Last summer I played around with sashiko stitching. I made a couple of tote bags out of upcycled denim and found the sashiko very relaxing to do.

At the time, I ordered some proper thread from Wawak (.com if you’re in the US, .ca if you’re in Canada) but then other projects came and went and I didn’t get around to using it.

Now the planets have aligned – I have the vest pattern, I have a piece of navy blue linen, I have the stash of old jeans, and even an old shirt.

I cut the back and two fronts out of the linen, making the pieces at least an inch bigger all around in case of shrinkage.

Then I went through my pile of jeans and jeans parts and cut usable chunks of denim.

Then I laid them on the linen pieces, overlapping them until I was happy. I pinned them and then added pieces of my old shirt.

After trimming a bit in places where the denim overlapped the linen, I started my stitching. I’m using proper sashiko thread and needles and so far I’ve done three lines of stitches on each piece. I thought it would be better to work on them concurrently, that way I can distribute the thread I have. I may well order some more as I only bought seven 20 metre hanks.

The thimble and the small piece of non-slip vinyl are crucial for pushing and pulling the needle through the layers.

I was amused by the view from my sewing room window. It’s in the basement and the snow has piled up and is obscuring almost half of my view.

So that’s three WIPs for the new year. That should keep me busy.