Exploring Hana Fukin: Traditional Japanese Embroidered Cloths

Imagine a single cloth that weaves together tradition, beauty, and functionality. A hana fukin is one such cloth, with rich history and cultural significance in Japanese households.

Translated directly from Japanese, the words hana fukin mean ‘flower cloth’ or ‘kitchen cloth.’ But what is a hana fukin? The term is used for practical, Sashiko-embroidered cloths often used in Japanese homes. Typically, they are made from a long piece of cloth, about 24” by 12”, which is then folded over to a ~12”x12” square and embroidered with Sashiko stitching. This stitching is decorative, but it’s also functional, reinforcing the fabric and adding to the durability of the cloth.

What is a hana fukin for?

Historically, there were many reasons women would stitch a hana fukin. According to Watts Sashiko, it was common for daughters in samurai families to practice perseverance and patience by sewing these cloths. In farming families, after the day’s chores were done, the women would gather and sew the hana fukin they needed for daily work. And when a daughter would marry and leave the house, it was common for her mother to send one of these cloths with her, stitched with patterns representing wishes for health and happiness.

In more practical contexts, these cloths were used for a wide variety of purposes, and still are today. These purposes include using them for…

• Placemats
• Covering teacups or cooking implements
• Drying vegetables and storing them in the fridge to extend freshness
• Straining soup stock
• Wrapping lunch boxes 
• Wrapping gifts (furoshiki cloth)

And with the modern revival of these traditional practices, we’re seeing even more versatility in these cloths, with hana fukin being incorporated into home decor items like pillow covers and table runners, decorative mats, and even as artful wall hangings.

How do you make a hana fukin?

There are a few things you’ll need to gather before you can get started on stitching your own hana fukin:

• Fabric: You’ll want something that isn’t too tightly woven. Linen, unbleached cotton or muslin work well for this purpose, and you’ll want about 24” by 12” so you can fold it over and get a 12” by 12” square. You can also find fabric that is pre-printed with water-soluble ink patterns - there are some options in my Amazon shop here!
• Thread: Sashiko thread is ideal for this purpose, but depending on what you’re using the cloth for, you may be able to use four strands of embroidery floss or a #8 pearl cotton as a substitute.
• Needle: Sashiko needle is ideal, but you’re looking for a larger eye and a sharp point - darning or crewel embroidery needles can also work!
• Fabric marker and ruler: if you aren’t using a pre-printed fabric, you’ll need these to draw out your pattern
• Thread snips

Step 1: Preparation

First, we’re going to prepare our fabric for stitching. If you’re using a pre-printed fabric, your preparation is pretty much done for you - just make sure you don’t iron the fabric first, or your lines might not disappear later!

If you’re drawing out the pattern yourself, you’ll want to do this now. You can draw your pattern on just half of the fabric, since you’ll be folding it over for the stitching.

Step 2: Stitching

Thread your needle - I like to knot my end. Sashiko can be done without knots, and if you’d like to learn how to do that I have a blog post on it here. With a hana fukin especially, I don’t worry too much about this, as I can hide my knot between the two layers!

Begin stitching your pattern. You’ll start by stitching each horizontal line, then the vertical lines, and finally the diagonal lines. You can finish off by stitching a border all the way around for a tidy and polished look.

Some stitching tips: 

• I find that loading multiple stitches onto the needle before pulling through gives me straighter lines. 
• Leaving a bit of slack between the fabric layers as you turn your rows will help keep your fabric from gathering too much

Step 3: Finishing

Once your stitching is complete, you can remove your marks from step one by following the directions on your pre-printed fabric or the fabric marker you used. Once your marks are removed, you can press the cloth and it’s ready for use in your kitchen or in your next home decor project!

There are many things to love about making your own hana fukin; the aesthetic allure, the meditative stitching, the versatility of the end result...

If you’re interested in making one of these beautiful cloths yourself, but don’t know where to start, I encourage you to sign up to my email list - I have something exciting coming soon and I’ll be sharing it there first!