When I was in Toronto a few months ago I visited a shop carrying gift items from Japan and came across their stash of sashiko stitching supplies. I bought myself some thread and one of the pieces of cloth with a printed pattern. I decided it would be good practice to try my hand at a traditional sashiko pattern.

It’s a square piece of cloth printed with a scalloped pattern in white to guide the stitching. I find it restrictive to follow these little lines, but I am making my way through it. It will eventually become a throw pillow for our green chair.

As I suspected, freeform stitching comes more naturally to me than following a pattern.