Lauren's Portfolio

December 11, 2021

Fabric, thread

3.5′ x 2′

This was the piece that really launched me into my embroidery obsession. My professor taught us this Japanese patchwork technique called ‘sashiko’. It became popular among lower class citizens as a way to patch up their clothes in an artistic way, and eventually when it became popular enough the upper class started to copy them and made it somewhat a sign of status. I fell in love with this project, losing track of time while listening to audio books and sewing for hours in the classroom or in my bed. I would drop into a state where I wouldn’t move from my position for hours and the people flowed around me without me noticing me. Even years and many embroidery projects later I have yet to reenter that state.

The base of this piece is a Kikoi cloth, a style of fabric native to Kenya and I centered my best friend’s face onto the middle, then surrounded it with fabrics of different textures and colors, sewing it with as many different techniques as I could learn.I’ve been working on a much smaller scale since then, usually 4″x4″ or 6″x6″, so it would be fun to try something bigger sometime.

Another thing that I like about patchwork embroidery is that my style isn’t expensive. I tend to use leftover scraps of fabric from surrounding peoples’ unwanted clothes, blankets, and leftover fabric, so I usually only have to by the thread and sewing tools, which tend to last for a while.