Tuesday, March 17, 2020

4 Leaf Clover Sashiko Mending Patches & St Patrick's Day Inspiration: Mending Ways, Story 12

4 Leaf Clover Sashiko Mending Patches & St Patrick's Day Inspiration:  Mending Ways, Story 12

This is my experiment of combining non traditional sashiko and St Patrick's Day!

Lazy daisy sashiko stitching is my usual fun way to stitch, but St Patrick's Day, I turned them into 4 leaf clovers.  I got the idea last June from a Street Mural I admire in Downtown Los Angeles, in a parking lot of Little Tokyo, which we call J-town or Japanese town.
Textile art patches, available here.  Photo via Mending Ways

I admit, my sashiko is very different than traditional sashiko, so I looked up the definition and I'm still within the sashiko boundaries!  Definition is from wikipedia:

Sashiko (Japanese: 刺し子, literally "little stabs" or "little pierce") is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery) from Japan that started out of practical need during the Edo era (1615-1868).

In the top two pieces, especially the first one, you can see how I experimented with random, yet repetitive four leaf clover sashiko.  The first two I used colors from the Ireland flag, green and/or orange.  And of course, the 4 leaf clover to add the luck o' the Irish!


I would love to make a whole piece with all connecting 4 leaf clover sashiko, but the kasuri indigo blue piece is so lovely with the hand woven white threads in it, I just couldn't bear to cover it up.
Textile art patches, available here.  Photo via Mending Ways

 This close up show how I attempted to connect different sized 4 leaf clover sashiko to make a random pattern.  I really like this and want to to stitch more!

By the second piece, I reminded myself that this was supposed to be a St Patrick's Day piece, so I added a little pinch proof green!


 I would say this is as far as I got for St Patrick's Day inspiration! 
Textile art patches, available here.  Photo via Mending Ways


It wasn't easy for me to keep the four leaf clovers all the same length!   All the patches are made free style without any patterns or anything.  I use to try using pencil to make even sashiko stitches, but it seems whatever I have planned gives way to the needle which insists on it's own journey!
I almost forgot, the street mural that gave me the idea to start lazy daisy and 4 leaf clover sashiko! You might have seen this before because I use it a lot for inspiration!
 Next time I go to J-town, I'll take a photo of the artist's name.  I originally was attracted to the sun because I think it would make the cutest patch and as I looked closer at all the details in this art, there is so much to try it and started with the easiest for me, the lazy daisy type stitching that can hold some other small scraps down onto a background.

How are you inspired this St Patrick's day?  Corn beef and cabbage soup does the trick for me, which my mom would make every St Paddy's day since childhood!  But creatively, it was very fun to try out these 4 leaf clover sashiko in green to celebrate the day when everyone is Irish! 

Happy St Patrick's Day!  How did you pinch proof yourself today?

Thank you for visiting my Hoarder Rehab and The Destiny of Things!

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