Modern Kogin

Discover the art of kogin, a style of traditional Japanese sashiko embroidery with modern appeal. Historically, kogin was used as a pattern darning technique to reinforce threadbare fabric and add warmth to the clothing worn by farmers in the villages of northern Japan.With dozens of beautiful and simple geometric patterns, kogin embroidery offers fresh inspiration and authentic technique to proponents of the decorative mending movement. Colourful photos offer step-by-step instruction for learning this simple counted thread embroidery technique. Beginners will discover how to prepare the thread and fabric, how to read kogin charts, and how to make the basic straight stitches that comprise kogin motifs.Once you’ve mastered the basics, try your hand at one of the 25 adorable and easy projects included in the book. Featuring bright and modern colour schemes, these accessories are designed for contemporary life. You’ll find an assortment of pretty brooches, barrettes and hair ties, pouches and coin purses, framed samplers, pincushions, and ornaments, plus potholders, coasters, and place mats for the home. Once you start stitching, we guarantee you won’t be able to stop!

An interesting read that teaches you how to start this style of embroidery and gives some sweet little projects to get you started. Overall a great book for beginners with clear instructions and diagrams., I had never heard of Kogin until I came across this book. Although this is an ancient technique the designs included in the book are bright, modern and stylish. It starts with a gallery of the items you can make and then you can skip to that section of the book, and they appear to get more complex as you go along. I am loving the button bobbles, I am thinking of making some to add to some upholstery in my bedroom, anyway I digress... The getting started section easily breaks down the tools and materials and eases you into starting wonderfully. Clear photos with concise text, I think this is perfect for a true beginner to embroidery. I think if you are familiar with cross stitch this could be a natural progression as you will be used to evenweave and linen fabrics. The charts look clear and easy to follow and the construction instructions are also concise and efficient. I do like how this book is simple and straight to the point, it would be welcoming to a beginner as it is a very user friendly book. I would have liked to learn a little more about the origins of this technique but that could be the geek in me., This is a great guide to a fresh and adaptable embroidery style that is suitable for beginners and established crafters alike. Based on traditional Japanese motifs, Sashiko embroidery can take on the look of Japanese, Scandinavian, European contemporary or many other decor trends, and this book gives examples of how you can incorporate that with your choice of colour or embellishment placement. The book starts with beautifully photographed projects, and all of them are small and simple - less intimidating than many other embroidery project books! The book then goes in to materials and techniques, and as you would expect from a Search Press book there are lots of clear photographs and diagrams to help explain everything. The book finishes with diagrams, charts and explanations of how to create the projects in the front of the book, and these would be easily adaptable to other things - I plan on using some of the charts to add an extra something to some face masks I have., I am fascinated by Sashiko embroidery and pattern darning in general so this book is ideal as it develops both those ideas. There are nearly 40 small projects to work through involving a variety of finished objects. Most of these are really small, like buttons and brooches, but there are also more involved projects like purses and a handbag. The projects give no indication of time required or skill level but the very clear pictures give an indication of the complexity involved. All the projects are clearly photographed at the front of the book and the instructions to make these projects are in a separate section at the back of the book. In between these two sections there is information on the tools and materials needed to produce the items included in the book. Each project also clearly states what is needed to make that item. As an introduction to an embroidery technique I thought this was well thought out with some very interesting projects that wouldn't take too long to finish and would help you develop your skills and interest level in this type of work. If you like working small projects this is a book I would recommend., Kogin is a style of Japanese sashiko embroidery with a geometric appearance. Simple and timeless, its clean lines and basic elegance is sure to appeal to modern tastes. You can use it to adorn so many things too, from tiny pins to pictures. It doesn’t take long to learn this straightforward but attractive type of embroidery, and there are plenty of smaller projects here that make up quickly. A lot of them are also of practical rather than decorative use, so you can make attractive buttons, hair ties, Christmas decorations, purses, bags and pincushions. Like all the books I have seen that originated in Japan this one follows a particular layout. At the front are photographs of all the projects, followed by the instructions and patterns. This means you get to whet your appetite by looking at many pages of colourful photographs. There is a short list of tools and materials, then a useful guide on how to prepare the thread and fabric, read the charts, work the stitches and get the tension right. The projects start simply with the smallest projects such as pins and hair ties, and progress through to the larger, more complex pieces. You don’t need to be an experienced embroiderer to tackle kogin work but some knowledge of making up projects and doing things like working with button kits, purse frames and zippers is a good idea. This is a lovely book suitable for anybody with a bit of stitching experience.

Boutique-Sha is a leading craft and lifestyle publisher in Japan, with hundreds of mooks (magazine-books) translated into English.