Kogin stitch
Kogin stitch (Kogin Zashi Technique) is a form of Darning stitch from Japan that is often classed as one of the sashiko forms.
Other names of the stitch
Kogin stitch was developed by the farmers of the Tsugaru district in the northern part of Honshu Island, Japan. Three areas in the Tsugaru district have different arrangements of kogin zashi patterns: Nishi kogin, Higashi kogin, and Mishima kogin. Also, this stitch may be called sashiko or darning stitch.
You can learn more about the history and tradition of this beautiful stitch in the articles of the Textile Research Center.
Applications of the Kogin stitch:
- Use it as a decorative stitch to embellish your clothes. You can create fascinating patterns by simply changing the length of the running stitches and playing with the balance of the positive and negative space.
- Decorate home textiles with Kogin stitches.
- Use it for darning. The fabric filled with these small stitches will be reinforced and last longer.
More stitches from the Running stitch family
Video tutorial
Watch this video tutorial below and learn how to embroider a Kogin stitch.
Related projects
Would you like to learn this stitch while practicing? Then I suggest you visit the Koginbank website. You will find a lot of valuable tips and Kogin zashi patterns there.
What’s next?
Looking for some other stitch? Head to the Stitches and Techniques part of this blog and choose the stitch you want to learn!
N.B. Some of the links may take you to the EasyToMake designs blog. This is my older hand embroidery blog. While I’m dedicating all of my energy to the Practical Embroidery blog, the previous version still has a lot of great content!
