Have you girls heard of sashiko (pronounced saʃi’ko) before? It’s a special kind of embroidery, having been used in Japan for almost two centuries already to enforce tears and holes in clothing.
It is actually just a running stitch, executed very neatly and with equal tension and stitch length. Traditionally, it was done with undyed cotton thread on indigo-dyed fabric. Nowadays, it is used more decoratively on linen and cotton fabrics alike. The patterns are still mostly the same and are just so beautiful that I couldn’t resist this book we got in store last week.

It’s called “Sashiko no fukin to komono” (Sashiko towels and accessories) and if you are interested in embroidery or just Japanese-style interior items, this is a book for you. The photography (not unexpectedly) is beautiful and the towels, napkins and other “little things” are displayed in a manner that you immediately want to start one of those projects.

At first, there are coasters being introduced as starter projects. They are small and easy to embroider. Plus, you get a useful item at the end of your stitching.

A beautiful illusion placemat is also included. Even my husband commented that it looked stunning.

The best thing about this book though that as every good Japanese book, it gives you instructions for the basic stitching as well as points to pay attention to. Most importantly: There are so many pictures tutorials that you can understand everything without being able to read Japanese.
The patterns for each of the projects found in the first few pages are in the back. And at the end of the book there are templates that you can copy larger or smaller, depending on the project you have in mind, so you can design your own sashiko pieces.

Ever since I did a pinterest board on sashiko items, I have meant to do that kind of embroidery myself and this book will be a huge step forward. I can only recommend it and look forward to some stitching! (We still have one copy in stock if anyone is interested, send me a DM on instagram or write me an email.)

In other news, I have been to Amsterdam on Saturday (on my own) for my very first knitting workshop but I will keep that for a special post.