Sashiko, A Skill-Free Japanese Mending Technique

We’re all locked up at home right now, looking for fun things to do that don’t involve people. Well, we have a fun thing to do that uses only inanimate objects.

We’re sure you have a beloved garment at home that has holes or rips and has seen better days. You can’t fix it yourself and you don’t know where to take it to get repaired, but you just can’t bear to throw it out.

Good news! The Japanese have a plan for that. There are a number of traditional Japanese mending methods that are meant to be imperfect and draw attention to the repair, rather than trying to make it seamlessly disappear.

Kintsugi (golden joinery) is the Japanese method of repairing broken pottery with conspicuous gold seams. The flaws become what you celebrate, rather than what you try to hide.

Sashiko, on the other hand, is a technique specific to mending fabric. It means little stabs, which refers to the tiny stitches you use to repair the fabric. The good news is that you’re not trying to achieve perfection, so your skill level doesn’t really matter.

Here, Dorothy walks you through sashiko-ing a beloved cashmere sweater that had apparently been in a street fight. You should see the other sweater!