That being established, here is something I wondered about and am drawing my own conclusion.

Why don’t we get tired of the traditional sashiko designs?   What makes them still ‘work’ for us even after looking at them for several years, as I have been doing?

They are, after all, pretty simple looking geometric designs.

Here is why I think our brains remain pleased and interested.  I took the following passage from a book called Fractals, The Patterns of Chaos, Discovering a New Aesthetic of Art, Science and Nature by John Briggs.  He writes:

“To make great artworks, artists must find ….just the right balance of harmony and dissonance to create tension and the illuminating ambiguities that can flow from it.  That proper balance is the one that catches the brain’s processing by surprise and subverts habituation.  It’s the balance that forces our brain to experience the words or forms or melodies as if for the first time, every time, no matter how many times we have encountered them before.”

What holds our interest in the traditional sashiko designs is the perfect balance between the strong geometric design, and the “wait, what’s this?” surprise of discovering that the design might not be the design, and yet still being sure it is.   In other words, when we look at sashiko stitching we see a repetitive pattern and our brain enjoys that, but it doesn’t become habituated to the pattern (bored) because it is repeatedly engaged and stimulated by having something to figure out and finish.

Some sashiko designs are more strongly appealing that others, and this, I think, is created by the effect of the extra stimulation of the brain in figuring out which design to see.   For example, in the design below, you may see the flowers, or you may see linked circles, or your brain may focus on the long oval lines.In the Sayagata design below the brain switches back and forth, trying to decide whether the key fret goes to the left or the right.  This would be tiring if the overall design were not so strong, but the definite white lines on the dark blue background assert a strong enough pattern that the brain is intrigued by the option of left or right.

One more example.  This design is a particularly complex one for all it’s apparent simplicity.  I see hexagons, wreath like circles and triangles, and all of them please me enough that I want to see them, so my brain is kept entertained and interested moving from one to another.  Once stitched, the strong fractured, white lines on a dark blue background will add another layer of interest, in the brains need to connect the stitches into lines.

The technique for making  sashiko stitches creates a balanced broken line: long stitch, short space, long stitch, short space.  If you want to see how this also keeps the brain pleased and interested, try stitching some even stitches and spaces, some irregular stitches and spaces, and some good sashiko stitches where the stitches are 2/3 the length of the spaces between them.  You will see that your brain finds the even stitching less engaging, and the irregular stitching intriguing only for a short time.  The 2/3 , 1/3 patterning of the sashiko stitch lets the brain easily see and enjoy the design, but leaves it something to do to keep it engaged (it ‘fills’ in or ‘finishes’ the design)

There is one more element that lends to the enduring quality of sashiko design, or put the another way, that gives the brain enough to do while looking at the sashiko that it stays engaged and interested.  It is the relationship between the stitching and the background.  In some designs this may be one of the strongest dynamics of the design.  Take the Diamond Waves design for example. Are the waves the white lines or the blue spaces between them? It doesn’t matter, but the design is more interesting because of the choice.

Talk to you again soon,

Susan

• Susan Fletcher,
• February 2012

]]> http://sashikostitchers.com/why-sashiko-designs-dont-bore-your-brain/feed/ 1 http://sashikostitchers.com/my-sashiko-stitched-stash/ http://sashikostitchers.com/my-sashiko-stitched-stash/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:46:37 +0000 Susan http://sashikostitchers.com/?p=653 Continue reading →]]>

And there is more.

The thing is, once I started sashiko stitching I couldn’t stop.  I keep some in my purse in a baggy with a needle and thread, and nail clippers instead of scissors, since all there is to cut is the thread.  I keep some thrown in a messy heap on the back of my couch where I sit to watch TV at the end of the day.   I have always hated to not have something for my hands to do, and sashiko is so easy and peaceful that I’ve become addicted to stitching it.

I love the low tech, no equipment, nature of sashiko. I love the way it can be utilitarian or a work of art.  I love the way it keeps me calm in the ferry line up (-:  It’s a ferry trip from where I live to, well, anywhere, so the ferry terminal line up is just how it is.  Sometime I’ll post a picture of where I live and show you why its worth it, but I digress.

What to do with it all now?

Some of the pieces were experiments.  The bear didn’t really work, tho it looked like he was going to along the way. Finished he makes you cross eyed and dizzy!

I was and am still, interested in using sashiko to stitch images.  This drawing worked quite well, I think.

But I once stitched a  flying crane in white sewing thread – I’ll go take a picture, you can see what you think….

Here it is:

But the majority of my stash are traditional designs stitched on dark blue fabric with white thread

I thought I’d try cutting some up and piecing it.  You know you have a lot of stitching on your hands when you are willing to go that far!

