japanese book review: sashiko cute accessories

Today I'm bringing you peek at another book in my collection of Japanese craft books! I was asked where I get my books from, and the answer is...a few places! There's a Japanese market not too far from where I live, and they have a book store there. It's a good place to go and actually see the books to find out if I'll like them. But online is really a good way to go. I've found some on Etsy, YesAsia, and even occasionally on Amazon. Once you start looking, you'll be amazed at how many you can find!

I have a great love of sashiko embroidery, but still haven't really tried it "for real". By that, I mean I've never purchased the real supplies and tools and used a traditional pattern. But I want to, and with this book, I feel I'm getting closer.

The translated title of this new addition to my collection of Japanese craft books is Sashiko Cute Accessories. Maybe that should be Cute Sashiko Accessories? Ah, Google Translate...you are wonderful, and still confusing! The ISBN is 9784834728583, and you can find more about it (sort of!) on Google Books or buy it on YesAsia.com (where they say the title is Cute Quilting Goods!)




What I like about this book is that it uses traditional (and some less traditional) designs, and places them on fun items in fresh ways. It's a combination of embroidery and sewing/craft book, which makes it worth it for me as a purchase. There are some interesting ways that they assemble and add closures to some of the bags, and just flipping through it at the store, I was learning new techniques.



A sashiko snowman? Cute! I like the idea of these napkins...it's a nice way to get started with designs, and have them be instantly useful!




Even though it may be one of the simpler designs in the book, I really like this hexagon pattern. See how it looks like little flowers in a honeycomb? I love it!



And here's what makes books like this so very usable, even though I can't read them: The pictures and illustrations tell so much! So now I have some good instruction for the embroidery itself, as well as how the accessories are assembled...




It's a little hard to tell from the photo above, but this book has a whole pull out section of full size embroidery patterns. Obviously, I haven't pulled them all the way out yet. Not all books have these, so this makes me very happy!



And perhaps the most dangerous part of the entire book is the back page. There are more titles shown here that I'm already wanting! (If you click the image, it will take you to Flickr, where you can see a larger version and even read those ISBNs.)

For now, there's some pretty (non-sashiko) thread sitting here saying, "Mollie! I want to be stitched into cute little sashiko arcs! Stitch me, please!" I will answer that plea very soon...

I hope you've enjoyed this look at Sashiko Cute Accessories (or however you'd prefer to translate it), and that it hasn't caused too much book envy!