Yukigata sashiko - stitched snowflakes

Finished mat.

Just finished a sashiko project. Title is "yukigata", which translates, more or less, to snowflake pattern.

Pre-printed design on fabric and stitching diagram.

The stitching diagram. Self-explanatory.

I found this on ebay and plan to give it as a gift.

Looks good with KLM Delft houses.

DH was a consultant to KLM airlines for a time, so we have a small collection of their Delft houses given to businessclass passengers.  These charming items are actually bottles filled with jenever, or Dutch-style gin.

Close-up of stitching.

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.

Juji-tsunagi sashiko sampler

Completed sampler.

I recently completed an Olympus-brand sashiko sampler in the traditional pattern called juji-tsunagi, which literally translated means "filled with groups of ten." The Japanese character for the number ten looks very much like the Western alphabet lowercase "t".  By stitching a field of linked "t" symbols this pattern invokes prosperity - may your fortune increase tenfold.

I chose to stitch the sampler, ordered online from my wonderful supplier, Miho, in two colors, Olympus # 10, a denim blue, and Olympus #5, a mustard yellow, which is one of my favorite colors in their range. This is going to be a teaching sampler, and the two colors will clarify the exact stitching sequence, which is very straightforward anyway in this pattern.  I also just like the combination of blue, yellow and white.

Blue stitching complete, braided skein.

When I've taught sashiko before, the biggest challenge seems to be with beginning and ending a line of stitching using the backstitch approach. So the stitching in this sampler, which is a teaching demo, starts and stops with just simple knots. To end the stitching I used a "needle knot;" my recent attempts at shibori dyeing have improved my skill in this detail, which is similar to making a French knot in embroidery.

To form end knot, loop thread around needle.

Tighten loop.

Using fingernail, hold loop at fabric surface, pulling thread through.

Knot complete.

Completed sampler, right side (left) and reverse.

Rags and stitches

"Boro jewelry" - raw-edge cloth, sashiko, and antique buttons.

As I need many small gifts for a trip I'm taking later this spring, I've gone into mass production of these small pins. Boro, by the way, is a Japanese term that roughly translates to rags, or scraps of cloth. Cotton was at one time a luxury fabric in Japan, as it was imported, and every scrap was saved and reused. See examples of boro at this blog.

Three fabric scraps, hand-dyed pearl cotton and antique buttons.

Something every quilter has is lots of fabric scraps.  After some experimentation, I hit upon pleasing proportions for my little textile "sandwich:"

1) Bottom square, 2 1/4"
2) Middle square, 2"
3) Top square, 1 3/4"

Of course, the shapes can be irregular, and should be!  Using my trusty sashiko needle, I stitched the three layers together using sashiko thread, as well as some wonderful pearl cotton hand-dyed by Elin Noble.  It is difficult to force the needle and thread through all the layers, and I recommend loosely woven scraps as easiest to handle. Many of my pins use Kaffe Fassett's shot cotton for the top and bottom layers, with some kind of coordinating print in the middle.

Rows of stitching marked, or just "eyeball."

I spaced the rows of stitching about 7 - 8 mm apart,  a scant 3/8" or so. Next came the antique button, and finally I stitched a 1" pinback to the reverse of the "sandwich," just through the back layer. After all the stitching, I did a final trim of the thread ends.

Back and front of boro pin.

Pin on lapel.

I got the idea for these pins from this wonderful blog, which features Mai's hand-made creations: http://mairuru.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-boom-sashiko-hand-stitch.html

Quilters' Connection workshop

Lots of activity in the lower level of St. Brigid's church.

On January 14, my quilt guild continued its wonderful tradition of Free Winter Workshops.  Members share their skills and knowledge with each other, and it's one of the reasons this guild is so special. Workshops  included  scarf making, free motion machine quilting, beading, thermofax screen printing and even a session on Ursula Kern-style paper piecing, taught by someone who'd taken Kern's workshop last year.  Organizing all of this - from eliciting workshop listings in October, to sign-up in November, to final clean-up after the event - is quite a challenge, but worth it, and not just for the free lunch also on offer.

I've fallen in love with sashiko stitching; this and a guilty feeling that I haven't contributed enough to my guild, propelled me to volunteer to teach an afternoon session on basic sashiko stitchery.  Of course, not having taught adults since 1983, when I led an inter-session quilting class at MIT, I'd forgotten how much time is takes to prepare materials, especially for a first-time class. As I stitched samples, photocopied page after page for my handouts, and made frantic emails to my sashiko supplier, I began to wonder if it was all worth it.  When surrounded by my fellow guild members, however, the answer became an emphatic "yes!"

We learn about sashiko materials.

Stitching samples and student work in progress.

 Special thanks to class participants Laura, who brought a power strip with a lengthy cord, so we could plug in our Ott lamps, and Barbara, who helped me lug all my items from my car.

We learn, but also connect, at the workshops.

My contribution to sashiko pedagogy.

We used the pre-printed hemp pattern as our class project. As the stitching sequence directions that come with Olympus patterns are a bit cryptic, I stitched a color-coded sample to delineate the optimal stitching sequence.  Participants also received a black and white line drafted pattern, which they color-coded with Sharpie pens I provided. 

