sashiko pillow

Here is the finished sashiko sampler sewn into a pillow with a blue linen backing. Always bittersweet to finish a hand sewing sashiko project because they are so meditative and relaxing.

the knitty gritty club

                                                    Sashiko sampler in progress

                                                            Scarlet's penguin

Some friends and I recently started a Mother, Daughter craft club. Actually, Marith started it in December with tea, cookies and ornament making and we all had such a good time we continued it.

Last Saturday we had our second get together and the ladies worked on sashiko projects and the girls on needle felting projects. We named ourselves 'The Knitty Gritty Club' and we will plan to meet about once a month. I love that we are going to have this dedicated time together to socialize and learn and teach new skills. The girls are having so much fun too.

sashiko mat

I took inspiration from one of my pins to make up a freehand design with interlocking circles and embroidered a little quilted mat to rest my mug on or to use as a potholder. I embroidered on Kiyohara linen blend fabric and used turquoise sashiko thread and then bound it with the same material. It is nice and thick since it is three layers of fabric with batting in between. I have some more fabric cut out for another one. It would be nice to have a set of these.

blue sashiko sampler

I just completed a new sashiko sampler. I have two more of this exact pattern and am wondering if I could turn it into a table runner. What do you think? Maybe with some batting and backing?

I might wind up sewing them into pillows which is what I always do with them. It would be nice to have or give a matching set of pillows don't you think? Another possibility would be drawstring bags.

I have done several sashiko samplers and I really enjoy working them. If you have never tried sashiko and you like quiet stitching and embroidery it is pretty simple to learn and the patterns are beautiful. White thread on navy cloth is the most traditional. I didn't have any white sashiko thread so I used blue and like the effect of two together.

sashiko pillows part 2

Here are the other two sashiko pieces that I made into pillows. The green one is the same design as the blue one.
I creatively used the rest of the fabric from my homemade seam binding to create the floral backing for one and blue cotton/linen blend leftover from the Ice Cream Dress I made S earlier this year.

I really enjoy doing sashiko and would love to work on some dark fabric with white thread sometime. It's nice to have these as finished pieces finally.

I almost completed a new dress for myself last night but, then realized I didn't have the right zipper. Out of all the zippers I've inherited I rarely ever have the right one.

sashiko pillows

Last year I started on some sashiko pillows. You may remember them. I have completed four altogether. The last one I haven't yet shown here is a repeat design but in a new thread color.

I finally decided that pillow cushions would suit me better then wall hangings. I made two of the cushions on Monday and will complete the other two once I purchase the pillow forms so you will be seeing them shortly. For the backings I used an envelope style which is two pieces of material folded over and for strength and sewn on the fold and overlapping by a few inches. I always make my covers a bit smaller then the cushion itself so they are nice and snug.

For the rose colored cushion I used a deep red cotton sheet that I had left over from a quilt backing and for the white cushion I backed with some Liberty of London that I had left over from a blouse I made myself earlier this year.

What's nice also about this style of cushion cover is that it can easily be removed for washing and can be switched out with different covers.

more sashiko

another sashiko sampler finished a while back



i still haven't decided if these are pillows or wall hangings. i wouldn't know how to frame them properly. any ideas?

sashiko embroidery two

Another sashiko piece finished. A bit more involved then the last. Stitching these samplers in the heat of summer is so nice and relaxing

sashiko embroidery

I recently became fascinated with sashiko embroidery and splurged with some samplers and supplies from Purl Soho.
I find this to be a very meditative craft and as I work I can think through the day and things in my head and just let myself become entranced by doing the same stitch over and over.

This here is a close-up view of my first one. I am already at work on another and plan to do 3-5. I will either make these into pillows or frame them
as a grouping when I am finished.

The supplies for this type of embroidery are sashiko thread, needle and thimble. Since I was using a sampler I didn't need to purchase fabric. A cotton/linen blend would be perfect.

It is a bit different then embroidery in that you do not need to use a hoop or separate the strands. This is good project to bring along to the park and is really quite simple. The one I am working on presently looks more complicated but, is made easier with a chart letting me know which direction to work first. I think that tension is a challenge here not to get puckering which I can see I did get a bit of. Also, an accurate stitch length. It would also be nice to add a touch of this type of embroidery to something you already have. A pincushion and wool skirt come to mind.

It is a concerted effort for me to relax so it is nice to have some crafts which allow me to do this.