If you’ve participated in one of our Making Zen retreats, then you’re probably aware of how much we value community - coming together to try new things, share our works, and learn. We even have our own special Facebook group dedicated to building that community!
We love to see people posting in that group, and thought that, since we are between Making Zen retreats, we would get a little something else going to keep you stitching in the meantime. Introducing: the Mystery Stitch Along 2022.
What is a Mystery Stitch Along?
We have a sashiko piece all planned out for you to stitch! Below, you’ll find a list of materials, including the dimensions of the fabric that you’ll need and sashiko thread colours that we recommend. The catch is - you don’t know what the pattern is!
Every Monday in August, we’re going to release a new clue for you. The clue will indicate which Sashiko stitch to use, and where on your fabric you should use it! We encourage you to add your own unique touch to these pieces - one of the fun things about Making Zen is seeing how people can come up with different things using the same instruction! Follow your intuition and make it yours.
The Rules
We want to make sure that this is a fun experience for everyone! Questions are welcome, but we do ask that you please hold off on posting your photos from one week’s clues until the next clue is received. For example, please wait to post your photos from the August 1 clue until the clue for August 8 is posted!
Once the next clue is posted, we encourage you to share your work from the previous week! This challenge is all about sharing and getting feedback from each other. To keep you motivated to post your progress, we’re going to give away three big prizes at the end of the challenge to people who have posted each week!
We also encourage you to share your work on social media! Use the hashtags #ZenStitchAlong and #MysteryStitchAlong so we can find and re-share your work.
What You’ll Need
Here are the materials you’ll need for this project:
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A neutral coloured fabric for your stitching. You can use what you have on hand, but keep in mind that fabrics with a looser weave are easier to stitch through! You’ll want the dimensions of your fabric to be about 20” tall by 14” wide (51cm x 31.5cm), or something you can scale accordingly!
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Five colours of sashiko thread. We recommend:
- Blue
- Green
- A brown, red, black, or gray
- Another brown, red, black, or gray (preferably not the same as the other)
- A non-neutral colour of your choosing (preferably not the same as one of your above colours)
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Scissors.
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A pencil or washable pen.
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A Sashiko needle.
The Prizes
At the end of the challenge, we’ll be giving away three prizes to people who have posted their progress in the Making Zen Facebook community each week. The winners will be selected by random draw and will be announced in the Making Zen community!
Prize one will be Zen Stitching’s Introduction to Sashiko course.
Prize two will be entry into Zen Stitching’s 2022 Sashiko Stitch Club.
Prize three will be the coveted Sashiko Masterclass!
Remember, your stitches don’t have to be perfect for you to be entered into the draw - we’re here to encourage sharing, learning from each other, and growing! You can enter this challenge as an absolute beginner and have as much chance as someone with years of experience, as long as you’re willing to participate in the community.
How to Join
All you have to do to be part of this challenge is head over to our Facebook group and keep an eye out for the clues - we’ll start releasing them on Monday, August 1! If you are not accepted into the group right away, don’t panic - we usually accept requests in batches around 6-7am Atlantic time each day, Monday through Friday!
