sashiko
{{short description|Traditional Japanese embroidery technique}}
{{italic title}}
File:MET RT792C.jpg decorated using {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}}, with white cotton threads on an indigo-dyed plain weave background (Metropolitan Museum of Art)]]
File:Child's Sleeping Mat (boro Shikimono), late 19th century (CH 1108827543).jpg shikimono}}), late 1800s. The stitches are decorative, but also functional; they hold the pieced cotton rags together]]
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{{Nihongo3|{{lit|little stabs}}|刺し子|Sashiko}} is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Owing to the relatively cheap nature of white cotton thread and the abundant nature of cheap, indigo-dyed blue cloth in historical Japan, {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} has a distinctive appearance of white-on-blue embroidery, though some decorative pieces may also use red thread.Briscoe, Susan. The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook: Patterns, Projects, and Inspirations. Davi & Charles Brunel House, Wisconsin. 2005. {{ISBN|0715318470}}{{Cite book|title=QuiltEssential|last=Burke Harris|first=Erin|publisher=C&T Publishing|year=2013|isbn=978-1-60705-793-2|location=Concord, CA|pages=102}}
History
First coming into existence in the Edo period (1603–1867), {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} embroidery was first applied to clothing out of a practical need, and would have been used to strengthen the homespun clothes of olden times. Worn out clothes were pieced together to make new garments by using simple running stitches. These clothes increased their strength with this durable embroidery. By the Meiji period (1868–1912), {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} had been established enough that it had evolved into winter work in northern farming communities, when it was too cold to work outside.Briscoe, Susan. The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook: Patterns, Projects, and Inspirations. Davi & Charles Brunel House, Wisconsin. 2005. {{ISBN|0715318470}}
{{Transliteration|ja|Sashiko}} was commonly used to reinforce already-patched clothing around points of wear, but would also be used to attach patches to clothing, making the fabric ultimately stronger. It would also be used to layer thin fabrics to create warmth, and, in the case of some garments such as the coats of firemen {{Transliteration|ja|(hikeshibanten)}}, to create a thick and absorbent material that would be soaked in water before carrying out duties as a fireman. Though most {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} utilises only a plain running stitch technique, {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} is commonly used to create decorative and repeated embroidered patterns, and may be used for purely decorative purposes, such as in the creation of quilts and embroidery samplers.
Designs and patterns
File:Sashiko by volunteers, 2012 - Textile Museum of Canada - DSC00807.JPG
{{Transliteration|ja|Sashiko}} utilises mostly geometric patterns, which fall into two main styles; {{Transliteration|ja|moyōzashi}}, in which patterns are created with long lines of running stitches; and {{lang|ja-Latn|hitomezashi}}, where the pattern emerges from the alignment of single stitches made on a grid. Common {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} motifs are waves, mountains, bamboo, arrow feathers, {{Transliteration|ja|shippō-tsunagi}}, pampas grass and interlocking geometric shapes, amongst others.{{Cite book |last=Briscoe |first=Susan |title=The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook |publisher=F & W Publications, Inc. |year=2005 |isbn=0-89689-186-0 |location=Iola, WI |pages=11}} {{Transliteration|ja|Sashiko}} embroidery is traditionally applied with the use of specialist needles and thread, though modern day {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} may use modern embroidery threads and embroidery needles.
Many {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by native Japanese embroiderers; for example, the style known as {{Transliteration|ja|kogin-zashi}}, which generally consists of diamond-shaped patterns in horizontal rows, is a distinctive variety of {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} that was developed in Aomori Prefecture. Other developments in {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} have come from the work of Japanese artists, such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), whose 1824 New Forms for Design inspired many {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} patterns.
{{Transliteration|ja|Sashiko}} designs typically derive from nature, with some, considered to hold symbolism, seen particularly on garments such as the coats of fishermen.
= Common {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}} patterns=
- {{nihongo3|vertical stripes|縦縞|Tate-jima}}
- {{nihongo3|horizontal stripes|横縞|Yoko-jima}}
- {{nihongo3|checks|格子|Kōshi}}
- {{nihongo3|plaid design of the Nakamura family|中村格子|Nakamura kōshi}}
- {{nihongo3|diamonds|菱模様|Hishi-moyō}}
- {{nihongo3|bamboo fence|矢来|Yarai}}
- {{nihongo3|parallel diamonds or crossed cords|菱井桁|Hishi-igeta}} — also known as {{Transliteration|ja|tasuki}}
- {{nihongo3|woven bamboo|籠目|Kagome}}
- {{nihongo3|fish scales|鱗|Uroko}}
- {{nihongo3|rising stream|竪沸く|Tate-waku}}
- {{nihongo3|counterweights|分銅|Fundō}}
- {{nihongo3|seven treasures of the Buddha|七宝|Shippō}}
- {{nihongo3|fishing nets|網目|Amime}}
- {{nihongo3|interlaced circles of two birds|鳥襷|Toridasuki}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Sashiko}}
- {{cite conference |last1=Wada |first1=Yoshiko |title=Boro no Bi : Beauty in Humility—Repaired Cotton Rags of Old Japan |journal=Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings |date=2004-01-01 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/458/}} (on origins of {{Transliteration|ja|sashiko}})
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100218082253/http://www.quilt.com/FAQS/SashikoFAQ.html Archived information with designs at quilt.com]
- [http://www.designbyaika.com/what-is-sashiko/ Introduction to Sashiko at designbyaika.com]
- [http://sewguide.com/learn-sashiko-hand-embroidery/ Sashiko Embroidery designs and tutorial]
{{Layered textiles}}
{{Embroidery}}
{{Sewing}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Japanese stitching techniques
Category:Japanese words and phrases