#mindfulstitching

I am ready for the 2023 challenge by @hannemadebyanne #52stitcheshannemade Let the New Year begin! #52stitcheshannemade #zoknitandsew #sewingchallenge #mindfulstitching #mindfulsewing https://www.instagram.com/p/CmjFH55Mfmy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Prepping for next year's challenge by @hannemadebyanne #52stitcheshannemade Really looking forward to doing this one, roll on 2023 #sewingchallenge #prepping #mindfulstitching #stitchingchallenge #hannemade https://www.instagram.com/p/CmgmD1eso2O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

One of my little hobby projects this year has been to make this little book of memories. Twelve months ago I lost my Mum to Cancer and the pages in this book are made from bits and pieces from her sewing box, from hand made cards, handkerchiefs or bits that remind me of her. Hand sewing has been a great help with the grieving process and all the crap that life throws at you while dealing with the loss of a loved one. #memories #memorybook #mindfulstitching #mindfulness #embroidery #clothbook #sewingbyhand #slowstitching #slowstitch #zoknitandsew https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl6ANf1s5K2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I write stories based on my memories, so it isn’t much about “my opinions”. At the same time, in order to explain the memories logically, I learn around my memories & why's. The more I learn, the more I realize how much Japanese & American are different in culture/mindset. (I live in the US so I say “American”.) I respect the U.S.  It is not about good or bad. I just want to share the difference so that the culture of Sashiko won’t be twisted more than necessary.  ☆ The (old-fashioned) Japanese value the “sincerity” more than anything. Let’s say, I had received a bit of defective furniture from a store. We are all human, so a mistake happens. What interests me is how we approach the issue. In the U.S., it is more peaceful for both sides (seller & buyer) to approach that the accident can be somewhat “compensated”  - so a buyer may ask for the discount for the bit of damage, and the seller may try to solve the issue with offering the reasonable offer. Everyone is happy, right? ☆ In Japan, a “sincere apology” for the accident has to come first. Seller’s saying “Oops. That’s unfortunate. Here is the discount” won't do good. The seller starts, “I am so sorry” and the buyer expects the sincerity (the buyer may not feel comfortable receiving a discount instead). It may be because the Japanese believe(d) "the sound has a spirit in it". Therefore, I say, the “word” matters to us. It is not just a description of “practice”. It is a “spirit” of ours. (There are many more reasons for "difference". This is just one  of my ideas.) ☆ The detail of stories is on Patreon. More photos of our products are on Our webs. Link from profile (@upcyclestitches and Portfolio). ☆ - - - ☆ 刺し子な福袋。混乱はありませんでした。何よりも一安心。ここからはしっかりお届けして、ご満足頂けるかに心を費やします。少しでも楽しい時間を過ごして頂ければ。 ☆ 刺し子を長年していると、こういう素敵な、そして物語が沢山詰まったものを手にする機会があります。5巾の風呂敷なのですが、この空白には実は意味があるような気がします。名前を入れて欲しいと作った側と、名前を入れられずに使い続けた側。補修があるから使ってるのは明らかです。なぜ、名前が入っていないのか。持ち主を存じ上げるからこそ思い描ける、刺し子をやっていてよかったなぁと思う瞬間です。日本人の当たり前、やっぱり大好きです。 ☆ #Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #MindfulStitching #SlowStitch #Animism #Spirit #Ordinary #InVisibleMeniding #Furoshiki #日本の日常 #刺し子 #日本人の刺し子 #風呂敷 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJRGELBJHrL/?igshid=1b3fh0ssmom1j

In my understanding, a majority of western people believe in monotheism such as Christianity. In Monotheism, there is only one God. God makes what is right. God forgive them. It is understandable that western people naturally expect to ask what is “Right”. It is ordinary. ☆ The Japanese who practiced Sashiko lived with Animism. They believed every single matter had spirit (God) in it. We call it eight millions of Gods, and that’s my belief in Sashiko too. Since everything has spirit, there is no such a thing as “Absolute Right”. Abundance (Ignorance) is probably the only unfortunate thing they could do. Sashiko was developed in the ordinary, and the ordinary people in Japan believed this Animism along with Buddhism. So, it is natural to have several - millions of “Right”. ☆ I understand that we all want the “answer” - what is “Right”. In Sashiko, there are many techniques & wisdom to make it better. However, there are no “rules”, just enrichment. Please doubt what you know when you learn in Sashiko. Please keep learning. Please listen to the (silent) voice. “No Right and Wrong” is not so easy because it is You who have to decide what is “true”. You decide what you want to pass down - not someone with loud voices. Therefore, along with my teaching, I share so many stories so I want you to understand what Sashiko is.   ☆ (I am not well-educated about western beliefs. If you think it is not correct, please drudge this post.) ☆ - - - ☆ 「刺し子には（絶対的な）正解はないですよ〜」と常日頃英語で刺し子をご紹介しているのですが、この「正解がない」という考え方そのものが、西洋文化の中では斬新なことのようで。「一神教＝神様が絶対的な正解」である文化では、やはり二元論というか、正解と間違い（正と悪）と線引をするのが自然なようです。だから、「正解がない」と言われると、「じゃ何でも良いんだ」となる。違うんです。「正解がないから考え続ける」のが日本の良いところ。何しても良いとはならない。そんな日本的な刺し子をやっぱり残したいと思うのです。 ☆ #Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #MindfulStitching #SlowStitch #Animism #Spirit #Ordinary #InVisibleMeniding #Mending #日本の日常 #刺し子 #日本人の刺し子 https://www.instagram.com/p/CHGBqAxJ6_d/?igshid=cq9wgd32muy8

