Reversible Sashiko Placemats
Have you ever noticed when you learn about something new and then all of a sudden, it’s everywhere? For example, a few months ago I saw a very cool picture on my mother’s Pinterest page. It showed a detail of Sashiko-style embroidery forming little crosses on one side and dashed grid lines on the reverse. A few days later Laura showed me a picture of a quilt with the same stitching on it, and then a week after that, I was in a baby store and wouldn’t you know it, a very similar quilt was on display there as well! The universe was trying to tell me something.
And so with Thanksgiving right around the corner, I got really excited to make a set of Sashiko Placemats using this technique. The process of Sashiko stitching is soothing and repetitive, kind of like a simple knitting project. Once you get started it’s hard to put down! The fun and beauty of this particular stitch is that its result is so unexpected, a totally reversible graphic pattern!
For a beautifully understated and elegant look, I used Kiyohara Linen Blend Solid in Brown for the base and soft off-white Sashiko Thread for the stitching. The finished placemats are so graceful and pretty, perfect for a Thanksgiving feast!
Materials
To make a set of four placemats, you’ll need…
- 2 1/2 yards of Kiyohara Linen Blend Solid in Brown, or other midweight woven linen fabric, like Purl Soho’s Daily Linen
- Quilter’s Dream’s Cotton Batting, Craft size, Mid loft
- A 110-yard spool of Gutermann’s Cotton Sewing Thread in color 3630
- 4 packages of Olympus’s Sashiko Thread, 20 meters in Off White
- A hera marker
- Tailor’s chalk
- A Sashiko needle
- A 25mm bias tape maker
- Curved safety pins
If you’d like to make a different number of placemats, you will get 1 mat per 1/2 yard of of fabric and 1 mats per package of Sashiko Thread.
Size
Finished Dimensions: 17 3/4 x 14 inches
Pattern
Cut and Mark
For each placemat cut:
- From the fabric- Two rectangles 19 3/4 x 16 inches
- From the fabric- Two binding strips 2 X 42 inches. Put these strips aside until the “Binding” section.
- From the batting- One rectangle 19 3/4 X 16 inches
On one of the fabric rectangles use the chalk to mark two lines 1 inch and 1 1/4 inches in from each raw edge. The inside marking is your stitching border and the outer marking is the placemat edge. This marked piece is the top.
Using the hera marker mark a vertical line on the top every 3/4-inches between the left and right stitching borders.
Then, between the top and bottom stitching border, mark a horizontal line every 3/4-inch to create a grid.
Make a little chalk mark at every intersection of the grid. These are your stitch marks.
Baste
Lay the second, unmarked rectangle of fabric on a flat surface and make sure it’s very smooth and unwrinkled. Place the batting on top of and smooth it down. Then lay the top, marked side up, on top of the first two layers.
Pin the three layers together every few inches with curved safety pins keeping the layers as flat as possible as you pin.
This is your quilt sandwich. You’ll be sewing the three layers together with the stitching.
Stitch
You will stitch along the vertical and horizontal lines taking stitches at each intersection.
Using the Sashiko needle and thread start at the back side of quilt sandwich and exit just before the stitching border at the bottom of the left most vertical mark. Take a small running stitch, about 3/8 inches long at the stitching mark, and then exit again just before the next stitch mark. Take another small running stitch at the stitch mark.
Stitch along the entire marked line taking small running stitches at each stitch mark. You can accordion the quilt sandwich onto the needle to take many stitches at one time. It’s fun to get into a rhythm with it.
Pull the thread through the stitches and make sure the fabric isn’t puckering as you go.
Take out the safety pins as you get to them.
When you get to the end of each line of stitching, sew along the stitching border to the next marked line and start again. Begin and end the lengths of thread just inside the stitching border. In other words, don’t tie a knot in the middle of a row of stitching, only at the beginnings and ends. Tie all knots on the back side.
Sew across all of the vertical markings in this manner. The picture above shows the front.
The back of the piece will look like the picture above, with longer wider stitches.
Next, sew across all of the horizontal lines in the same manner to make little crosses as shown above.
When you have stitched over every vertical and horizontal line the front will look like this.
And the back will look like this, with a pattern of dashes.
