Sashiko? Kogin? Hitomezashi? Boro? What are we stitching?
Which one are you stitching?
Sashiko? Kogin? Hitomezashi? Boro?
What all 4 techniques have in common, and how they differ...
How do you know it's Japanese Boro?
Although Boro is the Japanese name for a type of mending, stitching, reinforcing and extending the life of used fabric, every culture has this practice in it's history. Before cloth was mass produced
Indigo blue cloth and sashiko stitching
....when manufactured cotton cloth became available, the peasant class continued to use indigo to over dye their sashiko stitched garments and bedding. The indigo strengthened the cloth, and no doubt gave coherence to the pieced and patched garments and household linens....
White cotton thread and sashiko stitching
....The wives being often too poor to purchase bundles of rags individually would group together to purchase, clean, sort and sashiko stitch the rags together to make clothing, bedding and household fabrics. It is around this time that white cotton thread appears in sashiko stitching.