I think this might work tho, if it were bed size and quilted.  The amount of the repeats would probably give it an over all cohesiveness, and the quilting would soften the cut effect.   Or it might be like the bear and make your eyes swim! (-:

Maybe I’ll find out, or maybe I’ll think of some other way to use these pieces!

Happy Stitching,

Susan

It occurs to me we need some photographs of sashiko on this site! How did I come to overlook that for this long?

This kimono may be the largest sashiko piece I have stitched so far.  It was made for the Gibson’s Fibre Arts Festival show a few years ago, and it was the first time I added colored thread to a sashiko design. Also beads.

The design is mine.  I transferred it in the usual (for me) method, drawing it first onto white featherweight fusible interfacing and then fusing that to the back of the fabric and sashiko stitching from the back.  This transfer method is great for designing your own sashiko arrangements on clothing.  You cut the clothing pattern pieces from the interfacing, arrange your design on it.  Since you can see through the interfacing it is easy to move and trace parts of designs.

I lined the inside of the kimono with a heavy bamboo embossed satin.

Here is a close up of the one of the dragonflies.  There are patterns for these dragonflies available on A Threaded Needle.  They are in a pattern called Dragonfly Cloth. (click link and scroll to the bottom of the page to find it)

Talk to you again,

Susan

I came across this link and excerpt in one of my old  newsletters.  It is too interesting not to share. I wish I could visit this place.

Below is an except copied from the  link:
The house where indigo lives

It is worthwhile to take a look at the link and while you are there have a look at some of the other articles about craftspeople, artists and design.

An indigo dye workshop built in the Edo period. It is here where Tadashi Higeta tends his vats of dye, full to the brim with foaming blue liquid. Indigo was once a pillar of Japanese domestic life, and has now been pushed to the wayside. This quiet, intellectual man is keeping his family tradition alive.

Interviewed by Takafumi Suzuki
Translated by Claire Tanaka

There is an interview, this bit is taken from it:

When was this indigo dyeing workshop founded?
It was founded over 200 years ago. They say the person who started the workshop had lost a child, and was inspired by his grief to build a workshop where “people can come together”. This kagiya-style building was built in the latter part of the Edo period. I am the ninth generation at this indigo workshop.
Words like “ninth generation” and “Edo period” really give a sense of historical significance.
Well, I suppose it’s a sort of “preserving tradition for future generations” kind of thing, isn’t it. These days, young people aren’t familiar with indigo dyeing at all. But in the olden days, indigo dyeing workshops were called kouya and they were all over the country. Here in Tochigi prefecture alone, there were several hundred. Back in those days, the fabric of Japan was a beautiful blue. About eighty percent of Japanese clothing was dyed with indigo back then.

Here is the picture:Here are the materials you will find in the kit:

And here are the directions:

First
1. Lay one piece of white fusible featherweight interfacing over the paper pattern piece (it is in the bag with the frame you bought) glue side (rough side) down.  Trace the outline of the pattern, and all the other markings onto it. You may find it helps to tape the corners of the pattern to your worktable.  Repeat with second piece of interfacing.
Take your piece of interfacing with the purse pattern traced onto it, and lay it over the sashiko design.  Position it to suit yourself and trace the sashiko design onto the interfacing. I put mine on an angle. Repeat with second piece.
When the tracing is done on both pieces, lay each piece of interfacing over a piece of your fabric (rough side down) and use your iron to fuse them to the fabric.

Second, sashiko stitch the fabric
Important:  Do not cut the purse pattern out of the fabric at this point. We are going to stitch the sashiko first. Don’t throw the paper pattern away either. You may want it again later.

If you have done sashiko stitching before, you can just go find a comfortable chair and stitch away.  When you are finished you can continue at part 3.

If this is your first sashiko stitching project go to “How to do sashiko stitching” under the How To menu at the top of this page. Scroll past the interfacing transfer part to the how to begin stitching section.  Thread your needle and do the stitching as shown.

Third, make the purse

Now that you sashiko stitching is complete, cut out the purse pieces. Cut out two more pieces of fabric for your inner purse lining.
Lay your outer (sashiko stitched) purse pieces with their right sides together and sew along the the area indicated on the paper pattern by the dotted line. Use your shortest stitch length.  Repeat with remaining inner purse fabric pieces.

Place the outer shell inside the inner lining bag. Right sides will be together.  Match the raw edges.
Match and pin the side seams on both sides.  Sew across the seams.
Back stitch to make this tiny seam strong and secure.

Turn the fabric pieces right side out (the corners will be sewn together).  Do this by pushing both pieces through the opening on one side, then separate the two parts as in the picture. Now push the lining inside the outer part.

