I love how that word just rolls off the tongue; Sashiko! It sounds so joyful!
Sashiko is a traditional Japanese stitching technique. The word means 'little stab', which perfectly describes the running stitches used to create these designs.
I purchased a pre-printed piece of indigo fabric and some Sashiko thread & needles from Midsomer Quilting many months ago, but have only recently sat down to work on it. It's such a therapeutic and simple technique - even easier than painting by numbers! But the results are pretty stunning, I think.
This design is called Nowaki, which means grasses. I can't resist this type of regular geometric design.
This is the back of the work, and you can see where I've left little loops of thread each time I've turned a corner. This prevents the fabric from being pulled, and is a trick I picked up from the wonderful The Ultimate Sashiko Source Book.
I've not totally decided what it will become, but I'm leaning towards a cushion cover I think...
Tomorrow is my post on the Sweet Shawlettes World Blog Tour, which I'm looking forward to sharing with you.
