How we do it

I mention Sashiko often in these pages and I am sure many of you are wondering what Sashiko is. This is actually quite a difficult question: plus, my knowledge of Sashiko is still superficial, and unfortunately there are not a lot of resources in English - even in Japanese there are limited books.

But let me do my best. Sashiko is a type of Japanese style embroidery. It's traditionally made with white thread and indigo background, and there are a few traditional patterns. The patterns are often geometrical, and repeated through the fabric. It's gaining popularity and more and more we can see Sashiko in different colors, and new patterns have been created as well.

Here you can find a few examples of patterns.

One important feature of Sashiko is that it's made with the aim of making the fabric stronger, to reinforce the fabric. I believe this is an important difference, since Western embroidery is more decorative, and sometimes it even weakens the fabric. I always try to keep this in mind and when I do Sashiko style embroidery, trying follow the patterns horizontally and vertically. For the same reason, Sashiko needles are very thin and they go easily through the fabric.

Sashiko is often used for mending and reparing, and it's not connected to wealth and upper class society. Sometimes, the fabric was not enough for covering the back of the fabric: due to this, Sashiko users developed some techniques for making the back of the fabric as nice as the front. In some way, Sashiko has some similarity with Kintsugi, the Japanese technique of repairing broken potteries with gold.