WATTS SASHIKO
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop

Finding peace with sashiko

12/9/2019

6 Comments

 
Recently I had the experience of receiving bad news just as I was just about to board a plane. It was an international flight, and after learning that my brother was on his deathbed, I was in no frame of mind for reading, watching movies or any other kind of entertainment over the next ten hours. In that situation all I felt like doing was sashiko. The hypnotizing effect that comes from rhythmically moving a needle through fabric was exactly what I needed to make the long trip bearable.
Picture
Fortunately I had something to work on. I don’t usually stitch pre-printed pieces as I prefer to draw up my own, but I had with me a Hobbyra Hobbyre brand hanafukin, which I had bought to try out after a visit to one of their outlets in Tokyo earlier in the year.  
 
Incidentally, carrying sewing in hand luggage aboard planes can be a hassle because of rules about taking scissors on board. I lost several pairs before discovering that a stitch unpicker is all you need to cut thread and can make it through security inspections without being confiscated. But I make no guarantee - rules may vary according to country!
Picture
Hobbyra Hobbyre is a craft company that sells mainly needlework and sewing supplies. It was founded in 1975 as an offshoot of the Mitsubishi Pencil Company, with the first store located in the Ginza-Core building in the trendy and prestigious Giza district. From there it expanded into a franchise with 45 shops across the country. Nowadays the Ginza store is located at street level (Denso-kan 1F, 5-9-5, Ginza, Chuo-ku) and has just celebrated its 5th anniversary at these premises.  
 
The store I visited was in Shinjuku, on the sixth floor of the Keio Department Store. I was impressed by the extensive range of pre-printed hanafukin with patterns ranging from traditional to free style, and variety of thread colours. There were some really cute and unusual free style designs such as puppies, kiriko glassware and cactus!  
Picture
Picture
A range of kits for making items such as bags, purses, coasters and table runners in traditional blue and white was also available. ​
Picture
Picture
The Hobbyra Hobbyre website doesn’t have any English information unfortunately. This page lists shop locations, which Google translate might be able to help with, otherwise if you are visiting Japan and want to find a shop, try plugging in your destination plus Hobbyra Hobbyre.  
Picture
They even had polar bears.
Below is the hanafukin I began that day in the plane. I like that it had six different traditional patterns and an enclosed instruction leaflet with diagrams clearly showing the order of stitching for each, which were: shippo tsunagi (linked seven treasures), kagome (woven bamboo), hana juji (flower cross) koshi (lattice), juji hanazashi (cross flower stitch) and toridasuki (crossed birds). To finish off I sewed a backing cloth made from an old skirt. The finished piece is indeed full of memories.  ​​​​
Picture
6 Comments

    Watts Sashiko

    I love sashiko. I love its simplicity and complexity, I love looking at it, doing it, reading about it, and talking about it. 

    Archives

    September 2022
    February 2022
    August 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    May 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017

    Categories

    All
    Brooches
    Clothes
    Coasters
    Colour Combinations
    Colours
    Customize
    Designs
    Eiko Yoshida
    Ei Rokusuke
    Exhibition
    Hanafukin
    Hida Sashiko
    Japanese Stitching
    Kinchaku Bags
    Kogin Sashiko
    Memories
    Motifs
    Patterns
    Sashiko
    Sashiko Apparel
    Sashiko Bags
    Sashiko Books
    Sashikoists
    Sashiko Lessons
    Sewing
    Shops
    Subscription Kit

    RSS Feed

    Sign up for the newsletter:
    Subscribe
    Picture
    Picture
Privacy Policy
RETURNS POLICY

    Sign up for the newsletter

    ​Blog updates and more sent straight to your inbox

Subscribe
Picture
Picture
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Shop