SHASHIKO? HITOMEZASHI? KOGIN? BORO?
These are all types of Sashiko, and Sashiko stands for "stab stitches".
What all 4 techniques have in common is that they use heavy cotton thread to form simple down and up stitches (running stitches) through fabric. They were all used for quilting, mending and/or embellishing clothing and household textiles, and date back to at least the 1600's in Japan during the Edo period.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/japanese-sashiko-hand-quilting-in-seikaiha--ocean-waves--pattern-868558374-727c99d11d554039b84b6e6d2bccd361.jpg)
BASIC SASHIKO
It uses a stitch to make the design .The design is formed by stitching continuous lines across the material surface. The stitch length for simple Sashiko is formed slightly longer on the surface of the material than it's on the underside. The stitch length depends upon the stitcher's preference and skill, as well as the fabric being stitched.
HITOMEZASHI
Or one stitch Sashiko is a two step Sashiko technique. Following the stencilled lines on the muslin, the Sashiko stitches will define the structure of the design. In the second step the thread is woven through the Sashiko stitches according to a pattern shown. The cloth is ten washed to reveal the design clear of the stencilled lines.
KOGIN
The name ‘login’ comes from Koginu (ko = small, ginu = wear), the name of an extended jacket. It is a traditional Japanese embroidery technique that hails from the Sashiko traditions of northern Japan, but unlike Sashiko, it is a counted thread technique.With running stitches in white cotton thread on dark indigo cloth, Kogin is claimed to resemble snow scattered on the bottom. It is stitched from side to side, counting over mostly uneven numbers of threads: one, three, five and, very occasionally, seven. Long stitches, avoided on the front of the cloth, may be present on the back, resulting in fabric almost three times its original thickness, trapping air for warmth.
BORO
It is sometimes called country stitching or some variation of that. It is the crudest of the Sashiko techniques, mostly used to do utilitarian mending of household cloths and work clothing, and to stitch together the last bits of re-usable cloth to make cleaning rags.
Take Aways:
Sashiko works best on a medium-weight, loosely woven fabric that won’t scrunch around the stitches. Tightly woven fabric will be hard to work with—so don’t reach for denim, even when it’s the perfect colour.
While stitching pull the fabric, not the needle and smooth the fabric simultaneously.
Traditional sashiko combined decorative technique with mending and quilting. It was a practical technique that helped farmers and fishermen stay warm and make the most of their families’ resources.
Kogin was originally stitched as ‘Sunday best’ and festival attire, worn-out garments were demoted to everyday wear, sometimes with extra vertical stitching calledniju-sashi(twice stitched) kogin added to reinforce tattered sections; others –somekogin(dyed kogin) – were over-dyed with indigo to hide discolouration.
You need a blunted tapestry needle for kogin, an even-weave fabric and stranded cotton embroidery floss, soft cotton thread or sashiko thread.
References: