indigo blue color palette.
Shown below is a splendid example of sashiko. This Sashiko Line Jacket 17’ was made by Japanese Sashiko Artist Keiko Futatsuya.
Here’s another outstanding example from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. This sashiko kimono is originally from Japan and dates back to the Meiji period (1868-1912). It is made of “Indigo-dyed plain-weave cotton, quilted and embroidered with white cotton thread”. The Met website goes on to explain “Sashiko is a quilting technique that uses a running stitch to reinforce and prolong the life of a textile or to join together recycled pieces of cloth into a new garment. Japanese farmers used the technique to create warmer and more durable fabrics, and decorative sashiko stitching developed from this practical function.”
Regular readers may recognize this story from my last post Kogin Stitching: Rooted in Necessity. All sashiko stitching originates from the utilitarian need to reinforce and strengthen fabric. White cotton thread was added to indigo-dyed fabric in small, neat lines of running stitches. Patterns emerged from the lines of stitching. Over time, stitchers refined their stitching methods and the resulting patterns became more beautiful. Kogin zashi is a form of sashiko stitching as is the hitomezashi used in my Rose Garden sampler.
Each style of sashiko has its own characteristics such as the direction, size and density of stitches. For instance, in regular sashiko, sometimes called simple or traditional sashiko, lines of running stitches are sewn in geometric patterns. In kogin zashi, counted-thread stitches are formed in parallel rows. While in hitomezashi, small grid-based motifs are stitched in three directions—vertical, horizontal and diagonal.
The instructions for my Rose Garden sampler specify the sequence in which to stitch the lines—vertical lines first, horizontal lines second, and diagonal lines last.
It was fascinating to see the design emerge—after hours of straight stitching, individual rose buds formed and the rose garden emerged.
My curiosity was piqued and soon I found myself searching out traditional patterns for regular sashiko stitching. I prepared a few 4” squares of denim-colored cotton. Then I scaled the patterns to fit and stitched a few samples with white pearl cotton.
My first sample features a very popular sashiko pattern called Shippo-tsunagi (Seven Treasures). The intersecting rings are said to symbolize an endless chain of peace and harmony. The “seven treasures” refers to seven precious substances such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, agate and pearl.
Shown below is another popular traditional sashiko pattern. It is called Nowaki meaning the wind that blows through the grass of the field.
Midway through making my pattern samples, I decided to delve a little deeper into the world of sashiko stitching. I quickly discovered Atsushi Futatsuya, a Sashiko Garment Maker from Japan, who generously spreads the word about sashiko stitchery online. He describes sashiko as “an ordinary cultural practice … an act of necessity rather than a form of art or creativity” and stresses its origins as a means “to strength the fabric”. Atsushi was born into a family that crafted sashiko for a living and he draws upon a deep understanding of the practice to help others understand its cultural significance.
Atsushi recently launched an online course Introduction to Japanese Sashiko Stitching on Domestika. I signed up for the course and settled back to follow along with the videos. Atsushi explains how to stitch sashiko and enriches the learning experience by sharing “the history and philosophy of Sashiko stitchery”.
I was especially interested in Atsushi’s stitching techniques. As he explains, “the core and essence of Sashiko as a practice is Unshin, which means stitching in the rhythm.” He uses smooth, rhythmic hand movements to load up his needle with multiple stitches before pulling it through the fabric. With this technique he is able to quickly sew long, continuous lines of neat, even stitches.
I tried rhythmical stitching on my Rose Garden sampler but it will take practice to really get the hang of it.
The opposite of rhythmical stitching would be to take one stitch at a time—carefully placing the needle every time it enters the fabric—to ensure every stitch is positioned as precisely as possible. But Atsushi encourages students not to judge individual stitches—sashiko is not about “making the one perfect stitch or not completing the patterns, it’s all about stitching in the rhythm while thinking about who we care about and what we care about.”
It’s a good point—sewing one stitch at a time, as is typical of embroidery, takes a lot of time and focus. In this next sample of the Asanoha (Hemp Leaf) pattern, for instance, I took great pains to align my stitches at the center of every intersection—a characteristic more consistent with embroidery than sashiko stitching.
This next pattern is a variation of the Kikko (Tortoise Shell) pattern which is based on the hexagonal shapes on the turtle’s shell. The turtle is an ancient symbol of longevity in Japan. It turned out to be one of my favorite patterns and I plan to include it in a future project.
The last sample I stitched features the Chidori Tsunagi (Linked Plovers) pattern which is said to be an abstraction of flying plovers. I used the unshin method more successfully following the lines without fretting about individual stitch placement… well for the most part anyway!
I also followed Atsushi’s method of starting and ending threads with backstitching, called kasane, to make the front side and back side of the stitching look the same. Here’s a comparison of two samples. With the sample on the left, I wove the thread tails through the stitching making it obvious this side is meant to be hidden. On the other hand, with the sample on the right, I used the kasane technique to give the back side a nice finished appearance.
I learned a great deal from Atsushi Futatsuya’s Introduction to Japanese Sashiko Stitching course (Thank you Atsushi!) and enjoyed applying that knowledge to my sashiko samples. My full set of traditional sashiko pattern samples is shown below. I realize it will take practice to sew in true sashiko style but I’m happy with this start!
More Info
To learn more about the kogin zashi form of sashiko, see the FanningSparks blog post Kogin Stitching: Rooted in Necessity.
Olympus Thread is a Japanese company specializing in embroidery, sashiko, knitting and handmade kits. See the Olympus Thread website to learn more.
The Google Lens app can be used for a number of functions including translating text in real-time from over 100 languages.
See the Sashi.Co website for more work by Japanese Sashiko Artist, Keiko Futatsuya, and her son Atsushi Futatsuya.
Atsushi Futatsuya’s Introduction to Japanese Sashiko Stitching course can be found here on Domestika. I thoroughly enjoyed this online course—the information was clearly structured, the instruction was thoughtful and clear, the visuals were effective, and everything worked as expected. According to their website, “Domestika is the fastest-growing creative community where the best creative experts share their knowledge and skills through professionally produced online courses”.
You can learn more about sashiko, as well as purchase sashiko tools and supplies, on Atsushi Futatsuya’s website Upcycle Stitches. He is also active on Instagram at Sashiko Story.
Images of sashiko artworks from The Metropolitan Museum of Art can be found here.
Check the FanningSparks’ Travel > Asia > Japan category index to learn more about my adventures in Japan.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider the cultural sustainability of traditional crafts.
2. Take time to learn about and acknowledge the history and stories behind a traditional craft.
3. Support the champions, spokespeople and businesses closest to a traditional craft’s origins.
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