How to sew Sashiko | Japanese Embroidery DIY Tutorial | Craftiosity | Craft Kit Subscription Box

Learn the beautiful Japanese textile folk art of sashiko embroidery (it translates as ’little stabs’) to a make a geometric patterned placemat. This tutorial could be amended to make a small cushion, tote bag or book covers. Quite different to Western embroidery, sashiko uses a longer needle to load multiple stitches onto it before sewing through. You’ll need: - Open weave indigo coloured cotton fabric - Sashiko thread - Sashiko needles (stronger and longer than standard sewing needles) - Tailor’s chalk - Sewing pins - Pattern template (draw your own using the video as an example) Here are the timings for the specific processes within the tutorial: 00:00-00:21 → Introduction 00:21-00:37 → Materials 00:37-00:41 → Cutting the material 00:41-00:52 → Folding the template and place onto fabric 00:52-02:40 → Marking the fabric with tailor’s chalk 02:41-02:56 → Thread the needle 02:56-04:40 → Sashiko embroidery technique (vertical lines) 04:40-04:57 → Sashiko embroidery (diagonal lines) 04:57-05:30 → Sashiko embroidery (diamond lines) 05:30-05:46 → Sashiko embroidery (horizontal lines) 05:47-06:31 → Fold, iron and pin edges 06:31-06:36 → Draw outside lines with chalk 06:36-06:57 → Sewing the outside lines 06:57-07:18 → Securing overlap on corners and final iron 07:18-07:21 → Finished Sashiko embroidered table-mat Craftiosity is the subscription box of modern craft kits, available at If you liked this video, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Sign up to our newsletter at to have more inspiration flying into your inbox! Follow us on: Facebook: Instagram: Thank you for watching and we hope to see you again soon!