Tag Archives: How-To

Kogin-zashi Bookmark

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Kogin is completely different than anything else we have ever done before. We love learning and exploring new-to-us techniques and styles of making all the things and kogin-zashi was ticking all the boxes. Creating these gorgeous stitch patterns with such a mindful practice is exciting for us and keeps us motivated to create and explore further. We particularly loved applying kogin to some of our own garment designs and to projects that are common fair among sewists and crafters. Kogin adds a next level of richness to these projects and adds to our understanding of textile creation and use.

Kogin-zashi is a type of darned embroidery meaning the stitches lay closely against one another to reinforce and enhance the base fabric the stitches are worked onto. Kogin is a type of counted thread work with a shared DNA evident in other forms of darned embroidery, counted threadwork, pattern darning, and needle weaving from Norway, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Medieval Middle Eastern counted thread embroidery, and Mamluk pattern darning found in the Middle East and Egypt.

Like other forms of sashiko, kogin-zashi was created by Japanese folx living in cold climates with short growing seasons. Kogin needlework was originally done to reinforce and fortify fabric not as a leisure craft but as a necessity for survival. At the time kogin-zashi was developed (Edo Period, 1603-1867), cotton was a scarce commodity due to the short growing season and the overall cold climate of the Tsugaru region, Aomori, Japan – kogin-zashi’s area of origin. In addition to the scarcity of cotton, it was forbidden for use as a garment fabric by anyone but the ruling class in Japan. This meant folx used fibers derived from plants like ramie, hemp, and tree barks to weave their cloth. Unlike cotton fabric, such fabric does not offer optimal protection from the elements and layering did not provide the needed protection either. Being resourceful, and downright clever, they used kogin stitches made with cotton thread to fill in the gaps in the woven fabric. This created a denser fabric that provided protection and warmth while skirting the strict laws regarding cotton’s use in garment fabric. Fabrics with kogin stitching are complex and dense and contain patterns from geometric borders and lines to intricate key forms and tiled marvels of design. Kogin-zashi fabric is inherently practical but through the lens of time, this practical handwork task has become art and the craft we love today.

Kogin-zashi designs are created by counting the vertical threads of the base fabric and working the needle over and under those threads following the space between the horizontal threads (warp threads) of the base fabric. The stitches are worked into the spaces created by the intersection of the horizontal and vertical threads, filling in the gaps in the woven fabric.

Kogin-zashi was not used to reinforce fabrics by fastening down patches or binding together multiple layers of fabric. Instead, kogin reinforces fabric by weaving thread between the vertical and horizontal threads of loosely woven fabric. The result is a denser fabric that is stronger, more durable, offers greater protection from the elements and, without a doubt, is stunning to behold. Modern kogin-zashi, uses embroidery floss, thread or even fine weight yarns with evenweave fabric such as Congress Cloth, Davosa, or Lugana to create projects.

We discovered kogin-zashi as part of our research for our book Boro & Sashiko: Harmonious Imperfection. We were most excited by the intricate designs created by easy one line at a time stitching. For us, the most exciting part of kogin is how accessible it is as a skill. Regardless of their background as makers and creators, folx can learn the introductory parts of needle handling and pattern reading, almost immediately creating complex graphic designs on fabric. It’s exciting to see the results unfold one line at a time right before your eyes and it motivates you to keep stitching so see that happen. Even if folx have never done hand needlework before, they are going to be able to pick up kogin-zashi and make something right away. The instant gratification factor is big with this craft. For folx who are familiar with handwork and needlework, this is a refreshing change from the norm and we believe they are going to find the same exhilaration and satisfaction we have from this form that is juuuuuuust different enough to be exciting but not so different that is alienating.

For this project, we created a woven knot motif. The pattern was originally released as part of our Maker’s Moments series of workshops on our website at shannonandjason.com. To learn more about kogin-zashi and other forms of sashiko, checkout our books Boro & Sashiko – Harmonious Imperfection and Contemporary Kogin-zashi. Both titles are available on our website at shannonandjason.com or from your favorite local bookseller.

Find the instructions here.

Find the pattern here.

As always, Stitch On!

