Sashiko pattern generator

White thread on indigo cloth. Choose a stitched pattern or kogin diamonds, the length of the stitch and the gap, the weight of the thread, and export a seamless sashiko pattern as SVG, PNG or CSS.

Open in the generator How it works

White dashed circles overlapping in a seven-treasures pattern on indigo blue cloth

Mending that became decoration

Sashiko means “little stabs”. It began in Japan as a way to reinforce and mend cloth with rows of small running stitches, and grew into decoration: white cotton thread on indigo, in grids of crosses, diamonds, overlapping circles and triangles. The related kogin stitching of Aomori counts the threads of the weave to build rows of diamonds in long and short stitches.

Ornamatic draws generic versions of the classic motifs and does not copy a particular design.

How the generator builds them

In the stitched patterns the lines of the design are broken into running stitches with gaps between them. The stitches are laid out so that the lines cross on a stitch, not in a gap, as a careful sewer would do it. The patterns are crosses, diamonds, the overlapping circles of shippo (the seven treasures) and triangles.

Kogin works differently. The diamonds are built from short horizontal runs, like beads on a counted grid, and the number of threads per cell and per ring sets how fine they are. Both wrap around the tile and repeat exactly.

What you can adjust

Pattern — cross grid (juji), diamonds (hishi), seven treasures (shippo), triangles or kogin diamonds.
Stitch length — from tiny to long stitches.
Gap — the space between stitches, relative to the stitch.
Thread weight — a fine thread or a heavy one.
Threads per cell and Threads per ring — how fine the kogin is.
Colors — a cloth and a thread; any palette.