#zokin

[pardalote]

Something I've been quietly stitching in the evenings: these zokin - cloths for cleaning, made from old tea towels.

When I was with family over Christmas, my MIL mentioned offhandedly that she really should throw out all her old threadbare tea towels, but that she couldn't quite make herself do it. I asked for them, explained the whole zokin concept and she gave me a small pile of lovely old linen tea towels. I've been using my old cotton towels as the middle layer to make them more squooshy and absorbent. I aim to make a heap of them so I can gift some back in their new form.

Not pictured: the first one I made, which is already in service in the kitchen as a cloth for our teapot to sit on.

They are a lovely quiet evening stitch project. They felt a bit 'ugly' to share, but I'm enjoying them more and more, so here they are.

I recommend The Green Wrapper on youtube if you'd like to make zokin from your old cloths.

[swallowsummer]

Made a zokin out of two pieces of old toddler shorts. I like using fabric with lines or checks on because it gives you something to align a design around. I could have kept going with the pattern, but rather liked the effect this gave.

[sashico]

The concept of “Value” is so interesting and fragile. When we look at “an item” from the different view, it will have the different (sometimes completely opposite) view. When I make Boro, I always wonder how the Japanese (in 300+ years ago) would think that we are now “making” Boro instead of “ending up with” Boro. ☆ The word of Boro comes from the Mimetic word of “Boroboro” which express the situation of “Tattered”. Both Character, “襤” & “褸” means the rag & damaged fabric. Other words you may hear, “雑巾 (Zokin)” is merely a fabric for scrubbing (mainly floor or dirty area). The difference between Boro and Zokin would be the sense of purpose. Boro was the ultimate results of the fabric purpose the human assigned to a piece of fabric. Come to think of that, no wonder that the Boro is so beautiful. It is the accumulation of all the human activities in a small piece of fabric. ☆ 「価値観」とは面白いもので、時代によって、社会によって、文化によって、そして個人によって全く違ってきます。少し前なら「使い物にならない（襤褸）」だったものが、今では「芸術としての襤褸」としての価値を得ています。流行という観点もあるけれど、どれだけ「正解か間違いか」という論議が当てにならないかというお話。見方が変われば価値も変わります。 ☆ 「襤褸を真似して作る」。昔の人が聞いたらなんて言うんだろう……と思いながら、それでも襤褸の美しさに魅せられた二人（恵子さんと俺）として、襤褸を作り続けています。飾られる襤褸も良いですが、なんとかして使える襤褸になるように。「食器用ふきん→テーブル用ふきん→家具用ふきん→床のふきん→雑巾→襤褸」といった流れを全て通すことは無理でも、その流れがあることは、やっぱり今後も使えて行きたいなぁと。 ☆ #Sashiko #Boro #JapaneseBoro #Zokin #UpcycleStitches #KeikoFutatsuya #刺し子 #襤褸 #雑巾 https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv7AhAXFJCS/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ql4vsa0oj21a

[sashico]

One ordinary yet beautiful morning with my daughter. When I was about to clean the toilet with the Zokin I made, she came in and asked if she could help. It was probably an ordinary scenery for our ancestors, yet it is probably an extraordinary picture to find in these days. Although she got bored after a few minutes, I am happy to spend this kind of time with her. ☆ She may not remember this, but it is one memory I would like to pass down to her. The photo has a very small amount of Sashiko (on Zokin), but I thought of sharing this photo because this is pretty much the idea of Sashiko I would like to pass down. ☆ 週末の朝、トイレを掃除してたら、娘が「手伝う〜！」と乱入。掃除時間は5分で済むのが、娘が乱入すると15分とかになっちゃうので、内心では「一人で遊んでなよ〜」とは思うのですが、こうした記憶も大切だろうなと。結局本人は数分で飽きて、「完了！バイバイっ！！」って自分の遊び場に戻るのですが、それでも、僕が作った雑巾と、自作のクエン酸スプレー（食べても大丈夫）なので、掃除をしてくれているのを見るのは嬉しい限りです。雑巾、一緒に作る時もくるのかな……。米国でアメリカ人として成長している娘ですが、日本教育で当たり前になる「自分で使うものは自分で掃除する習慣」は、是非……と。トイレ掃除するのは、日常ですからね。日常がどれだけ大切かを伝えて行けたらと思うのです。 ☆ #Sashiko #Zokin #JapaneseBoro #Cleaning #JapaneseCulture #Soji #刺し子 #雑巾 #掃除 #日常 #OrdinaryDays https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz3kpiKpKH1/?igshid=19ryvzunwbzy

