This year for the holidays, I went to recharge in Japan far from my sewing machine, schedules, orders... and it did me good to let go of my life at a thousand miles an hour and to savor the passing time.
Among the activities I did during my trip, there is one I particularly liked and that did me a lot of good... it was to have taken my little traditional embroidery kit and sashiko in my travel bag. I was thus able to do an activity:
- creative,
- relaxing,
- easy to carry,
- requiring little equipment,
- that can be done almost anywhere
- ...
In short, you understand that embroidery for me is a bit of a magical activity and really great to take everywhere with you!
So, I invite you to dive into the world of an activity that for me flirts between meditation and mindfulness... savoring the present moment!
Doing sashiko embroidery at Starbucks in Akita and hearing our table neighbors say: "really, that's sashiko... did you see, she is doing sashiko... it's incredible!"
To embroider
Embroidery is of course a creative activity but it is also an activity rooted in human history. Indeed, almost all human societies have developed over time "repairing" or decorative embroidery techniques.
I learned many embroidery techniques in my childhood and adolescence because embroidery has been passed down in our family for several generations. My grandmother was an accomplished embroiderer who embroidered wedding trousseaus. As for my mother, she specialized more than 30 years ago in sashiko embroidery... I just had to follow the path! Thus, at 5 years old, I started cross-stitch on large canvases and so on... Today, I mainly embroider in traditional embroidery and sashiko embroidery and it brings me a lot. Let me explain...
Traditional embroidery on denim for a jeans pocket
Start of a sashiko embroidery with variegated thread
My fanny pack embroidered in traditional embroidery (DMC stranded cotton thread)
The benefits of embroidery
In times of stress, burnout, and contradictory demands of our societies, several scientists have studied the benefits of embroidery and the results were quite surprising for these researchers!
Indeed, they discovered that embroidery had positive effects on mental health (which one could suspect) but also on physical health!
Here are the notable results from the University of Brighton.
Embroidery:
- has a relaxing and anti-stress effect (people who start embroidery report suffering less from stress than before starting the activity, and this is biologically visible with a decrease in stress-related hormones)
- relieves anxiety symptoms, by focusing on the work, one forgets the troubles of daily life
- stimulates creativity
- lowers blood pressure
- boosts brain function: indeed, embroidery requires brain concentration and coordination of both hands. So, eye/hand coordination is exercised when embroidering. Embroidery is beginning to be a recommended activity for patients with certain types of brain injuries to train this coordination
- is an activity to develop for people diagnosed as hypersensitive because embroidery allows them to be creative while guided by the pattern and thus reduce brain overstimulation.
Traditional embroidery of the seven Japanese gods of happiness in DMC stranded cotton threads, on the train taking us to Morioka to see my favorite summer festival
Sashiko embroidery
Let's talk a little about this type of embroidery that accompanied me during my trip to Japan... Indeed, I came across at the very beginning of my stay a motif of Mount Fuji surrounded by waves and cherry blossoms... You guessed it, I fell for it!
But what is sashiko?
Sashiko is an ancient Japanese embroidery technique that remains very current and modern thanks to its clean style and geometric shapes, but also increasingly figurative with the arrival of modernity in the technique.
This technique is very old and it is difficult to date its origin precisely. Some historical traces suggest it may have been created from the first century! However, its rise and development of patterns really exploded during the Edo era, that is the 16th century.
Indeed, at that time, the technique was used by women to repair worn clothes, work clothes, children's clothes passed down among siblings. The price of fabric at that time did not allow buying new cloth; so it was necessary to repair!
Japanese sashiko embroidery thus had as its first purpose to make clothes last as long as possible while minimizing the use of thread which also had to be saved due to its cost. The embroidery patterns were therefore designed to be economical in thread. Moreover, at that time, people who wore sashiko patterns were of lower class and their patterned repairs were mocked!
With the industrialization of Japan and thus the decrease in raw material prices, sashiko embroidery became more decorative and creative. Women then liked to create patterns decorating the clothes of their children and husbands!
Originally, sashiko embroidery was done on dark work clothes; thus in its traditional expression, it is embroidered on blue, indigo, gray cloth...
The size of the stitches (even today) must be the size of a grain of rice and must be between 2.5mm and 5mm. The principle is to be as regular as possible which will give all its beauty to the pattern!
My mother embroidered the "4 seasons" panel sold in the shop in sashiko embroidery
Example of a modern jacket embroidered in sashiko.
Today sashiko in Japan
Sashiko embroidery has developed in Japan with very beautiful reinterpretations of this traditional art whether in clothing, decoration or household linen. What was originally intended for repair and peasants has become a fashion accessory, a chic embroidery!
With Japan's opening to the rest of the world in 1854, sashiko embroidery was exported to Europe and the United States. Embroiderers worldwide were able to learn and in turn reinterpret it. Notably, the Englishwoman Susan Briscoe who brought sashiko to prominence in Europe and who passes on her passion from England to Japan!
Today, many brands incorporate sashiko embroidery elements in their creations whether in Japan or the United States.
I was able to visit a workshop in Morioka where two ladies create sashiko threads dyed with indigo but also with new dyeing techniques that allow creating very pretty speckled threads!
Visiting the dye workshop in Morioka
Finishing my Mount Fuji embroidery with soaking
My sashiko embroidery in Japan
As I told you, I chose to embroider a figurative motif during my trip to Japan.
I loved letting myself be carried away, diving into my embroidery. Absorbed by creating my little stitches, I did not see time pass and I drew a particular satisfaction from seeing this pretty motif progress.
Back home I finished it and washed it to be able to incorporate it into a sewing project. I do not know yet which one... if you have ideas, feel free to give them to me in the comments 😊. I just have to iron it.
I will continue my sashiko creations because I brought back several figurative panels in my suitcases that I will show you later.
And if you also want to start sashiko embroidery, we have all the equipment to start in the shop. We also organize introductory workshops.
So ready? To your needles!
And here is my Mount Fuji motif finished... I already have plenty of other ideas!
