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This is a great guide to a fresh and adaptable embroidery style that is suitable for beginners and established crafters alike. Based on traditional Japanese motifs, Sashiko embroidery can take on the look of Japanese, Scandinavian, European contemporary or many other decor trends, and this book gives examples of how you can incorporate that with your choice of colour or embellishment placement.

The book starts with beautifully photographed projects, and all of them are small and simple - less intimidating than many other embroidery project books! The book then goes in to materials and techniques, and as you would expect from a Search Press book there are lots of clear photographs and diagrams to help explain everything. The book finishes with diagrams, charts and explanations of how to create the projects in the front of the book, and these would be easily adaptable to other things - I plan on using some of the charts to add an extra something to some face masks I have.

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Natalia Forrest, Amazon

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Modern Kogin is a new book from Boutique-Sha, a Japanese publisher of magazines and books on craft techniques and lifestyle, and Search Press. It introduces the Japanese embroidery technique which originated in the Edo period as a functional method of repairing and reinforcing fabrics. Kogin uses counted stitching techniques and careful placement of parallel lines to create striking geometric patterns which can be used to adorn a wide variety of objects.

After a brief introduction to the technique and its history, Modern Kogin presents the projects covered in the book, from small brooches and hair ties to more complicated pieces including bags and pouches. While the items themselves are generally simple in their construction, requiring only a small amount of knowledge in order to finish the stitching into a completed object, the patterns are intricate and beautiful from the beginning although deceptively simple to stitch.

Kogin embroidery may look complicated, but each piece is made up of nothing more than simple straight lines. While the work is simple, the effect is striking, especially when using bold colours against white fabric.

The patterns include instructions alongside detailed explanation of how Kogin is worked, including tips and tricks to keep your stitches neat and the order in which to work them followed by step-by-step instruction for each project, including help on making up items such as bags, purses and biscornu pincushions.

Modern Kogin is a perfect introduction for a beginner, providing help and assistance in completing the projects to a high standard and avoiding the pitfalls often experienced by those new to the form.

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Gemma Bridges, The SEW Region Magazine - Book Threads

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Kogin is a style of Japanese sashiko embroidery with a geometric appearance. Simple and timeless, its clean lines and basic elegance is sure to appeal to modern tastes. You can use it to adorn so many things too, from tiny pins to pictures.

It doesn’t take long to learn this straightforward but attractive type of embroidery, and there are plenty of smaller projects here that make up quickly. A lot of them are also of practical rather than decorative use, so you can make attractive buttons, hair ties, Christmas decorations, purses, bags and pincushions. Like all the books I have seen that originated in Japan this one follows a particular layout. At the front are photographs of all the projects, followed by the instructions and patterns. This means you get to whet your appetite by looking at many pages of colourful photographs.

There is a short list of tools and materials, then a useful guide on how to prepare the thread and fabric, read the charts, work the stitches and get the tension right. The projects start simply with the smallest projects such as pins and hair ties, and progress through to the larger, more complex pieces.

You don’t need to be an experienced embroiderer to tackle kogin work but some knowledge of making up projects and doing things like working with button kits, purse frames and zippers is a good idea. This is a lovely book suitable for anybody with a bit of stitching experience.

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Rachel A Hyde, myshelf.com

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This book is aimed at all kinds of expertise levels from beginners to long term kogin enthusiasts. I think there would be inspiration in it for sewing enthusiasts of all levels.

The book is by Boutique-Sha. They have produced quite a few books with Search Press and are a craft and lifestyle publisher in Japan who have written hundreds of publications and had them translated into English.

The content is great. It teaches you the skills you will need, explains the tools and techniques, and provides 25 inspiring projects you can make. The projects vary from little framed pictures to larger sewing projects like pouches and purses so there is a fab range of items to make no matter what your skill level. I imagine you would start (as I did) with a small project but return to this book again and again to make more items as your skills grow.

The photography is really good quality in this book. There are lots of detailed clear photos in the hints and tips sections to explain the techniques, and the photography to show you the finished projects is really nicely set up too. The section which shows you how to make each project uses illustrations instead of photography and these are really well done too.

To me the book works well because it covers such a wide variety of experience levels. A beginner could pick it up (like I did) and be really happy learning a great new skill, but an experienced person could also pick it up and find plenty of useful tips and lovely projects.

This is a really great book. It has something for beginners, lots for experienced kogin lovers, small projects, big projects, it’s a really well thought out selection of skills and projects. I was a total newbie to the art of kogin and it taught me a great new skill which I think is beautiful. The projects use techniques which date back hundreds of years and make it somehow look traditional or vintage but modern too.

As I said at the start, I thought the best way to review the book was to teach myself a new skill from it. So, I did. I decided to use the sample project pattern to make a piece to insert in a handbag mirror frame I had. I think it turned out really well, which is totally credit to this book.

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Jo Burgess, www.mrxstitch.com

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Discover the art of kogin, a style of traditional Japanese sashiko embroidery with modern appeal.

With dozens of beautiful and simple geometric patterns, kogin embroidery offers fresh inspiration and authentic technique to proponents of the decorative mending movement. Colourful photos offer step-by-step instruction for learning this simple counted thread embroidery technique. Beginners will discover how to prepare the thread and fabric, how to read kogin charts, and how to make the basic straight stitches that comprise kogin motifs.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, try your hand at one of the 25 adorable and easy projects included in the book.

Featuring bright and modern colour schemes, these accessories are designed for contemporary life. You’ll find an assortment of pretty brooches, barrettes and hair ties, pouches and coin purses, framed samplers, pincushions, and ornaments, plus potholders, coasters, and place mats for the home.

Once you start stitching, you’ll be completely hooked, we guarantee you won’t be able to stop!

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Mindful Crafting