[sashico]

ZOKIN. While sharing the Sashiko we practice, I occasionally come across the word “Zokin”. Have you ever heard of Zokin? It is a piece of fabric for miscellaneous purpose - which is well known for a cleaning rag. It is nothing fancy about Zokin. Even today, parents make (or purchase) Zokin for their children to bring them to school for cleaning their own school. ☆ I summarized my knowledge about Zokin on my website, including sharing what is Zokin and how to make a Zokin. It may look fancy, but it is just a piece of fabric for cleaning the floor. The stitching makes the fabric stronger so we can use the Zokin for a longer period of time - over and over again instead of using disposable paper towel. Some of the Boro may be from the usage of the fabric as Zokin. It is quite dirty after the repetitive cleaning. It is interesting that we find the beauty in this ordinary cleaning habit. ☆ 先日の配信、「刺し子配信するよ〜」と言いながら、丸々一時間かけて雑巾3枚ほど作りました。布の耳を切るとか切らないとか、端を解れないほうにとか、雑巾ひとつとっても好みも作法もあるんだなぁと。雑巾なんぞ100円で買えてしまう時代で、むしろ使う側は購入した新品の方が好まれるのかもしれないのですが、日本語圏外で雑巾（ZOKIN）という言葉が聞かれるようになってきたので、僕自身、もう一度「あれ、雑巾ってなんだったっけ？」という確認がしたかった配信でした。好みは別として、大まかな理解は皆様と一緒で良かったです。 ☆ 一個だけ言うなら、油汚れを掃除した布を雑巾にする時は、しっかり洗ってからの方が良いね。洗ったつもりだったのですが、発酵臭の中、ヌルヌルする針で運針するのは、なかなかに大変でした。なんか、昔の部活を思い出しました（理不尽さ的な感じで）笑。 ☆ #Sashiko #Boro #Zokin #Japanese #SlowStitch #Upcycle #Repurpose #刺し子#ぼろ #襤褸 #雑巾 https://www.instagram.com/p/BzEGYk1p6iI/?igshid=18h4tdpfs9og5

[schaoching7]

【愛吃府城】從安平小福巴升級成了藏金(ZOKIN)，在成大18巷就吃得到金箔冰淇淋喔

冬天吃冰淇淋會不會太殺? 我想對台南人而言應該剛好而已，實在是台南也不怎麼熱。

所以，這一間在成大18巷裡面的藏金冰淇淋，選擇在冬天的12月1號這天開幕，就覺得他合乎邏輯了；艾瑪會發現它也實在是湊巧，所以今天趕快趁著熱（還是冰？），趕快跟大家來介紹介紹！！順便賺賺流量。

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[koiichimo-blog]

Zokin (Dust cloth)

It has been women’s job to stitch dusters for cleaning. Zokin, or a dust rug, also translated as a dust cloth, which has a number of folds or layers of squares stitched together, has been one of the daily necessities. In every home, mother and grand mother used to sew many zokin and stored them in a drawer for unlimited supply. Zokin is used to clean everything inside of the house such as table top, floor, shelves, and furniture. We even use Zokin to wipe the exterior of the house, bicycles and cars.

[japaneseworldofteadictionary]

雑巾 (ぞうきん)

Translation: wash-towel for the floor