The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook. Susan Briscoe
and some card or template plastic (available from quilting shops). Old thread spools and even coins are useful for smaller circle templates. Don’t forget all the large circle templates that are ‘free’ with food packaging! An oval template is necessary for only one pattern in this book, tatewaku (rising steam), and this is provided on page 70 for you to trace. You can buy oval template stencils at some art shops.
Imperial or metric?
Patterns can be drawn in imperial or metric measurements. I used imperial for my samples, as many quilters worldwide use this system. An imperial–metric conversion formula is given below, with some common conversions listed, right, (metric adjusted to nearest mm). Metric equivalents are given for the projects on pages 26–57.
To convert inches to centimetres:
multiply measurement in inches by 2.54, e.g. 2in x 2.54 = 5.08cm
To convert centimetres to inches:
multiply measurement in centimetres by 0.394, e.g. 5cm x 0.394 = 1.97in
Because a fraction of a patchwork seam is taken up by the thickness of the stitched line, it is adequate to round measurements up or down to the nearest millimetre when cutting out fabric pieces.
Neither measurement system is 100 per cent traditional in Japan – you would have to mark using the ancient sun and shaku (Japanese feet and inches). It would be difficult to mark in traditional proportions, as one sun is made up of ten bu and equals 1.193in (3.03cm) and ten sun make one shaku, 11.93in (30.3cm)! These measures were standardized in 1891 and Japan officially converted to metric in 1959. However, some traditional fabric shops and kimono makers still use them.
| 1⁄8in | (0.125in) | = 3mm |
| 1⁄4in | (0.25in) | = 6mm |
| 3⁄8in | (0.375in) | = 1cm |
| 1⁄2in | (0.5in) | = 1.3cm |
| 3⁄4in | (0.75in) | = 1.9cm |
| 7⁄8in | (0.875in) | = 2cm |
| 1in | = 2.5cm | |
| 11⁄4in | (1.25in) | = 3.2cm |
| 11⁄2in | (1.5in) | = 3.8cm |
| 13⁄4in | (1.75in) | = 4.4cm |
| 2in | = 5.1 cm | |
| 21⁄2in | (2.5in) | = 6.4cm |
| 3in | = 7.6cm | |
| 31⁄2in | (3.5in) | = 8.9cm |
| 4in | = 10.2cm | |
| 5in | = 12.7cm | |
| 6in | = 15.2cm | |
| 12in | = 30.5cm | |
| 1 yard | (36in) | = 91.44cm |
| 1 metre | = 39.4in |
Varying the grids
Many moyōzashi designs are based on a square grid while others require a diagonal or triangular grid (see diagram below left). If you look closely at many traditional Japanese designs with diamonds, hexagons or triangles, you will see that they are not drawn on a true isometric 60-degree grid – the diamonds look slightly wide, the hexagons a little squashed and the triangles are not truly equilateral. To keep this look, start with a rectangular grid on a 2:1 ratio and fill in with diagonal lines (below centre). If you want an isometric grid, perhaps to integrate your sashiko with patchwork hexagons and stars, use isometric graph paper, the 60-degree angle on a quilter’s ruler or a 60⁄30-degree set square to create the grid (below right). There is only one pattern in this book that requires a true isometric grid – maru bishamon (circular bishamon, page 65).
Distorting patterns
Grids are also the key to stretching patterns vertically or slanting them horizontally to give them a different look. Various moyōzashi patterns can be treated this way, as shown by some of the examples illustrated below. Compare asanoha (hemp leaf, page 72) with kawari asanoha (hemp leaf variation, page 73): the basic grid for the first pattern is on a rectangular 1:2 ratio; the second is on a square grid, with the rest of the pattern marked the same way as the basic pattern but following the square grid.
Jūjitsunagi (linked ‘10’ crosses, page 75) becomes nanamehōgan tsunagi (diagonal linked crosses, page 75) when the same pattern is stitched on a diagonal grid rather than a square one. The two versions of sayagata (saya brocade pattern, page 90) are treated the same way.
I gave higaki (cypress fence, page 77) this treatment when I used it inside a matsukawabishi (pine bark diamond, page 84) outline on the door curtain project on page 44, so the pattern harmonized with the outline shape.
It’s all about using the patterns in your design. For example, shippō tsunagi (linked seven treasures, page 64) could be elongated into elegant ovals. The framed sashiko