Bind
Cut the three layers of the quilt sandwich along the placemat edge marking, 1/4 inch outside of the stitching border.
Pin the two binding strips together at one end at a 90-degree angle, as shown above. Mark a diagonal line from the top left corner of the top strip to the bottom right corner of the bottom strip, forming a little right triangle at the upper right corner.
Sew the pieces together along this marking and trim the little triangle off 1/4 inch above the seam.
Press the strip flat with the seam allowance towards one side.
Iron the strip into binding tape using the bias tape maker.
Pin the binding tape around all four edges of the placemat, encasing its raw edges. Leave a 3-inch tail at the beginning and end and a 3-inch un-pinned gap between the tails. Make sure to encase all of the knots at the stitching border on the wrong side within the tape.
When you get to a corner create a miter by folding the tape up the next raw edge and creating a 45-degree angle at the corner with the tape as shown above.
Then fold the tape back over on itself to create a neatly mitered corner as shown above. Pin the miter in place and make sure to arrange the back side of the tape in the same manner and pin it in place as well.
Edgestitch the binding tape around all four sides, making sure that you catch both sides of the tape. Backstitch at the beginning and end of this seam.
Lay the un-sewn tails over the 3-inch gap until they meet one another. On the wrong side of the tape mark where the two pieces meet.
Fold the placemat so that you can pin the two pieces of tape right sides together along the markings.
Sew the two sides together along the markings and cut off the excess.
Pin the newly sewn section over the gap, making sure that the seam allowance is tucked inside.
Edgestitch over this section, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam and you’re all done!
Here is the back!
Update 2024: You can explore our current collection of beautiful fabrics and supplies on our page of Sewing Tools + Notions!
This is fantastic tutorial! Thank you again for sharing~
Congratulations !! Really nice
Very nice and very doable. thanks for the great tutorial.
Is there a way I can print this tutorial in a condensed format? My system says it will print out to 63 pages and that's a bit silly.
Thanks,
Hi Judy-
Unfortunately we don't have a super simple way to print our journals. What we recommend is that you copy and paste the sections you'd like to print into a Word or Text document. We know that this isn't ideal and hope to address this issue in the future.
Thank you!
Molly
Lovely project! Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial! These would be a perfect gift for my sister-in-law for Christmas. I like to include laundering instructions with all my handmade gifts. Would you recommend hand laundering and air drying flat, or do you think dry cleaning would be preferable. I'm concerned about the sashiko thread shrinking since it's cotton. I've done sashiko embroidery before but never on something that needed to be washed.
Hi Lynne-
Thank you for your great question. They can be machine washed. We recommend pre-washing the fabric for anything that you'll be washing later. If you do that these should shrink very minimally and just need to be pressed flat after drying,
Thanks!
Molly
These are lovely. Pottery Barn used to carry a quilt that was stitched this way; they called it a cross-stitch quilt, and I tried in vain to find out something about the technique. This is it–Sashiko! Can't wait to try it. Thank you for the project.
So beautiful! Love the simplicity and the neutral gray tones.
I have done a lot of sashiko, but the items I've found (usually kits) are never as useful or as detailed as these wonderful place mats. Nice work!
do you sell kits for this lovely project?
Hi Val-
We don't sell kits for this project but you can buy all the materials by clicking on the items listed in the materials section. Or if you'd prefer to shop by phone you can call our webstore at 800-597-PURL and they will be happy to get all the supplies together for you.
Thank you so much for writing in!
Molly
Lovely, simple and desirable. I want to make these. I found a tutorial for how to handle the Sashiko thread after opening the package here:
http://www.designbyaika.com/sashiko-tutorials/handling-sashiko-threads/
Thank you for your tutorial. Your detailed photos are great and make the project seem oh so do-able.
Peggy Mowry
Hi there!
I will be making these for my daughter in New York and wonder how much cotton batting to buy to make the 4 placemats, please. We have both been admiring these placemats for some time, and now is the time to act!
Thanks for the wonderful ideas and raw materials.
Andrea
whoops
never mind about the amount of batting – your list is clear and at your website I can see just what I need to order.
Andrea
Molly & Judy: I recommend printfriendly.com a site that offers a number of browser specific buttons to print out Purlbee & other webcontent.
