Akiko Ike's Boro/Sashiko embroidery

I thought for sure there was a thread here on 'boro' itself...I found references in other threads.  If it exists could merge this.

I like the scale of her work with the thick yarns....and the colors!

Excerpts and photos from AlyZen Moonshadow

Akiko Ike of Niigata, Japan, is a gentle, unassuming lady with immense talent in the Japanese art of Sashiko embroidery. Her technique is not strictly Sashiko, it encompasses and incorporates the principles of Boro, and the stitches she uses are identical to Indian Kantha, or running stitch.

Chiku chiku is an onomatopoeic word coined by Akiko herself, which emulates the sound made by the yarn she uses going in and out of the cloth. You will notice that her stitches are bold and huge, and she uses thick yarn to sew her stitches.

That last phoo is really neat! It seems o be scraps joined in a patchwork? Are they sewn together and then the embroidery added, or does the embroidery join them? More info for this sewing illiterate would be appreciated!

hi Jennifer, I forgot about this thread and always intended to come back and add more information.  
Thanks for popping it back up

I'm not sure about Akiko Ike's methods but Boro is usually stitched to a ground fabric (clothing most likely) by hand, piece by piece as patches are needed.
I think the quilt in the first post was done by stitching piece by piece to a backing fabric and then the (boro?) 'quilting' over all.

I love the shades of old indigo in many of the more traditional boro pieces.

Here's a link to one site that seems to have more traditional boro examples and explanations https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/sewblog/authentic-japanese-boro-boro-mending-boro-inspired-patchwork/

Authentic Japanese boro

Boro means, literally, “tatters.” These were made by repurposing carefully saved garment pieces and other handspun and indigo-dyed fabrics. They were sewn together as a patchwork built up from many layers providing extra warmth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJOFQXujCD8

Ooh, I love the look of the “rag woven” garments in that video! Weaving is on my four-mile-long list of things to try when I get the time!

The sashiko stitching is so simple but very attractive.

Here is a modern take I found where a girl repairs the knees of her jeans:

https://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-sashiko-boro-denim-repair/


I like the look of her project quite a bit!

Here's a neat video about using boro sashiko to reclaim lots of tiny scraps of fabric into a bag.

Sadly, it's in Spanish, but it seems pretty easy to follow.  

I want to try something like this to fix a favourite pair of leggings I managed to rip a big tear in this week. It's about 2" each way.
The fabric is soft and stretchy cotton knit, but they're fairly loose on me so I hope I'll be able to get away with a non-stretchy repair.  I will try whipstitch to hold the edges together, then add a patch of a cotton knit of similar weight and do the sashiko stitching.

Jane Mulberry wrote:I want to try something like this to fix a favourite pair of leggings I managed to rip a big tear in this week.  then add a patch of a cotton knit of similar weight and do the sashiko stitching.

Nothing wrong with patching up a pair of jeans. I'm down on my knees (without knee pads) so much in my garden that my 'dirty' jeans wore through the knees. I just did the iron on patches and trimmed the lose threads.

You might consider something like that as a help to hold the edges together before you start the other repairs you mentioned.

Jane Mulberry wrote:

The fabric is soft and stretchy cotton knit, but they're fairly loose on me so I hope I'll be able to get away with a non-stretchy repair.  I will try whipstitch to hold the edges together, then add a patch of a cotton knit of similar weight and do the sashiko stitching.

There's a zig-zag sort of hand stitch I've been using to sew stretchy fabrics. I would try that instead of the straight stitch in the Boro embroidery if I wanted to preserve a little stretch. There's a thread in the sewing area with an example of it if what I've said doesn't make sense.

(no time now to find the thread - but if I find it later I'll add it)

I love this look!  

Oops!  I forgot….  Also check out the Siddi quilts from India.  Very much the same.  And I like any craft or job where you can do it your own way!

Deb sievert wrote:Oops!  I forgot….  Also check out the Siddi quilts from India.  Very much the same.  And I like any craft or job where you can do it your own way!

Here is a detail of my Siddi quilt made from old silk saris.

Jay Angler wrote:There's a zig-zag sort of hand stitch I've been using to sew stretchy fabrics. I would try that instead of the straight stitch in the Boro embroidery if I wanted to preserve a little stretch. There's a thread in the sewing area with an example of it if what I've said doesn't make sense.
(no time now to find the thread - but if I find it later I'll add it)

Thanks, Jay! I was wondering whether I could manage the sorts of stretch stitches in the Alabama Chanin sewing books. I think they suggest a handsewn zig-zag, whipstitch, or crossstitch as stretch stitches. I'm not sure I am dextrous enough to do non-straight stitches without it looking a total mess, but this could be a good opportunity to try it!

Jane Mulberry wrote:

I'm not sure I am dextrous enough to do non-straight stitches without it looking a total mess, but this could be a good opportunity to try it!

You'll never know if you don't try! The project I'm using it on, I'm following an edge, and it may not look as perfect as what the pro's do, but I'm happy with it. That makes me think that if you did a basting stitch and used it as a guide, that might help. You used to be able to buy transfer paper to iron on dots for gathering fabric for children's dresses, and that could concept might also help.

Hopefully, you'll consider it a new adventure and to heck with what other people think!

Definitely "to heck with what other people think"!
My very proper English husband is horrified that I would wear patched clothing. His immediate response was "They weren't expensive. Can't you just buy a new pair?"
Well, I could. We're blessed to not be down to our last few pennies yet. But mending them fits with the way I want to live.

JANE, I repair knit fabric all the time. Place a small piece of other knit fabric behind the tear and use a zigzag stitch.. works beautifully. Doing the stitches in a contrasting color makes it fun too!

More about how to do the sashiko stitching