Sashiko

Detail of a mid-19th century kimono decorated using sashiko, with white cotton threads on an indigo-dyed plain weave background (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Child's sleeping mat (boro shikimono), late 1800s. The stitches are decorative, but also functional; they hold the pieced cotton rags together
Sashiko stitching on a reversible fireman's coat with a design of ginkgo leaves (outer layer, shown top) and interlocking circles (inner layer, shown bottom), decorated with kanji characters applied using the tsutsugaki technique (plain-weave cotton, late Edo–early Meiji period, Los Angeles County Museum of Art)

Sashiko (刺し子, lit. 'little stabs') 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, sashiko has a distinctive appearance of white-on-blue embroidery, though some decorative pieces may also use red thread.[1][2]

  1. ^ Briscoe, Susan. The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook: Patterns, Projects, and Inspirations. Davi & Charles Brunel House, Wisconsin. 2005. ISBN 0715318470
  2. ^ Burke Harris, Erin (2013). QuiltEssential. Concord, CA: C&T Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-60705-793-2.