Simple Sashiko Projects
Some days you want to enjoy the peace of sewing without a lot of thinking. Ambitious projects, new techniques, and stretching your creative muscles all have their place, but so do simple projects. These elegant placemats, napkins, and coasters are wonderful examples of the beauty of simplicity.
Whether for yourself, or a quick gift, it's the fabric that makes these projects shine! The placemats below are constructed from two colors of French Sashiko for Moda (one for each side). The fabric is a heavier cotton with contrasting sashiko stitching. The texture is so lovely!
This set of placemats couldn't be any easier. Mats are simply two 18 1/2" x 14 1/2" rectangles sewn right sides together and turned. Push out the corners with a chopstick or turning tool (don't forget to clip corners before turning), then press and hand stitch the opening closed. Last, top stitch around the mat one inch in from the edge. You are finished!
For our mats we used two different fabrics, once for each side. The blue side is French Sashiko in Indigo and the cream side is French Sashiko in Pearl Indigo. We have two other colors of this fabric with the added stitching and three solids (Indigo, Oyster, & Pearl). The solids would be wonderful to add your own stitching to or to use as backing if you don't want reversible mats and/or coasters.
The napkins are made from the fabric Ebb & Flow in Pearl Ocean, using our Placemat & Napkin Pattern by Valori Wells. The simple stripes look fantastic with the stitching in the placemats, and really make the set feel pulled together.
The reversible coasters above are made with two 4 ½” squares and constructed in the same manner as the placemat. They would look great on any coffee table and are so fast to make. With a half yard of each fabric and an hour or two, you can make 18 coasters! Keep them on hand for the next time you need a gift or want to brighten a friends day.
Our final project, the grey and cream placemat shown above, is made from another textural woven fabric collection called Boro Foundations from Moda. We followed the Placemat & Napkin sewing card pattern by Valori Wells to make the mat. The black and grey combo looks crisp and modern, while the pattern and texture of the fabrics soften the look and make it something special.
If you're interested in making these projects or your own with these special fabrics, you can find the French Sashiko collection here and the Boro Foundations collection here. The Placemat & Napkin pattern is available in PDF or printed versions.
Happy Sewing!
