Boro Journal Cover

Over the last couple of weeks I have been attending a Journal Making class with

Gaylene. She is a new tutor for us at the shop.

Her first Journal Class for us was to create a Japanese Boro Style Journal Cover.

Boro translates as rags. The Boro technique was used in harder times in Japan

when new indigo fabric was out of the reach of many people. This meant that 

clothes and bedcovers had to be patched and re-patched to keep the family in warm 

clothing and bedding is Japan's rural far north.

This is a piece of actual Boro that I purchased in the Flea Markets of Japan.

Now to the front of my Journal cover - part of which came of that original piece of Boro 

fabric above. My cover is all made with old indigo that I have collected from various

trips to Japan.

This is the back with a 'mon' - family crest added. The crest actually came from a new 

piece of fabric that we used to have in stock at the shop.

And the inside flap with a pocket for a book mark - perhaps I now need a Boro bookmark.

The green fabric is dyed in the same process as the old indigo, but has gardenia seeds

added tot eh indigo dye vat which turns the fabric from blue to green.

I love the effect of the old piece of green added to the indigo.

Most of my pieces are raw edged but you do find patches with edges turned under in 

the original Boro pieces. The patches are 'wild' sashiko stitched in place.

This means that the sashiko stitching is not even as it would have been

traditionally.