The stencils look quite nice and useful. However, your point about the thread was interesting. From the photo, which is a little blurry, it looks like the thread supplied is by a Japanese company called Yokota – it will be written on the back of the label as 横田 and you will also see a USA cotton mark on it. They make a fine thread and a medium one – the fine one has a burgundy and gold label and the medium one has the blue and gold label, which is the one in the kit. This thread is NOT supposed to be split and should actually be used doubled for traditional sashiko (i.e. one thread but you bring the ends together and each stitch has both strands in it).

To use medium sashiko thread, you really need fabric with a much lower thread count than the cotton supplied, which looks like a patchwork cotton. If the weave is too tight/high thread count, it will be very difficult to get the thread through the fabric. If they had supplied fine sashiko thread, you would have been able to get it through the finer fabric without any problems or needing to split it. They haven’t matched the thread to the fabric properly.

The needles in the kit are not sashiko needles. There is a difference between embroidery crewels and sashiko needles – the crewels can bend quite easily and sashiko needles are hard tempered so they don’t bend and super sharp. The stitching action for sashiko (which you can see demonstrated in the video link on my homepage http://www.susanbriscoe.com, which shows the two x one hour sashiko lessons I did on Sewing Quarter last year) involves pleating the fabric onto the tip of the needle and then easing out the gathered fabric, which helps regulate the stitch length and keeps the twinned strand of thread under control.

The marker is fine for sashiko but really you only need a white or yellow marker for the dark fabric, so they are including a lot more colours than you actually need in the kit – selling you more than you really need.

My verdict – nice stencils, kit seems to need better instructions, £39.99 is a lot for what you are getting. You can buy a 40m skein of medium sashiko thread for £2.50 or less, a packet of Olympus or Clover sashiko needles for around £2 and £5 respectively, and half a metre of fabric for sashiko from £6 – £8. So even on the high side, that’s around £15 for materials. A Clover White Marking Pen costs around £8 (this is the roller ball one that irons off or washes out) and other markers are a similar price. That adds up to the stencil and instructions being worth around £17, which seems high.

Great review. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing these wholecloth quilts to life.I hadn’t realised the traditions behind them, but they always take my breath away. I mainly hand stitch and quilt, so perhaps I need to put one of these on the ‘to do’ list. Thanks again

Never seen on ‘in the flesh’, but they are amazing.

I enjoyed this article so much and hope to make a wholecloth quilt myself some day. Thanks/

I started a wholecloth quilt quite a few years ago, this is a ‘work in progress’. I just love reading anything connected with wholecloths and their history

Loved reading this blog giving the history to these fabulous quilts. Very informative, thank you Carolyn.

Was able to see whole cloth quilts at the NEC, they were a wonder and something I’d like to do in the future

Gorgeous.

I so enjoy these challenges Miriam, I hope you get lots of exciting photos pf African quilts from around the world.

I may have asked for pre-wound bobbins for Christmas and birthdays… You can get them in packs of 25+!

I’m so delighted, thank you so much and such a treat after knee surgery 2 days ago , this will certainly keep me busy whilst I’m off work recuperating

Well done Frances x

Haha, I have been doing this sort of ‘darning’ and mending of my OH and childrens’, and grandchildrens’, jeans for the past 30 years or so and never knew it had a name! Thank you again for another eye opener!!!!!

Denise I love Boro and all it means and stands for. My first attempt was last month and I really enjoyed doing it. Look forward to reading more,