Work your fingers along the inside seams to make them matched and flattened. Your two side stitched seams should be exactly at the top.
Match the raw edges carefully, and then stitch them together, staying near the raw edge so your stitching will be covered by the frame.

Final step, attaching the fabric to the frame:

Open the frame out flat on your work table with the side with the holes against the table.

Turn your fabric wrong side out and place it over the frame to get an idea about how it is going to go together.

Okay, the bit you’ve been waiting for! Thread your needle with the strong bag making thread. Note the needle must be small enough to go through the holes in the frame. Make a small knot in the end of the thread and, in the center for the fabric on one side, just under the line you machine stitched, push the needle and thread through.

Find the center hole in the frame and push the needle through it.

From the other side, push the needle back through the next hole in the frame. Continue until you reach the corner.

I’m switching to pictures from the same purse in a different fabric now, so don’t be disconcerted. You didn’t mysteriously loose your place (-:

Take a little extra fabric in your stitches at the shoulder curve of the frame, adjusting as needed until the end of the frame and the end of the un-stitched fabric meet.  Be sure to pull the stitches tight.
When you have reach the hinge corner of the frame, stitch back to the center.  Your stitches on the front of the frame will now make a solid line.  Be sure you are pulling each stitch tight, and that the raw edge of the fabric is well inside the frame.  It is this second row of stitches that lets you catch and fix the fabric anywhere it is not secure in the frame.

Note: Just to be sure we are clear, remember the tiny seam we made earlier across the side seams that now is a little finished seam at each corner of the fabric? This part is NOT going to be stitched to the frame. It provides the ease needed for the purse to open and close.

Stitch the fabric to the frame on the other side in the same way.

Here is a picture of the same clasp purse made in blue.

I hope you are as pleased with your little clasp purse as I am with mine!  What, I wonder, will you use it for?  I made several from and so far one has embroidery thread in it, one is just sitting around being pretty (-: and one I gave away for a gift.

My next one is going to be made from the scraps of a woven fabric I made years ago. They are tussah silk, too beautiful to throw away, too small to use.  I think I will stitch them to a linen fabric first…  it gives me that sick with excitement feeling thinking about it, which generally means I’m on to a good idea!

Happy stitching,

Susan

Today I just thought I’d throw in some pictures from an indigo dying day in the fall.  If you are a careful-and-rule-following kind of person, you might want to look away!

On another day, in the summer, I will make a nice photo-essay on how to do indigo dying properly, and sometime before that I’ll tell you about the connection between indigo dye and sashiko stitching.

This is just a day with some friends, taking some chances, and getting some beautiful results anyway!I wanted to over dye some fabrics which I had previously plant dyed so I tied them up shibori style.  The color on these was too weak because they were the “last in” in some plant dye baths done earlier in the year.  I often over dye, it makes interesting things happen sometimes!  These fabrics were indigo (pale blue), onion skin (gold) and daffodil heads (yellow). Shibori is simply ways of folding, tying, stitching, or clamping fabric to create areas which resist the dye. The results range from beautiful to terrible, depending on how well its done (-:My indigo dye pot set up consists of a propane burner under a 5 gallon stock pot. You can see that this pot is ‘working’ because the blue is turning yellowish.  This is one of the characteristics of indigo dying that makes it magic.  The fabric will come out of the pot a yellow color and as you watch, it will go through a range of color changes until it is blue.  Every time I see it I still find it a beautiful thing to watch happen.

Lifting the fabric out of the pot. This is not the right way to do this. Two things will kill an indigo dye pot, cold and oxygen.  I am letting too much cold dye run back into the pot and it will soon be ruined if I don’t smarten up!  But there was a reason…

It was September and too cold to be indigo dying outdoors at all, so the pot was making way too much steam to bring the fabric out slowly while gently squeezing out the excess dye below the surface (the right way)  You don’t want to stand over an indigo pot breathing the steam, and we should be wearing masks.  I did say this was going to be a don’t-try-this-at-home entry, right?

This is one of those pieces tied up in the first picture.  Fully opened you can still see some threads from the stitches.  This hasn’t been washed.

Another piece being unfolded.  The yellowy greens will soon be blue as the oxygen changes the indigo, and the whole piece will become darker.

Washed clean of loose dye, this piece is finished.

Talk to you soon

Susan

For hand sewers like myself needles are what paintbrushes are to painters, what pencils are to writers.  Needles are the tool that make expression possible, the connection between the idea and the object.

Here is a link to a lovely tribute to needles on Broken Needle Day

Last year I made a new “sewing room bear” for my needles.  He has rare earth magnets in his hands and feet to grab and hold needles and small scissors.

This sashiko stitched linen needle book made for a friend, is lined with soft hand dyed wool for the needles.

