last week i visited the market at toji temple in kyoto. it happens on the 21st of every month, and is one of the biggest markets, with everything from antiques to homemade pickles.
usually it is so crowded, but this month there were far fewer people, probably because everyone was nervous about swine flu.
these venders do all kinds of natural dyeing, using supplies near their rural studio, which is in a ayabe, outside of kyoto. i talked to her for quite a while, and she was very nice and generous about sharing information. her husband spins the fiber himself, and they also grow their own rice, etc. i bought some of her tea, the first picking of an organic green tea. i had some tonight, and it was yummy. ayabe sounds nice, perhaps there it is a kind of artist village, maybe i will try to visit it sometime.
another dye artist, with an amazying hat and matching mask. this color is made from persimmon fruit, which is distilled into a stronger liquid, and often used to dye cotton canvas or study work clothes. in this case nice canvas bags.
a little bit of this and that, and some kimonos.
in case you couldn't guess, the internet is back up, and to be honest, it's a bit overwhelming! so much to catch up on...and then last week i was knocked out by a sudden cold (not swine flu, since i never had a fever!) but now that i have recovered, regular blogging can resume.
this was my second sashiko embroidery project.
again, i used a sampler, which is great because it has the pattern printed on the fabric, in wash-out ink.
these are a few of the available patterns for sashiko samplers for making a small cloth towel. they are all classic sashiko motifs, the one i did is on the right: nowaki, or wind-blown grasses.
another nice thing about the sampler is that it shows the order to stitch the different lines.
sashiko thread is a little thicker than regular embroidery floss. the sashiko needle is fairly long.
for sashiko, you use the needle to load as many stitches as possible, then pull the thread through.
this is the traditional sashiko thimble, it's worn like a ring and has a flat, round dish. i didn't use a thimble at all the first time i tried sashiko. this thimble was fun to wear, and maybe it made the sewing just a little faster, but i think you can do sashiko without a thimble.
in process
this is what it looks like on the back. the one important thing when doing sashiko is to make sure to leave a little extra tread so that the finished work will lay flat.
done!
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