Taking a stab

I did my sashiko (which means little stabs, insert groan at title pun here) class yesterday and it was great.

Sashiko is quite simple but there are some tricks to getting it all to look good, so worth taking a class. I did mine at Kimono House in Melbourne. It's not worked with a hoop so the tension is important (which effects how you work the stitches/change directions etc hence the handiness of a class). But not being worked with a hoop also makes it very portable. You really only need your thread, material and needle/scissors (and you can precut the threads so you could even live without scissors...so you might be able to take it on a plane perhaps? Will have to check out the Aussie stance on a sewing needle (knitting needles and crochet hooks are no go).

Sashiko designs are stencilled onto the fabric first, then you stitch them. I've previously only really done cross-stitch before so it was relaxing just to have to follow the stencil and not think too much. Quite meditative plus easier to do while watching TV or something as it doesn't require quite as much focus. You make several stitches with your needle at a time (or more than that with a straight line design) so it's relatively speedy too. I'll definitely be doing some more!

Here's my progress to date...