Japanese Rice Bag
Slow stitch rice bag or komebukuro atop a quilt my mom made
Join the slow-stitch cult. Come on, its like slow food but not fattening!
One of my new interests is slow stitching. I have been following the fiber artist K3N Clothtales, aka Kathryn Chambers on youtube. She has the most amazing video tutorials and is also going through a personal transformation. She is very insightful and I’ve learned a lot from her.
One of the projects I’ve finished is her japanese rice bag which is done all by hand stitching, so no machine needed. This means a very portable project, so it was perfect for a week in Maine. She has a technique where she uses a cardboard template and wonky seam allowances to construct the bag.
I had leftover scraps of batting and linen so I used those to make my bag. I also have been wanting to dive into japanese sashiko, so it was a great chance for me to practice. I used each panel like a sampler to test out different sashiko patterns.
This bag is almost like making a box, it has an exterior and a lining. I used a 4 patch that was 3” per square (6” square each side) but with all of the hand stitching it shrunk the size a bit.
You can see where I used leftover batting scraps. I zigzagged stitched tiny pieces together to make a panel large enough for the sides. A great way to use up extra scraps of batting!
It looks messy but the knots and loose floss and thread are hidden by the lining.
Using the batting I had leftover from my quilt and the linen really makes a soft squishy bag, and the texture of the hand stitching is fabulous. Its just fun to squeeze!
For the lining I used this mysterious piece of blue dyed fabric that my mom gave me from her scrap pile. As a member of K3N’s facebook group I asked if anyone knew how this fabric was dyed, so many people had some great ideas.
I really want to dye more fabric like this! (I have ice dyed more cotton sheets and fabric, more to come on that later!)
Another fun project that is also useful. And as K3N says, its about the process not necessarily the finished product, but I am very happy with both!
