An Egasuri Zokin: Lovely Stitching

mid twentieth century
7 3/4" x 13", 9.75 cm x 33 cm

A  zokin  is a traditional Japanese dust cloth or cleaning rag; it is usually made from old pieces of cloth and it is usually layered and stitched for durability.   

Along with diapers, zokin are among the traditional household textiles that represent the end of the line where the repurposing or recycling of cloth is concerned.

This unusual example shows a sashiko stitched zokin which is about three layers thick and is stitched together from a lovely piece of indigo dyed cotton egasuri or picture kasuri which shows a capricious design of what appears to be bamboo, sparrows and flower forms.

Charming.