Sashiko
Sashiko
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Sashiko is a decorative and functional embroidery technique that has been used in Japan for centuries to mend, reinforce, and embellish textiles. Historically, sashiko has been used to join multiple layers of fabric or to secure a patch. Sashiko embroidery creates geometric ornaments with a repeating pattern using a simple overstitch. In Japanese history, the use of repaired garments in this way has sometimes lasted for generations. As a result of decades of repair, the garments eventually resemble intricate, multi-layered patchwork. In the intervening period, after the general rise in living standards in Japan, most mended items were discarded because they were a reminder of poverty. Over time, the natural wear and tear of fabric came to be seen as beautiful, and today it is back in fashion.
The course teaches decorative patching and embellishment of clothing using the traditional Japanese embroidery technique of sashiko.
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The fourth Viljandi Repair Festival took place on September 20, 2025. I had the pleasure of leading a sashiko workshop, where participants could decoratively repair and strengthen their favorite, torn or worn-out clothes using the traditional Japanese embroidery technique.
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The next repair festival will take place on September 19, 2026
It's an awesome and proud feeling to be the Estonian trouser mending master!
In the summer of 2022, the Society of Friends of Heimtali Museum announced a trouser patching competition. The aim of the competition was to popularize the long-term use of things and to establish the sustainable and economical lifestyle characteristic of the Anu Raud Center.
As a diligent new user and advocate of the patchwork technique, I also took part in the general public trouser repair workshops. I consider the natural wear and tear of clothes beautiful and know that it is possible to repair broken parts aesthetically.
In the summer of 2025, I attended workshops at Yi Crafts, a small East Asian craft studio in London. The instructor was a wonderful Chinese Yifan, who loves dyeing fabrics with indigo. Yifan explained the basics of sashiko embroidery and guided practical work.
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