TtoE Home Ec: Taking a stab at sashiko

As the squeeze on household budgets in Japan continues, we’re seeing incrementally higher prices on food and household products. I’m not going to compromise on groceries, but if I can replace a store-bought item with a homemade solution or repurposed materials, I will. I told you about tips for reducing waste and saving on costs back in 2020. I'm still at it having struck a lot of plastic stuff off my shopping list.

New life out of old fabrics

My rag bag contains old towels, damaged linens, and worn-out clothing. I cut them down into rags, but they look messy and shed threads. So, I'm tidying them up and making them into durable thinks with the sashiko embroidery technique.  

I'm getting better at this!

Relaxing straight stitching

Sashiko, “little stabs”, is a simple straight stitch in geometrical patterns. It’s an easy technique with minimal materials. The indigo fabric I’m working on now has a pre-printed pattern which I’m using to practice my stitching. Gradually, my stitches are getting more consistent. I’m also practicing overlay stitching - working the thread back into the previous stitches to hide the tails.

Free-hand stitching on old towels makes them stable and durable

While you can create elaborate patterns with stitches, you can also just free-hand stitch on old textiles to make zokin. One inspiration I found is a YouTube channel, The Green Wrapper. A project that goes fast is free-hand stitching like she does resulting in a durable and cute zokin.

Are you using a traditional craft to get more value from old stuff? What’s practical, attractive, and easy to do?