Sacred Stitch: Sashiko Symbols for Healing and Protection
This is a 5-Hour Class Offered ONCE on Thursday & ONCE on Friday
Rachel Barclay
Stitcher, Mender, Teacher, Patcher, Sewist, Day-Tripper About Rachel: Rachel Barclay studied Textiles, Installation Sculpture, Printmaking, and Elementary Education in San Francisco and Long Beach, California. Throughout her journey as a creator, educator, and parent, she has focused on making functional sewn and embellished garments, and mixed media textile objects. After learning Sashiko and Visible Mending with Jessica Marquez of Miniature Rhino, Rachel embraced the hand-work practice as an act of mindfulness, empowerment, beauty, and sustainability. She continues to learn and study online with Kazue Yoshikawa of Sashiko Lab in Kyoto, Japan. Rachel shares her joy of hand-stitching with adults and children, alike, teaching workshops in Sashiko Basics, Sashiko Embroidered Tea Towels and Table Runners, Visible Mending and Garment Embellishment. Rachel stitches, mends, sews, reads teen fiction, journals, walks, forages for natural dye materials and healing plants, and takes day trips to nearby cities for coffee and culture. She lives in a small Connecticut town alongside her woodworking spouse and their two young adult offspring. Follow her creative process on Instagram @rachelharrietteb
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Sacred Stitch: Sashiko Symbols for Healing and Protection
In this contemplative Sashiko workshop, we will explore the geometric beauty and soulful symbolism of traditional Japanese stitchwork as a path to mindfulness, meaning-making, and creative healing.
Through guided instruction and spacious stitching time, you’ll learn a curated collection of Sashiko patterns that historically served as talismans (symbols of protection, strength, and renewal) and as a practice rooted in repair, protection, and inner transformation. As we draw grids, select patterns, and engage the rhythmic “small stabs” of Sashiko’s running stitch, we’ll reflect on the meditative power of repetition and the deep lineage of this practice as both decorative and restorative art.
Students may choose to create a cloth for their altar, a wall hanging, or another sacred textile for daily use. Each piece infused with personal intention and creative resonance. Patterns may include hitomezashi (one-stitch) and moyozashi (pattern stitch) designs, with other motifs that stem from the many Sashiko patterns.
This class is open to all levels. Whether this is your first stitch or a continuation of your Sashiko journey, you’ll leave with a object of beauty and personal meaning; an artifact of your own healing through cloth, thread, symbol, and story.
Experience Level – All hand stitching levels welcome!
Supply List:
Your kit fee will be due to the teacher at the start of class. It is easier if you bring cash in the exact amount of the fee.
Through guided instruction and spacious stitching time, you’ll learn a curated collection of Sashiko patterns that historically served as talismans (symbols of protection, strength, and renewal) and as a practice rooted in repair, protection, and inner transformation. As we draw grids, select patterns, and engage the rhythmic “small stabs” of Sashiko’s running stitch, we’ll reflect on the meditative power of repetition and the deep lineage of this practice as both decorative and restorative art.
Students may choose to create a cloth for their altar, a wall hanging, or another sacred textile for daily use. Each piece infused with personal intention and creative resonance. Patterns may include hitomezashi (one-stitch) and moyozashi (pattern stitch) designs, with other motifs that stem from the many Sashiko patterns.
This class is open to all levels. Whether this is your first stitch or a continuation of your Sashiko journey, you’ll leave with a object of beauty and personal meaning; an artifact of your own healing through cloth, thread, symbol, and story.
Experience Level – All hand stitching levels welcome!
Supply List:
- You may want to bring a favorite pair of scissors or snips, thimble if you use one, and reading glasses.
Your kit fee will be due to the teacher at the start of class. It is easier if you bring cash in the exact amount of the fee.