WONDERFUL SASHIKO

 

 While I am still on a bit of a Japanese textile kick, I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph some wonderful examples of sashiko stitching while at the Textile Museum in Toronto.  I will give you a bit of an introductory primer on sashiko for those of you who are unfamiliar with the technique.

Sashiko is a form of Japanese hand embroidery using the basic running stitch to create a pattern, more often than not geometric and with many designs representative of nature and rural life. Many sashiko patterns have charming names such as " Rising Steam" ,"Mist"  Pine Bark" " Water Wells" and so on.  Sashiko literally means " little stabs". Originally, sashiko stitching was used as a form of repairwork or darning to worn clothing and futons. It was so beautiful and durable that it eventually became an art form unto itself. The thread used for sashiko is a tightly twisted heavy weight cotton and needles are very long with a large oval eye. The fabric is cotton or linen. Traditionally the thread is white and the fabric is usually indigo blue, however today there are a myriad of thread colours available and several new creative versions have emerged based on the technique.

 














In the hallway of the Textile Museum hangs a huge Sashiko quilt created by the volunteers, staff and friends of the museum who joined together in 2012 to embroider 150 squares for inclusion in this magnificent quilt.

                                                         


 

One could stand for hours inspecting the designs and details in this quilt.  There is just so much going on in there!  I was able to photograph segments of the quilt - at least those I could reasonably reach and  I picked out some squares that were particularly interesting and/or intricate for close up shots.

 

 

 

I particularly liked the strip pieced border in various Japanese prints which really did offset the sashiko squares very nicely.

 

                                                         

There are several books available on the subject of Sashiko and for anyone wishing to try the technique I might recommend the book " Japanese Country Quilting"  Sashiko Patterns and Projects for Beginners.

 There is also a very basic tutorial online if you wish to try your hand at it:

 http://sashikostitchers.com/how-to-sashiko-stitch/


 I would like to thank the Textile Museum for it's policy in allowing respectful photography of many of their in house exhibits.