Talk soon

Susan

It’s a day set aside for women to take these humble little tools that we do so much with, and NOTICE them. And while we are at it, its a time to notice all the other small domestic tools that do so much in our lives.

In Japan of Feb. 8 women will take their broken and bent needles to shrines where they will place them in cakes made of tofu to let them have a soft resting place after their hard service.

You could use this day, also, to notice the little domestic tools we take for granted and to appreciate how much they contribute to our daily lives.  Make you broken needles a soft lined box to rest in. Make your working needles a new book to live in. Maybe even buy a block of tofu and have a little ceremony….whatever you do, its about the NOTICING  and appreciating (as opposed to the not noticing)

Here is a link to my songbird needle book pattern to help you celebrate:

Happy Stitching

Susan

How does symbolism in design happen?

This is not a researched answer, but I think its likely that women doing this stitching found it more interesting if they based the designs on things that had meaning for them.   This would account for why designs that represent the sea and fishing are found on the coastal fishing peoples clothing (diamond waves for example) and designs having to do with crops (plowed fields, windblown grasses) are found on the clothing of the inland farming peoples.

As well as designs symbolizing the natural world and the work their men did, there are the designs that I think come from the domestic cares and work of the women themselves:  rice box and steam rising for kitchen work for instance, or tortoise shell as a symbol for good fortune and long life, hemp leaf as a symbol for strong health and bamboo as a symbol for vitality and prosperity.  It is easy to imagine women stitching these designs into garments and household linens as a way to wish these things for their family and friends.

A new baby blanket might be stitched with a combination of flax leaf and tortoiseshell to wrap the baby in her hopes for strong health, a long life, and prosperity for it, for example. Or perhaps cherry blossoms and the lucky three design would be stitched to wish a girl born in the spring the hope of a good (lucky) future.

Many sashiko designs incorporate several meanings and can be combined to make symbolic messages.

Plum blossoms, bamboo and pine bark are often stitched into the same piece to represent triumph over hardship. All three of these are hardy plants that survive the harsh winters to thrive again in the spring, so you might stitch a quilt or jacket or cushion with these designs as a gift for someone who is struggling with hard times to convey hope and faith that they will thrive again.

Most sashiko designs are simple line representations of one or more of three categories: the natural world (plants, animals, the elements), ideas (hope, health, prosperity, fortune,longevity) and the celestial world (blessings). Many combine meanings from more than one of these categories and knowing a little about the symbolism in a sashiko design can make stitching it a richer experience.

A note: There is also a category of design called mons. They are the family crest designs and were sashiko stitched or painted on garments, but they are a subject for another time!

The list below was taken from Wikipedia:
Tate-Jima (縦縞) — Vertical stripes
Yoko-Jima (横縞) — Horizontal stripes
Kōshi (格子) — Checks
Nakamura Kōshi (中村格子) — Plaid of Nakamura family
Hishi-moyō (菱模様) — Diamonds
Yarai (矢来) — Bamboo Fence
Hishi-Igeta (菱井桁) / Tasuki — Parallel diamonds / crossed cords
Kagome (籠目) — Woven Bamboo
Uroko (鱗) — Fish Scales
Tate-Waku (竪沸く) — Rising steam
Fundō (分銅) — Counterweights
Shippō (七宝) — Seven Treasures of Buddha
Amime (網目) — Fishing nets
Toridasuki (鳥襷) — Interlaced circle of two birds
Chidori (千鳥) — Plover
Kasumi (霞) — Haze
Asa no Ha (麻の葉) — Hemp leaf
Mitsuba (三葉) — Trefoil
Hirayama-Michi (平山道) — Passes in the mountains
Kaki no Hana (柿の花) — Persimmon flower
Kaminari (雷) — Thunderbolts
Inazuma (稲光) — Flash of Lightning
Sayagata (鞘型) — Key pattern
Matsukawa-Bishi (松皮菱) — Pine Bark
Yabane (矢羽) — Fletching

It looks odd and doesn’t go on the end of your finger!

One of the things I love about tools is how they evolve for the purpose they are made.

When sashiko stitching, you are using a long strong needle and gathering as much as 3 or 4 inches of fabric onto it at once (once you have been doing it awhile!)

In order to take the stress off of the fingers, sashiko thimbles were invented, probably by some sensible innovative woman with way too much stitching to get done for her family and finger joints that were getting middle aged and achey!

You wear it at the base of your finger like this.

It has a stretch bit of elastic on the back and little grippy spots on the front tab to rest the needle in as you push.  It softens with use so it is comfortable.

You can here see how the eye end of the needle rests on the thimble tab after the stitches are gathered on the fabric, and is used to push the needle through.

Today is Feb 2, 2012. I am still figuring out how to set up the menus and what not for this website, so thanks for bearing with me!

Cheers

Susan