My boro style patchwork project

Boro style patchwork 

My Japanese inspired stitching project

I started this tiny Japanese boro style textile recently, all ready for creating some exciting, top secret items for my Etsy shop. Working this small definitely has its downsides (aided by my terrible eyesight and fat fingers) -  it's really hard to get even stitches and spaces at just a millimetre or two long. 

However tricky, I'm pleased with its progress in general. The pieced Japanese fabric scraps are becoming nice and sturdy as a united textile piece and the Olympus fine sashiko thread is gorgeous to work with on this small scale.

Fabrics

The fabrics came from a scrap pack of traditional cottons I came across in a hidden-away shop in Tokyo a few years ago. I love the hues of the blues and the muted naturals together, they remind me of Japan and its aesthetic so much and immediately make me relaxed when I see them - probably a good job considering the task in hand!

Crafting process

After piecing the fabrics together on my sewing machine I pressed the seams to one side, adopting a traditional finish by folding the top fabric over just ever-so-slightly, reducing stress on the machine stitching - I think this looks aesthetically better too. I then marked the many, many grid lines and began to wonder what possessed me to start! I had a few strong coffees and started stitching with just one strand of the fine sashiko thread. 

Perfectly imperfect

The stitched lines and intersections, as mentioned before, aren't sashiko embroidery perfect, but that's okay with me because I'm creating a boro-inspired base fabric to distress and patch further. Boro is a Japanese form of patching textiles for repair to create hardwearing longevity; being more utilitarian, stitching is generally not as formal or structured as sashiko but it shares similar elements of technique. 

Distress and patch

Once this stage is finished, I plan to distress the fabric piece and add small patches with more stitching. I came across some lovely Liberty pieces in my scrap box that I am tempted to use in small quantity for patching but I'm not entirely sure, I might save them for their own, similar project in the near future.

What next?

Well, the end product is top secret and I will update here on the blog with the next steps and product reveal very soon ... as long as I have enough caffeine and finger plasters to see me through!

Update! See the post here!

See you soon x

Follow me!

Don't forget to follow the blog and find me here on social media:

Instagram: cloth_curios_coolthings

Pinterest: ClothCuriosCoolThings

Pin me!

Copyright 2023 Cloth, Curios & Cool Things. All Rights Reserved.

Images may be shared with a link back & correct attribution. Posts & tutorials may not be shared unless you have written permission.