A couple of weekends ago, Ryan and I headed to a small local craft sale. I absolutely adore going to craft sales and farmer’s markets to see the creativity and handiwork of local artisans. Amidst the jewelry, hand-bound books and soaps, Lynne’s table of traditional Japanese hand-stitched items caught my eye. Lynne kindly explained to me that Japanese hand sewing is called “Sashiko” and consists of a simple running stitch sewn in repeating or interlocking patterns. She used beautiful contrasting colours, and had many great items on display, including cell phone holders, zippered pouches and card holders. Once I decided on getting a kleenex holder, I then had the tough decision of choosing which colour combination and pattern I wanted.
I love grey and pink together. Lynne had many beautiful patterns to choose from, and as I slowly began narrowing down my choices, I ended up with this one. Apparently, it is one of the most difficult patterns to stitch. Lynne took the time to explain the meaning behind each pattern, and I believe mine signified the serenity and also adventure of the waves of the ocean.
Lynne explained how the stitches never cross one another. The patterns date back over 500 years and originally had a practical purpose as Japanese people would heavily stitch their old garments for reinforcement or quilt them together for warmth. I love how Lynne used this traditional form of embroidery to make contemporary products. Lynne also conveniently sewed a flap on the back of the kleenex holder to hold hand sanitizer, cards, etc.
Once you flip the top part…
You can stuff your kleenexes in!
Now I have a chic way to store my kleenexes 🙂 I love pulling this out of my purse!
To find out more about Sashiko, check out Lynne’s page. Unfortunately, I don’t think she sells her products on-line. If you’re interested in trying out sashiko on your own, check out this tutorial.
It’s always fascinating learning about different art forms. I felt a connection to Lynne since I love another Japanese craft: making amigurumi of course! I will be blogging about an amigurumi project that involved some hand-stitching as well, and is probably one of the most intricate projects I’ve worked on so far. I’m also working on iPod/mp3 player/cell phone cozy designs for a tutorial that I can’t wait to share with you all!