Shannon & Jason

Using the CNC Palm Thimble for Big Stitch Quilting

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It’s no secret that we have a special place in our hearts for scrappy quilting and we carry just as bright of a torch for hand quilting with sashiko style stitches. We have done our fair share of machine quilting on our domestic machine (as in our latest book Scrappy Wonky Quilt Block Extravaganza) but nothing comes close to the texture of a hand stitched sashiko style running stitch. For our last couple of projects, we have used the new palm thimble from Colonial Needle Company to make this process even easier and certainly more enjoyable for us. We certainly still use this versatile thimble for all of our sashiko projects and mending but it is a game changer for big stitch quilting. Paired with the John James long darners, and Presencia 12 weight thread held double, the combo is a hand quilter’s dream team.

Now you might want to sit down for this part because we are going to say something controversial.

But stick with us.

Here goes: we don’t like buying new fabric.

<insert gasps here>

We know… who doesn’t like perusing racks and aisles of freshly bolted fabrics in immeasurable variations of color, prints, solids, weave, and content types? We do like looking at them but purposely buying yardage is reserved for specific projects like garments and quilts that require a certain type of fabric or unifying fabric such as a single background color. But, when it comes to every day stitching and projects, we like to shop the flat fold and odd cuts section of our fabric store. More than once we have absolutely raided the clothing and fabric piles at tag sales and the 50¢ racks at thrift stores are not safe from us. Everything comes home and goes into a sanitizing wash and is pressed before disassembling into large pieces of flat fabric. This process of rescuing and repurposing found fabric is almost magical to us and we love the textiles they create.

Our latest joy has been working on our clothing quilts. We made a clothing quilt a while back for a charity auction and NEEEEEDED one of our own. For our personal clothing quilt, we sourced all of the fabric from our own garments which wasn’t exactly difficult considering we don’t throw away anything that even remotely resembles fabric. We sorted through bags and boxes of “old” clothes, the mending pile (from which we used anything that had been in there for longer than a year), and clothes that didn’t fit anymore or weren’t exactly suited to us anymore.

As a result, assembling and quilting this piece has been a walk down memory lane. That purple plaid flannel shirt that Shannon used to wear hiking when we took the Shibakidz everywhere with us. The stripped “designer label” button up that was a gift from one of us to the other when we were first married (that was thirty years ago, y’all) and both of us wore as a throw on top layer until it was pretty threadbare. Jason’s red western shirt he used to wear when we went dancing, the fancy shirt he used to wear to teach in. All of these bring back memories of times and places as we assemble them into new textile panels and create this quilt that will live with and beyond us.

The esthetics of this type of fabric cannot be ignored. The amazing feel of these newly created textiles as they move through our hands. The feel of the needle slipping through the layers of fabric and batting. The crinkle (if you know… you KNOW) of the fabric after a section of stitches are completed. And the weight and density of the layers of fabric and batting is like nothing else.

Overall, the process of making a clothing quilt is very different from a patterned quilt made using more traditional quilting cottons off the bolt. The top is pieced together with panels of individual framed improv motifs and larger sections of fabric as well as smaller scrap pieces tucked in to fill space. The back is large panels put together with as few seams as possible to make the quilting easier so the needle doesn’t have to go through too many odd seams at a time. The batting is organic cotton from Hobbs batting pieced together from leftover panels from our last quilting book. Every piece and seam is thought out and considered as part of the whole and serves to create the intricate decoration of the quilt but also is a meditative practice for us where we disregard any of the outside <waves arms about wildly> stuff-n-things that put our nerves on edge. We can, for a time, immerse ourselves in the physical sensation of the weight of the fabric, the feel of the fabric texture, and the ssshhhhhhp sound of the thread being pulled through the quilt layers.

Did this turn into a love letter to fabric quilts and hand stitching? Probably. Do we suddenly feel compelled to go sit and stitch on our quilt again? Definitely. So yeah… gotta go.

But seriously, we hope this inspires you to consider using found fabric for at least one project this year. There is so much joy in repurposing fabrics and in giving them new life while giving our planet a little bit of a break from just that much more fashion and textile waste. Now, really, it’s time for a cup of tea and some ssshhhhhhp, ssshhhhhhp.

– Shannon & Jason

*For a video tutorial of using the CNC Palm Thimble for Big Stitch Quilting, see our YouTube video: