The Ultimate Kogin Collection: Projects and Patterns for Counted Sashiko Embroidery

I loved everything about this book. I have been searching for a book on Kogin stitching for a long while. I have taught myself how to stitch Kogin, because it's hard to find books outside of Japan in English to learn from. The book is easy to read & instructions easy to follow. The projects are lovely. It has helped me improve my stitching & answered questions I had regarding Kogin stitching & the way to do it. Also how to add several colours in one piece. I love the pattern library & will now be designing my own pieces. Thank for the hard work of writing & complying this book.

Susan Briscoe does it again. As someone who works in the sashiko/kogin field and handles this stuff for a living, I am very happy to add this book to my reference library. Her writing is authoritative, concise, and thoroughly researched. The book is full of beautiful color photos of projects you can make, from simple to complex designs. If you're curious about kogin and want to learn more (but don't read Japanese), here is your introduction.

There is so much good information in this book. The projects range from buttons to bags. But the real gem of this book is the pattern library. There is over 50 pages of motifs, arrangements and borders. These patterns could also be used for pick up weaving, cross stitch and needlepoint. I recommend this book as a great resource for not only the kogin embroidery enthusiast but for textile designers as well.

this book is chock full of patterns with detailed instructions. Great introduction to a new hobby

Lots of project ideas. Will start a piece soon.

So Awesome

Very nice and packed of ideas.

The book is excellent!

Susan Briscoe always delivers excellent books around Japanese techniques and this is a really good book on this pattern darning technique. Firstly there is a section on the history of the technique and it's more modern uses. Then there is a section on tools and materials required to work Kogin. This includes very detailed pictures of how to embroider the patterns involved, how to work with more than one colour and how to set about designing your own patterns. Next there are a variety of projects. These include very simple ones, like greeting cards and buttons, and much more complex designs such as a table runner and wall hanging. This gives you scope to develop your skill and tackle more complex designs. Finally the book ends with a pattern library, which I think is it's biggest asset. Here individual motifs, borders, continuous patterns etc are charted for you to work on future projects. This clearly shows how patterns are combined together to make more complex designs. All of which are achievable once you have worked through a few of the projects in the book. This is a really interesting book and I look forward to making some of these items.

This book is excellent; the author covers the origination of the craft and the culture behind it which I like. There are lots of detailed photographs, which as a visual learner, are a massive plus for me. What I didn’t like was the driver ramming the book through the letterbox, which required them to fold it on one side. This resulted in a bent and creased book which I found infuriating. There was a note on door to knock loudly & I would have heard as was in a room above the front door upstairs. Books are a wonderful thing and to have one mistreated in this way is beyond comprehension. Driver could have left parcel on the step which is what the posty is currently doing in these times of COVID; he just waits a few moments to ensure it is collected. These days it seems Amazon drivers just chuck and go which was happening way before the lockdown. Such a disappointment; one star for delivery if that.

This is a brilliant book that answers the questions that I have about Kogin.Just one problem now, what to do first!

Great book, with a good range of level of sewing especially those who what to get into different type of embroidery. This is a whole new level of embroidery.

This is a superb book with so much information beautiful descriptions and tips.Because I wanted to copy so many of the patterns from the back section of the book I decided to buy the Kindle version so that I could open the relevant page on my laptop and have it in front of me as I sewed.The Kindle version is not worth buying as the layout limits the pattern pages to half the full page size with an equal amount of white "paper" to the right of the graphic. Useless for purpose!