This would make a great workshop at Purl.
Do you or will you sell a set of these placemats? I have been looking all over for some simple quilted placemats. Please let me know if you will make a set for me. Thanks you!!!
Hi Katie-
We don't sell any of our finished projects, just the materials to make them. If you're interested in having some of these sewn for you our store might be able to help you to find a seamstress. You could give them a call at 212-420-8796
Thanks!
Molly
I've been admiring these and (finally) as a housewarming gift. A comment: I have found the bias strip trickier to sew on than I expected. (Give the "up close" nature of placemats the stitching needs to be good!) I recommend basting by hand and then following up with machine stitching, as above.)
If anyone has alternate suggestions, pls relay. I'm not finished so am interested in more efficient approaches.)
This project really inspires me so simple yet so effective. I have been stitch Sashiko for about two years now and find it so relaxing. My less favorite part is tracing the pattern on the material but with a little patience and the right tools it all comes together. Looking forward to doing this project soon. Thank you for taking the time to document it and inspire us all. Regards.
Not only a beautiful job but an excellent tutorial. You’re a gifted teacher and crafter. Well done! I’m a quilter – and so totally doing this when I get back to Indonesia. Thanks.
Hi, love this tutorial. I’ve been practicing a few different sashiko samples and I find it so relaxing! I was wondering if this method would work as a quilt? Using the same steps, but on a much larger scale? I’ve never made a quilt before, I’m not keen on patchwork and thought this might work for a simple, consistent pattern?
Hi Hannah-
Yes, this would work and it would be really beautiful!
Please let us know if you have any more questions!
M
Thank you for the tutorial – beautiful placemats. The batting link takes me to “Select/mid-loft” – is this the correct loft for this project or did you use “Request”, the thinnest loft? Thank you.
Hi Pamela-
This does use the Select loft. But if you prefer to do it with Request that is fine too!
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
These are beautiful and I would love to make them. My question is, are they washable and can they be put in the dryer without quickly ruining them? My mother made me lovely linen placemats. but they can’t be put in the dryer and as a result I hardly ever use them!
Hi Leanne-
Yes, if you wash and dry the fabric (but not the batting or thread) before you sew these they should be machine wash and dryable when they are done. You may want to dry them separately or in a delicates bag so that the stitching doesn’t get caught on anything but other than that they should be fine.
Thanks!
Molly
It’s very pretty.
I’ve done a few pieces of sashiko and boro so my question is : since you’re stitching through both layers how to do you hide the knot when you change thread? Sashiko thread is pretty thick so a knot would be hard to pull through that fabric
Hi Serafina,
Thanks for writing in and for your kind words! For these placemats, the knots are hidden under the edging. You will begin and end the lengths of thread just inside the stitching border. In other words, don’t tie a knot in the middle of a row of stitching, only at the beginnings and ends. Tie all knots on the back side. Then, when you stitch on the borders, all of the knots will be hidden inside of those pieces.
I hope that this clarifies things and happy stitching!
Cassy
Have been doing Sashiko for 10 yrs now and love it! It’s a portable craft which is a calming aura ! Would love to see more of this!Thank you for the pattern!
This is just what I wanted to make for my place mat, thank you! But I have some basic question. When you cut off the stripes for the binding tape, will you have four stripes and sew each corners and make one stripe? And also how long are those each stripes before making them into one stripe?
Hi Megumi,
Thanks for writing in! For the binding you will be cutting 2 stripes that are 2 X 42 inches. They will be sew together in the fashion described in the binding section above. You will sew them into one stripe and then, using a bias tape maker, fold and iron the stripe before sewing it onto the placemat!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I’m thinking of adding this in an abstract pattern on a jacket I’m making==will make for many eye-catching comments for sure! Thanks for the great tutorial!
Can’t wait to get started. Can I use a spray basting adhesive instead of safety pins?
Hi Diane,
Thanks for the question. I don’t see why not! I’ve never used one before but I’m sure it will be fine.
Adam
I want to make 6 placements. How much batting should I order. Also, when will you get more chalk, needle and off white thread?
