Table-scaping and sashiko placemats

New casual dining dishes and linens.

A move into a new house is an opportunity to refurbish and renew. I decided it was time to retire our 20+ year-old Fiesta dishes and inject some new color and pattern onto our tabletop. While unpacking my textile supplies, I also excavated some pre-printed sashiko fabric purchased in Japan in 2012.  As well as kits, the Olympus company produces pre-printed panels as well as yardage in a number of patterns.  The fabric available by mail through https://www.athreadedneedle.com/collections/kits-patterns and other suppliers.

I knew I wanted to go in a blue and white direction with the new dishes, as that's a timeless combination and so many accessories are available in that colorway.  Found new plates in Villeroy and Boch's Artesano pattern but didn't like the bowl shape, so back to Fiestaware for the bowls - the new color Mulberry went very well with the Villeroy salad plate design, seen above in the first image. Fiesta's classic color cobalt goes very well too.

Motivated, the next step was making color-coordinated sashiko placemats.

Materials used:
Two meters Olympus sashiko fabric, 46" wide, used for front and back of placemat
Olympus sashiko thread, color 103, indigo, and color 19, purple
Sashiko needle
Wash-out marker (Used Clover water erasable marker, fine point)

"Bobbins" made from toilet paper rolls.

Do not pre-shrink the fabric - this will remove the stitching guidelines.  I did iron the material before cutting, but did not use steam. Some feel that ironing will "set" the print lines, but I did not find that to be so.

Cut size of placemat = 13" by 19", determined by the motif - I wanted to work with the pattern.  From the two meters purchased in Japan I was able to cut six placemats.

I marked 1" from the cut line for my hand-stitched border and 1/2" inch from the cut line for my machine stitching line, then sewed both front and back pieces together, right sides facing. I left about 3" open, to turn the placemat right side out.

Right sides together, machine-stitch on blue marker line.

Top-stitched at edge; orange thread marks border.

After trimming the seam close to the stitching, I turned the placemat right side out, then topstitched in matching thread (topstitching also closed the turning opening). The orange thread (used for blog example) is my guideline for the hand-stitched border.

Generally, it's best to sew the border first in sashiko, so the field stitching can "meet" the border stitches nicely.  I picked out the orange machine stitching as I sewed the purple sashiko thread; the holes left by the machine stitching helped me achieve evenly-spaced hand stitching.  Once the border was finished I began stitching the wave pattern.

Orange machine stitching guided purple sashiko stitching.

In progress.

In the image above I show the wave stitching before the border is completed; this is just to show the pattern and colors used in this blog.  Thread is carried between the layers of fabrics to minimize starting and stopping. It's a little tricky stitching through two layers of fabric  - check occasionallly to ensure stitches secure both layers.

Stitching finished - ready to be washed in cold water and line dried.

Back of placemat - left is before laundering, right is after.

Of course the pattern won't align on the back. I could have used a plain fabric for the back, but I preferred to have both sides match exactly in color.

Chilewich napkin in blue finishes the setting.

John Singer Sargent paints textiles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Edward Darley Boit, 1887.

The polka-dot-clad lady above is Mary Louisa Cushing Boit, Boston matron and mother of the four girls in the well-known Sargent painting, the Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. Mary Louisa's portrait is part of Exhibition Lab: Sargent and Fashion, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, on view from November 10, 2018 until June 23, 2019.  As explained in a video dialog between curators Pamela Parmal and Erica Hirshler, this exhibit is really a preview of what will be a larger show, to open in 2022, of Sargent works, with a focus on his representation of apparel.  Patron feedback is solicited via iPad as well as paper and pencil in this gallery. So, visit and weigh in!

It can be dangerous to consider painters as textile historians. In the portrait of Mrs. Boit, first image above, Mrs. Boit is dressed in an assortment of fabrics, including tulle, velvet and satin. Most eye-catching, however, is the black polka-dot fabric with the pink ground. According to the wall text, while polka-dots were fashionable at the time, the pattern was found more commonly in juvenile apparel, and it does seem at odds with the sober black of her overall costume.  Was this outfit part of her usual wardrobe or something assembled at the behest of Sargent, responding to what author Henry James called the "eternally juvenile" facet of her personality?

Gallery overview.

Hung on the wall nearby were actual samples of taffeta, satin and velvet fabrics, all black, welcoming patrons to touch and examine. The fabric "petting zoo" is a great idea but the dark color made it a bit more difficult to see the weave structure.

Two portraits, two dresses.

The image above reveals additional examples of Sargent's approach to textiles in his society portraits. On the wall to the left is a reproduction of Portrait of Mrs. J. P. Morgan, Jr., nee Jane Norton Grew (1868-1925).  The gown she wore for the portrait, designed by French couturier Jean-Phillipe Worth and owned by the MFA, is displayed in the foreground. Although it's difficult to tell in my image, Sargent only hints at the woven pattern of the dress.  He also seems to reduce the reflective nature of the fabric; in the portrait the surface is depicted as almost matte, with few highlights to distract from her face, bosom and arm.  This is a distinct departure from earlier attitudes towards shiny fabrics, which gave painters a chance to show off their skill in depicting reflectivity.  Almost more important than the dress is the feathery (furry?) white stole, which practically buries her right hand, barely modelled, and holding a fan.  Jane Morgan almost looks enveloped in a protective cloud.

To the right above is  Mrs. Charles E. Inches (Louise Pomeroy), painted in 1887.  The lush red silk velvet dress on display, copied from a Worth gown by the Boston company of Auringer and Lewis, may be the same dress. I gather the documentation is uncertain.  Whether or not the dress retains it original neckline, in the painting Sargent lowered the neckline as much as he dared in this portrait of a wealthy physician's wife, who was pregnant at the time with her third child. The right strap (from the viewing perspective) of the dress has been minimized, exposing more skin and emphasizing the bow, and the left bow seems to have disappeared altogether, emphasizing the elegant curve of the arm.

Sargent clearly "tailors" his sitter's apparel to suit his technique and goals. I look forward to learning more in the finished exhibit in 2022.

An aside: a brief Google search for "Auringer and Lewis" yielded nothing; perhaps an enterprising fashionista will write a history of couture in Boston.