Japanese Indigo Boro Katazome Fabric | Kasuri Patches Vintage Sashiko Stitch

Unique historical 100 year old Japanese boro fabric from the Taisho Era (1920's). Its base layer is made from natural indigo katazome dyed cotton fabric, which beautifully faded overtime. What makes this one special is that it boasts various types of Japanese fabric history, including indigo, benibana (red safflower dye), persimmon (brown dye) and techniques like kasuri, shima and katazome.

All patchwork is repaired with the recognisable sashiko hand stitch, with all patches naturally dyed and made from cotton. The backside shows off all the days of work that went into maintaining this fabric, by all the rows of handstitches.

- Kasuri fabric is a complicated dyeing technique originating from Kurume, which consists of tying yarn threads before indigo dying multiple times, creating various patterns.
- Touzan is known for its precise striped patterns with beautiful indigo color combinations and much detail, originating from India and perfected by the Japanese in the Edo period.
- Katazome is a Japanese dyeing method using a paste resist technique, adding a stencil to cotton cloth, and pushing the rice flour paste through the stencil onto the fabric through the cutouts. Having applied the rice paste, the fabric is stretched out and ready to be dyed with natural dyes. After being satisfied with the colors, the fabric is soaked overnight in water, where the applied rice paste slowly weakens and the design is finally revealed.

This particular fabric was used as a futonji, a cover on top of the traditional Japanese bedding containing 4 rows of handspun cotton. Due to its many repairs it has been used frequently and passed over from generation to generation.

This fabric can serve as a beautiful decoration or remake material.

Size: Length = 160cm (63"), Width: 125cm (49")