Hi Trinh,
Thanks for writing in! For making 6 placemats, you should purchase the Crib size batting (60×46 inches) and this will allow you to cut 6 pieces of batting that are 20×16 inches. While we do not have an ETA on the items, we do receive these regularly and you can sign up to be notified when they are back in stock by entering your email address in the box below “Let me know when this is back in stock!”
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Thanks for your reply. Is the stock on line the same as in the store?
Hi Trinh,
Thanks for writing back! For the most part we have the same items in the store that we have online. There are a few exceptions (mainly sale items are only available online). Please note that the inventory listed on line is for the website and not the store. The store or the website may run out of something when the other has it. If you would like to be sure that the store has an item in stock at the moment, please do feel free to call (212) 420-8796 during our business hours (Monday-Friday, 12-7pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12-6pm).
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Would Essex work for this project?
Hi Trinh,
Thanks for writing in! Essex would certainly work well for these lovely placemats!
Best,
Cassy
All my materials arrived for this project. Should I run the Essex through a cold wash before I start?
Hi Trinh,
Thanks for writing in! We recommend pre-washing the fabric for anything that you’ll be washing later. If you do that these should shrink very minimally and just need to be pressed flat after drying.
Best,
Cassy
Thanks for the pattern, love the placemats. One slight change needed…cut size should be 19 3/4 x 16 to make the 3/4” markings come out evenly on the long side. If you cut 20” as specified and mark line 1 1/4” on each side, you are left with 17.5 “ which is not divisible by 3/4 (.75)”, you end up with extra 1/4”. Cutting 19.75 width leaves you with 17.25 after the 1.25 marking each side and that is evenly divisible by .75.
Hi Karen,
Thank you for reaching out and apologies for the delayed response! You are absolutely correct and we have corrected the pattern to reflect the correct measurements!
Thank you again!
Cassy
Hi there, love this design, just wen to try and buy some of the fabric but I only see a pink one when I press the link ?
will you be getting anymore in ?
Hi Rosy,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, the Kiyohara Linen Blend Solids have been discontinued so we will not be able to restock them. I think Essex Yarn Dyed would be an excellent substitute and comes in a nice range of colors!
Best of luck and happy stitching!
Julianna
I have been thinking about making these for years. I would probably use the Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax or if you suggest, the Daily Linen in Flax. I would like to know which one you prefer. Also since it is a lighter color, what color embroidery thread you you suggest for the sashiko? Probably something darker that would contrast? I would like to start on this ASAP, so a prompt reply would be greatly appreciated. I called the store, but they said to ask this way. Thanks, Lauren
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for reaching out! I think you could use either Essex Yarn Dyed or Daily Linen for these placemats – both are lovely fabrics to work embroidery on and we use both equally our embroidery kits. Essex Yarn Dyed is a bit more stable and easier to work with if you aren’t an experienced quilter, but Daily Linen is fairly stable for a 100% linen fabric, so it will just require a little more patience with squaring up and pinning. Navy thread would be very traditional and stand out nicely against a lighter color fabric, but you could use any medium to dark colored thread, such as Black, Brown, Cobalt Blue, or Rose Red, and still have a nice contrast between the background at the embroidery.
I hope that helps, and happy stitching!
Julianna
What is the difference between Sashiko thread and pearl cotton thread? Can they be used interchangeable? Likewise, can a tapestry needle be used instead of a Sashiko needle?
Hi Sue,
Great question! Sashiko thread and pearl cotton are about the same weight, so they can be substituted for one another, but pearl cotton has a much shinier finish and a tighter twist than sashiko thread. It is quite lovely, but would look different from traditional sashiko embroidery! Sashiko needles are usually longer and more rigid than tapestry needles so that you can load many stitches onto the needle at once and then push the needle through the bunched up fabric easily. You could use a tapestry needle to get started, but if you really get into sashiko, you will probably find that the longer needle helps you finish your embroidery faster!
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Thanks for this great tutorial! Looking forward to making these for Thanksgiving this year. My question is: Should the “binding strips” be cut on the bias? I’m trying to figure out how I’d manage that within the fabric requirements. I’ve only made bias binding for garment sewing, not for quilting, and not sure how important grain is here.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for reaching out. These are on-the-grain binding strips, so you do not need to cut them on the bias at all!
All the best,
Lili
Thank you!