My father often Sashiko stitched Heart Sutra. His back while stitching remained vividly in my memory - a needle on the Indigo fabric, a white smoke from a cigarette, and each character from Sutra. ☆ Sashiko existed in the ordinary. The ordinary has their “ordinary” stories, each region, each family, and each individual. We don’t understand how valuable the “ordinary” is until we actually lose it. So, I keep sharing, the Sashiko is a form of ordinary stitching in the Japanese culture. ☆ - - - ☆ 般若心経を見ると、父親の刺し子を思い出します。煙草の白煙で包まれた父親の机と、それほど必要のない判子の山と、何回目かわからない刺しかけの布と。命日の10月16日は、般若心経と正信偈と共に、亡き父親に思いを馳せようと思います。 ☆ それまでの当たり前が、当たり前ではなくなった日です。逆に言えば、それまで不可能だと思っていたことが、可能になった日でもあります。今の僕の幸せな日々を見て、親父はなんて言うのかな……なんて。きっと照れて、何も言わないんだろうけれど。 ☆ #Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #HeartSutra #MindfulStitching #SlowStitch #Animism #Spirit #Ordinary #Anniversary #InVisibleMeniding #Mending #日本の日常 #刺し子 #日本人の刺し子 https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXwlJ-pFlH/?igshid=1vwjp1jmz7xf9

SUSPENDED 1 Antique silk thread, cotton muslin and chalk. * * The suspension of the breath. The suspension of time. The impossibility of suspension. This red thread project is about impermanence. Particularly the fragility and impermanence of the human body. The stitching is a transcription of a breath drawing, similar to the one in my last post, one of a series of 30, that I began about a year and a half ago, but then had to abandon due to a health crisis. That project itself - suspended. My materials too explore impermanence and the breaking down of organic matter. The antique silk thread, nearly 100 years old, is so fine and soft it feels like human hair in your palm, and it's perishing even as I unspool it from its wooden reel. Cotton muslin, the fabric associated with the two ends of life, the mopping up of infiants, and of bodily fluids, the binding and cleansing of wounds, and the wrapping of the dead; the fabric so loosely woven it barely holds the thread, and is constantly on the point of fraying. And finally chalk, composed of the dead bodies of sea creatures billions of years old, and so soft that to rub a thumb against it is to make its shed like skin. Each stitch is a reminder that nothing will last. * * * #mindfulstitching #stitchingmeditation #sculpture #contemporaryart #slowstitching #slowstitch #redthread #redwork #imprrmanence #stitch #zen #fibreart #embroidery #textileart #contemporaryembroidery #handstitching #modernembroidery #contemporarycraft #slowcraft #stitching #stitchersofinstagram #markmaking #breath #drawing #fibreartistofinstagram #fibreartist #instaembroidery #embroideryart #embroiderersofinstagram #fineart https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzn1ZYSH5-f/?igshid=wd7cj0euwfu5

(Continued from Yesterday’s writing. I greatly appreciate many comments). ☆ No matter how much I wish to be someone else, I couldn’t. No matter what I tried to be good at, I wasn’t good enough. I tried. I believe I tried my best. However, I couldn’t be anyone. I couldn’t find anything to be good at. After all, no matter how deep I hated Sashiko, it was indeed part of who I am.  ☆ We can see many “positive” words. “Love yourself”, “Accept Who You Are”. They are all true. However, none of these “positivity” was helpful to me. “Acceptance of myself” is not something we can understand by logic, nor from a title or a belonging. It is from a moment of realization. For me, it was a moment of Sashiiko - in which I hated the most once, and realized it is who I am. ☆ Anyone has those moments of “being (remembering) who they is”. They may not like it, but it comes from memory, experience, and voices. I believe many people who enjoy Sashiko have a moment of “remembering” something - Sashiko enables them to talk to oneself. For me, the moment of thinking (caring) the memory and anyone in the memories are more important than the accurate stitches.  ☆ Have you ever tried to talk to the fabric? A piece of fabric with receiving a good amount of care communicates to us when we are ready to listen. And the fabric helps us to talk to ourselves. Boro is an ultimate result of this “conversation” - not technique. ☆ (I will stop here for now. I plan to continue this type of story on Patreon.) ☆ - - - ☆ 英語で刺し子を教えるようになって、「襤褸の技術を教えて下さい」という問い合わせが頻繁に届くようになりました。いつも丁寧に、「襤褸には技術等はないので、まずは刺し子を学んでくださいね」と返信するのですが、中には、「刺し子は興味ないんです。かっこいい補修をしたいんです」と返事がくる。そういう時代なんでしょうね。”A”という興味があり、そこに到達すべき手段”B”を提供することが成功とされる。「A→B→”満足”」という一直線のベクトルなんだろうと思います。襤褸は違うんだなぁ。というか日本人の本質が違うような気もする。刺し子好きな人ならわかるかも？「A→?↓?←?↑!→”うん。満足”」ってなるときありません？ ☆ #Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #MindfulStitching #SlowStitch #BoroArt #Spirit #Boro #JapaneseBoro #InVisibleMeniding #Mending #JapaneseCulture #襤褸 #日本の日常 #刺し子 #日本人の刺し子 https://www.instagram.com/p/CE6-YVhpD0O/?igshid=n8ep2186wuv1