Sashiko changed my life!

What is sashiko?

Sashiko, meaning "little stabs" is a Japanese style of stitching. In traditional Japanese mending, sashiko is a style of hand stitching used to repair textiles or to create layers for added warmth in working garments. It is creating small repeating stitches that form a pattern, the patterns often inspired by nature. Traditionally, in this cultural style of mending, there is much consideration in the repair and connection to the garment that as a someone who was not raised within a Japanese culture, I cannot understand.  

Gorgeous sashiko stitched textiles was how my visible mending journey started. 

Mending with Embroidery

I lean toward a more functional side of embroidery, so when my search turned up with lots of sashiko stitched items, it really clicked with me. While I practiced stitching different designs, beginning with patches, and moving onto mending jeans, I started sharing with others, and was soon after asked to teach a class. 

I started teaching sashiko inspired mending workshops. What started out as me fan girl-ing over all things sashiko, evolved into my own style of embroidering pattern and texture. 

While I can certainly appreciate symmetrical, precise stitching, it isn't always my style. I like to incorporate the whimsical and freestyle. I like letting the stitches guide me.

For me the artistry is taking a piece of clothing that is no longer wearable, and spending time with the garment, looking at the rips, and getting to know the movement of the fabric. In studying the fabric, I find the style of mending needed reveals itself. Here's an example of a pair of jeans that still has a good structure beyond the tears in the legs. 

Approaches to mending

Stitch up the tear without adding any additional fabric.

Attach a piece of fabric or a patch to the underside of the rip, fortifying the area.

Patch over the rip, obscuring the original tear in totality. 

A mending project can take an afternoon or months of little by little mending. Either way, when the mending is finished, it is a different garment from the original, and to me, feels like a work of art. 

It's a feeling that I have never experienced when trying on a brand new article of clothing. That feeling of wearing something that has been worn, loved, repaired, and given new life. This is what sashiko mending is to me. 

Examples of Sashiko Inspired Patches

Click here for more visible mending tutorials:

https://wrenbirdarts.com/blogs/embroidery-by-erin-eggenburg

Visit my shop for mending materials, including easy to use, visible mending transfers. 

https://wrenbirdarts.com/collections/diy-embroidery-patterns