Students color-code their stitching diagrams.

 I decided against making color copies of the pattern, partly due to the expense (workshop leaders are not reimbursed); additionally I hoped that students would really grasp the concepts behind the stitching pattern if they colored it in themselves. Whether or not the samplers are finished, each participant will perhaps have a better appreciation of the process involved in the creation of any sashiko stitching she may view at a show or exhibition.

Demonstrating pattern transfer onto plain fabric.

As is usually the outcome when teaching, I learned as much, if not more, from my fellow guild members, and am very grateful to them for their support and good humor.

Sashiko pillow

Design combines sakura - cherry blossom motifs -
and traditional hemp pattern.

My second sashiko project is this pillow. I purchased the pre-printed design on cloth from Miho Takeuchi at a quilt show and selected the dark blue and orange threads. After stitching, I added 2" borders to the design and backed it with the same batik fabric, purchased from The Fabric Corner, in Arlington, which has the best selection of batik fabrics around. Inserted a 16" polyester-stuffed pillow form and voila! - a gift for my Japanese language teacher. I hope she likes it.

Miho's website is: http://www.designbyaika.com/

The Fabric Corner's website is: http://www.fabriccornerinc.com/

Sashiko embroidery class

Finished sashiko embroidery

In September, 2009, I joined three other artists - one all the way from Maine - in a beginning sashiko class, taught by Miho Takeuchi, at the New England Quilt Museum. Like many under-funded cultural institutions, the Museum's programmatic needs don't fit well within its space, a former bank building. Classes are held at a table set up at the shop, but somehow the mercantile setting - we were on display as we stitched - was fine, and at least it was easy to buy supplies.

Miho is a very good teacher and her website is: http://www.designbyaika.com/

Sashiko is a very old Japanese technique, derived from a thrifty habit of quilting farmers' jackets for added warmth.

For this beginning class we used:

Pre-printed pattern on sashiko cloth, a loosely woven, plain weave material
A fat quarter of plain weave fabric of our choice, loosely woven

Sashiko thread, a low-twist, low sheen multi-ply filament;
plies are not separated when used
Sashiko needles, similar to crewel embroidery needles

Waxed carbon paper, such as Chacopy, made by Clover
Blunt edged tracing wheel, also available from Clover
Sheet protectors
Lightweight flower pins

General sewing supplies: thimble, scissors, pencil, notebook

Sashiko supplies

Miho showed us how to handle the skein of thread to prevent tangling, and after cutting an 18" or so length we began. Sashiko is an exercise in linear program, as one seeks to stitch all the lines of the pattern with a minimum of back-tracking, start-and-stops, and wasted thread. The technique is a simple running stitch with two or three stitches loaded on the needle at once before the thread is pulled through.

Stitching diagram

First lines - horizontals, straight diagonals, then moving diagonals

Miho doesn't knot the thread on the reverse side - she weaves a short tail back into a few stitches to secure. I learned not to do this back-stitching until I was finished, but instead to just leave the length of thread unsecured. This allowed me to use the dangling thread to pick up any partial motifs.

Below are sequential images of the project

All finished except for the frame around the pattern
Image at top of blog show completed pattern

Back of work showing back stitching at beginnings and ends, and carried threads
Care is taken to prevent puckering

No hoop is used, so it's important to maintain a loose tension on the thread. Whenever I had to carry the thread on the back, I was careful to make the carry very loose. For a good result visually, Miho pointed out that we should pay special attention to the stitch length in any area where many stitching lines intersect - such as at the circles at the center of the "stars" in the pattern above.

After we had a good start on the pre-printed pattern, which I finished at home, Miho also showed us how to transfer patterns to unprinted cloth. Miho slips a pattern inside a sheet protector, places the waxed carbon paper face down onto cloth and then transfers the pattern with firm back and forth strokes using the tracing wheel. The wheel indents the pattern onto the sheet protector, making it easy to track progress.

Tools for pattern transfer:
paper pattern, sheet protector, carbon paper and tracing wheel,
all placed on solid blue fabric

Flat flower pins don't get in the way of the ruler when marking straight-aways
You can't see the carbon paper but it's under the sheet protector

Of course, the indented sheet protectors can be reused; just transfer the design in some systematic manner, or mark each finished line in some way.

Some traditional patterns

My wave pattern, transferred, and in progress

Reverse of wave pattern, showing the carried thread

For the class I brought some Robert Kaufman Kona cotton, but I wouldn't recommend this material. It's too tightly woven, so the thick sashiko thread is restricted as it goes through the snug weave, and doesn't relax as flat as it does with the sashiko fabric.

The Japanese fabric available at the New England Quilt Museum is gorgeous, distributed by a company called Olympus and is vegetal dyed. This may account for its price - $27/ yard. According to Purl Soho, Kaufman's Essex fabric, a linen/cotton blend, works very well for sashiko and Purl sells this fabric for $9.00/yard, http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/fabricdetail/3539

Of course, when you transfer your own pattern, you don't have the perfect stitch layout all marked for you, as on the pre-printed fabric. After completing the pre-printed design however- and there is something soothingly meditative about this work- you develop almost a muscle memory for the stitch.