Monday 29 February 2016

Sashiko with Susan Briscoe

Sashiko by Susan Briscoe
Yesterday my C&G Certificate Class had a great treat as Susan Briscoe came for the day to teach them how to stitch Sashiko.  Sashiko is a Japanese stitching technique, which I have admired for a long time, but hadn’t actually tried.  So rather than quickly teach myself how to stitch Sashiko to share with the class, I got the expert in.  It also meant I spent a very pleasant day learning a technique I’ve admired for a long time!
More examples shared by Susan
Susan showed us how to mark the fabric with a grid – there is a definite technique involved - and got us stitching a rice stitch pattern.  This is my first Sashiko piece, still in progress. 
My attempt at the Rice Stitch Pattern
Susan is a wealth of information and experience and generously shared as much as she could in the space of the day.  In the afternoon we progressed to trying a hemp leaf pattern.  Rather than using the grid to measure the stitch size, it is free stitched.  It took a while to get the rhythm going – I can tell where I started, once you get going, the stitches end up more even. 
My in-progress hemp leaf pattern
As well as teaching us how to stitch these patterns, Susan showed us many examples stitched by her and other people – they were very inspiring. 
More examples shared by Susan
By the end of the day, we had two half stitched patterns, information on how to stitch other designs and heads filled with enthusiasm and ideas.
Lots of examples hanging on my design wall
Susan teaches lots of Sashiko workshops - you can find out more about her classes here.

A vintage book that Susan brought along
Sashiko by Susan Briscoe

Sashiko by Susan Briscoe - not just on indigo coloured fabric

4 comments:

Margaret said...

Oh! Be still my heart! If you've seen my latest blog posts, you'll know I've used Sue's book,
"Japanese Taupe Quilts" as the reference for the taupe quilt I am making my son and his bride for their wedding (July) and that I'm doing "sashiko-style" quilting in the whole-cloth blocks within each of the sections. I say "sashiko-style" because I am emulating the technique rather than following it strictly. How wonderful it would have been to participate in that class! I admire her work so much!

Gillian Cooper said...

It was a wonderful class, Margaret and what was fascinating was the versatility of the stitch and patterns and how you could use it in non-traditional ways, like you are doing.
Hope your quilt gets finished on time.

Susan Briscoe said...

Lovely photos - I've added a link to your blog post to mine. Beware, sashiko is addictive!

Gillian Cooper said...

Thanks Susan. I think all of quilting seems to addictive and there are so many techniques to try, just not enough hours in the day!

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