Sashiko Stitching

I love hand stitching.  It makes me happy.

After taking the Making Zen course last month, I got excited to try Sashiko stitching — a traditional Japanese art used to mend clothing.  But since then, it has evolved.

I knew I needed a loosely woven fabric (nothing like this in my stash of quilting cottons!) so I ordered African mud cotton cloth to see if that would work.  It was too thick.  So I ended up working on some linen and this fabric was perfect.  I had to back it with some freezer paper so I could mark a grid without the fabric moving.  

I used a Frixion pen to make the marks since it disappeared when I ironed it (it doesn't say that in the package instructions but believe me, it worked!)

I used a combination of traditional Sashiko cotton thread and pearl cotton. Both worked well.

​What am I going to do with these samples?  Have no idea but I'm just loving the process.  Knowing how I work, I need to make many of these before an idea forms in my head.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying hand stitching on linen!