It’s true, I’m a complete novice at this. It’s often said that you can learn through teaching, and I find that sometimes the only way I can learn something is when I’m asked to teach someone else. Here is the shippou design I was working on:

And from the other side… not so bad!

I’ve learned quite a bit about making my stitches line up on both sides, how to hold the needle, just how important the thimble is, and how blue the thread eventually gets after being pulled through the fabric again and again. Definitely another good reason for using shorter threads instead of long ones.

I plan to keep working on this piece and will post pictures as I continue. Perhaps next year I’ll do another sashiko tutorial that is more finely tuned and not quite so amaturish! There is a lot to learn and I’ve only scratched the surface. I hope you give it a try as well. It’s deceptively simple, quite enjoyable, and a fun way to keep a traditional art form alive.