Sashiko Stitch Pockets
A true trash to treasure project that utilizes watercolor, assorted waste papers and a white gel pen to create these trendy sashiko style pockets for journals. Make envelopes or other paper projects if desired and as a bonus you’ll get extra painty papers that match!
What is sashiko?
Sashiko (little stabs‘) is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Some crafters term this ‘ decorative mending’ slow stitching.
You’ll just need the white ply of separated napkins, some book pages, watercolor paints, a gluestick, a white gel pen and scissors or a trimmer. Use a round paper punch to make your notch if you have one. If not just cut a small triangle in the front top of your pocket.
Begin by making your painty napkin papers. Lie your single napkin ply on a sheet of white paper or book page and paint patterns or simple washes. Allow to dry naturally and the paint will seep onto your second sheet giving you a bonus painty paper that matches your napkin.
Once your napkin pieces are dry you can begin assembly as shown in the video tutorial. Make a patchwork type pattern on your pocket. Use extra scraps of assorted design napkins to add more decorative touches to your composition.
Once your pieces are glued and assembled into a pocket you can fill the notch with more paper scraps.
Use your white gel pen or a stitch stamp to create faux stitches on your pocket, use slow stitch examples as a guide or follow your patchwork pattern. Try a gold or silver pen for stitches. If you have faux stitch ink stamps you can use any color ink to stamp your stitches. You might want to choose waterproof archival ink.
These beautiful mixed media style napkin papers can be used as collage fodder to create myriads of paper craft projects and would make a beautiful addition to any style of project. Great for summer too, go outside and paint a bunch!
Happy paper crafting!
