I've been very interested in Japanese Sashiko for awhile.  I took a couple of classes at City Quilters in the past year.  I prefer machine sewing to hand sewing but I love having a few hand projects for those times when I can't be near a machine.  I love the simplicity of white cotton thread on blue indigo fabric and the geometric designs. Sashiko requires a LOT of patience.

In my last sashimi class, my teacher Judy showed us the sashiko project that she's been working on and I decided to replicate the project.

I purchased a 2 yard piece of Japanese indigo fabric.  I drew boxes that measure approximately 8"x10."  Each of these boxes will have a different pattern.  These patterns will have to be drawn onto each of these boxes.  I use Clover white pen for fabric and also chacopy paper also by Clover.  I photocopied a pattern from sashimi books and cut it to fit my 8"x10" box.  Then I take 1 Chacopy sheet to place under the pattern and taped it to the box using masking tape.  You have to take care to be very accurate here so that it fits into the box perfectly. Then using a ruler and a ball point pen, I went over every line of the pattern so that it gets copied onto the fabric.  This is a long process so get comfortable! Once finished, pattern and chacopy paper can be removed but make sure to check that all lines have been drawn onto the fabric.

Once all lines have been copied onto the fabric, pattern and Chacopy paper can be removed.  At this point, it would be wise to use the Clover white fabric marking pen to go over the lines.  This is because the chalk from Chacopy paper rubs off.

Now the sewing begins. I like to use plain white cotton sashiko thread. I also use a long sashiko needle.   To start sewing, I put a quilter's knot, winding the thread around 2x and then begin sewing from one end of the grid to the other.  Each stitch is approximately .25."  It can be slightly smaller but whatever stitch length you pick, it's best to be consistent throughout the project as that will look best.

So I got my first box sewn and I love how it came out!