The ancient Japanese art of sashiko—using a running stitch to mend and embellish fabric—is the perfect way to fix worn clothes, breathe new life into old favorites, and give all manner of projects a super cool aesthetic, as this new book, Make + Mend (out August 21) proves. With easy to follow, step-by-step instructions, author Jessica Marquez offers up sashiko-inspired items for making (a quilted clutch; patchwork table linens; a shibori bandana, pictured), as well as ways to mend (pattern darning, patching jeans, altering hems). Learning sashiko will benefit you well beyond the book’s 15 projects—it’s one small stitch for woman, one giant leap for design.
By Lisa Butterworth
Photograph copyright © 2018 by Erin Scott; Make + Mend, by Jessica Marquez (Watson-Guptill Publications, 2018)
This article originally appeared in the August/September 2018 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
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