Facing the Far East

A lot of Japan in few clicks

Sashiko embroidery is “just” one of the many Japanese traditions that have been conquering all the Western countries lately.

Probably dating back to 1600 and developed as a traditional hand sewing technique, based on simple stitching patterns to be repeated and woven.

It then became widespread in rural Northern Japan. In this area, in fact, the Winter is extremely harsh and the wives of farmers and fishers used to stitch with this technique to prolong the life of worn fabrics, since any fabric was considered as a very precious resource.

In short, Sashiko was a sort of mending and this “art” of mending, rather than throwing away, is nowadays very important, for we’re all responsible for wasting less in our daily life.

Generally speaking, Sashiko embroidery calls for a dark fabric and an off-white thread, just because in the past it was often done in the evening and with very little light available, so the two contrasting colors were necessary.

Today, however, Sashiko threads are available in a number of colors and the specific fabric comes also in a light, natural shade, Adding to the traditional one, that’s quite similar to dark denim, also for its texture.

In any case, there are also some other threads to use for this kind of embroidery and they’re extremely elegant and fine, in balls that’s perfect for the Kogin, too, which is basically one of the stitches most used in Sashiko embroidery.

For the Kogin, we can also use its specific floss, available even in a multi-shade version.

And, in case you decide to engage in this lovely Japanese technique, don’t forget the books to learn it, the special needles and thimble.

See you soon!