Sashiko quilting
Encyclopedia
is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching
(or functional embroidery
) from Japan
. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch
technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting
and embroidery
. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo
blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.
Many Sashiko patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by the Japanese themselves. The artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) published the book New Forms for Design in 1824, and these designs have inspired many Sashiko patterns.
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...
(or functional embroidery
Embroidery stitch
In everyday language, a stitch in the context of embroidery or hand-sewing is defined as the movement of the embroidery needle from the backside of the fabric to the front side and back to the back side. The thread stroke on the front side produced by this is also called stitch...
) from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch
Running stitch
The running stitch or straight stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric...
technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting
Quilting
Quilting is a sewing method done to join two or more layers of material together to make a thicker padded material. A quilter is the name given to someone who works at quilting. Quilting can be done by hand, by sewing machine, or by a specialist longarm quilting system.The process of quilting uses...
and embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.
Many Sashiko patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by the Japanese themselves. The artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) published the book New Forms for Design in 1824, and these designs have inspired many Sashiko patterns.
Patterns
- Tate-Jima (縦縞) — Vertical stripes
- Yoko-Jima (横縞) — Horizontal stripes
- Kōshi (格子) — Checks
- Nakamura Kōshi (中村格子) — PlaidPlaidPlaid may refer to:Material* A plaid or full plaid is a pleated cloth worn with the modern kilt, made from the same tartan and worn cast over the shoulder and fastened at the front* The belted plaid or "great kilt", earlier form of the kilt...
of NakamuraNakamura-Places:*Nakamura, Kochi, a city in Japan*Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, a ward in Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan...
family - Hishi-moyō (菱模様) — Diamonds
- Yarai (矢来) — Bamboo Fence
- Hishi-Igeta (菱井桁) / Tasuki — Parallel diamonds / crossed cords
- Kagome (籠目) — Woven BambooBambooBamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
- Uroko (鱗) — FishFishFish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
Scales - Tate-Waku (竪沸く) — Rising steam
- Fundō (分銅) — Counterweights
- Shippō (七宝) — Seven Treasures of BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
- Amime (網目) — Fishing nets
- Toridasuki (鳥襷) — Interlaced circle of two birds
- Chidori (千鳥) — Plover
- Kasumi (霞) — Haze
- Asa no Ha (麻の葉) — Hemp leaf
- Mitsuba (三葉) — TrefoilTrefoilTrefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
- Hirayama-Michi (平山道) — Passes in the mountains
- Kaki no Hana (柿の花) — PersimmonPersimmonA persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...
flower - Kaminari (雷) — ThunderboltThunderboltA thunderbolt is a discharge of lightning accompanied by a loud thunderclap or its symbolic representation. In its original usage the word may also have been a description of meteors, or, as Plato suggested in Timaeus, of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies,...
s - Inazuma (稲光) — Flash of Lightning
- Sayagata (鞘型) — Key pattern
- Matsukawa-Bishi (松皮菱) — Pine Bark
- Yabane (矢羽) — Fletching
- and many more