Where I get an idea. Ditch the embroidery hoop. I do not care for embroidery hoops. So I tried not using one. This idea came from seeing a reel on instagram (video from youtube showing the technique) from an embroidery company located in Kashmir that featured one of their workers embroidering a shawl and I… Continue reading Embroidery without the Hoop
I started over. Attempting to embroider directly on a garment that was already fully constructed was more than slightly frustrating. Even working with a hoop stand so that I had both hands free it was difficult to work my hands through the neck and bottom of the shirt with each stitch. So I decided to… Continue reading Update: Sunflower Thread Painting
Some time ago I started… and mostly but not quite finished a victorian men’s shirt on a pattern from Laughing Moon Merchantile. As part of learning sashiko I had gone back and embroidered the linen shirts that I had sewn two apartments and several years ago. This was not the best idea as the fabric… Continue reading Project: Monochrome Sunflower Thread Painting
One of the questions I have for sashiko is what are the defining characteristics of the technique and practice. There is a method of making stitches (unshin) and then there is a set of traditional patterns which are used for various styles and regional variations of sashiko. Are both required for a piece of embroidery… Continue reading Project: Circles and Rain Sashiko Panel
About a month ago I purchased an embroidery kit from TheCherryBlossomUS store on etsy to get a proper start with western style embroidery. I have done some limited embroidery in the past using only a backstitch to do outlines of geometric shapes on denim shirts. This was also several decades ago at this point. This… Continue reading Freestyle Embroidery Sampler
Noragi is farmwear. This coat is patterned on a traditional farmer’s jacket which were designed to be created out of plant fibers (primarily hemp) using minimal waste of fabric when cutting and simple to sew by hand. The coat will be cut out of blue cotton dobby, will most likely be unlined, and will be… Continue reading Project Plan: Noragi Style Coat
I follow Atsushi Futatsuya on instagram and am a member of his patreon. As a Japanese crafter who lives in the US and teaches in the US craft community a key concern of his is that the practice of sashiko has become removed from its cultural roots and has become distorted. In this post he… Continue reading Working Against Language Barriers
My mother has been doing fiber arts since she was a child. She was the youngest by a number of years in a large Polish family in New Jersey and left as soon as she turned 18. As she put it, she had enough of being under the thumb of three mothers. Initially she knitted,… Continue reading My Fiber Arts Background
It’s probably best to start at the beginning. With a problem. With my trousers. I needed to patch a few of my Levi’s as there’s no reason to throw away a pair of pants if they can mended. The problem was that I was never taught how to mend things properly and only possess basic… Continue reading Why Sashiko?
