Curtains for Sashiko – Richard Millwood

I was pleased to remix the Turtlestitch project which I had previously used to fix my shirt and jersey to repair a torn curtain.

Sashiko is a Japanese embroidery technique to decoratively repair and strengthen old clothes. I had written a Turtlestitch program to stitch a spider’s web to hold fabric together.

A torn curtain with embroidery stabilising material and ruler. — I started by measuring some stabilising material to slip inside the curtain.

Torn curtain material with a few hand stitches to hold it together in preparation for repair. — The torn curtain material with stabilising material inserted and held in place with a few hand stitches.

Torn curtain material with a few hand stitches and sellotape to hold it together in preparation for repair. — Sellotape added to help the embroidery machine frame hold the curtain material as I tried to make the embroidery reach the edge.

Torn curtain material with hand stitches and sellotape now clamped into an embroidery frame. — Now clamped into an embroidery frame.

Material in an embroidery machine frame being stitched with three lines of thread. — Begin stitching the spider’s web.

Material in an embroidery machine frame being stitched with nine lines of thread. — Halfway through the radial threads.

Material in an embroidery machine frame being stitched with lines of thread radiating from a point and cross-connecting lines to look like a spider's web. — Almost completed the ‘rungs’.

Material finished being stitched with lines of thread radiating from a point and cross-connecting lines to look like a spider's web. — Finished!

Material finished being stitched with lines of thread radiating from a point and cross-connecting lines to look like a spider's web hanging in a window. — Hanging in the window.

From beginning to end around an hour’s work one morning – having had the code already written and just adapted it to make a 180 degree web rather than a full circle.

Now I can relax, knowing I am unlikely to make that tear worse!

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