Japanese Indigo and Stitch Joy
Indigo has been woven into the culture of Japan for centuries, colouring the garments of Imperial Court members and common people for centuries. The rich tradition of indigo dyeing lives on in Japan, and the collective behind Buaisou are the best of the best.
A quick note at the top — please make sure when you’re shopping online at Loop that the url starts with loopknitting.com! There is a website pretending to be us using the URL “loopknittinguk.com”. This is a scam. We are taking steps to get this website taken down, but it may take a little while. Please be careful!
The process of dyeing with indigo is complex and very precise, especially with the jigoku date (or “making hell”) technique practiced at Buaisou — one of the most complicated dyeing practices in the world. Based outside Tokushima, the capital of Japanese indigo dyeing, the farmers and dyers who make up Buaisou caringly attend to every step along the way: they cultivate the indigo plants, produce the sukumo (indigo compost) and ferment it, and then dye fibres and make finished products. Beyond preserving this longstanding tradition, Buaisou is continuing to evolve the practice and watching how it continues to shift as people, plants, and materials meet.
Even with all the careful attention at each step, the process of indigo dyeing always seems a bit more like magic than science. When dipped in indigo dye, fibres first turn a yellowish-green hue. It’s only as they oxidise that the signature serene blue emerges. It’s a wonder to behold.
We are absolutely over the moon to have a very special Sewing Thread Box from Buaisou, featuring some of their exquisitely dyed products. Each gorgeously designed box contains two 100m lengths of Daruma cotton thread dyed by Buaisou (one dark and one light) as well as two swatches of cloth dyed by Buaisou. These super special materials can be used for decorative embroidery or sashiko-style mending or embellishment or anything else you feel inspired to stitch! Because everything about this gorgeous box is made by hand, there may be some variation in the colour of the threads or fabric swatch size. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Tools for Stitching
Beautiful materials deserve beautiful tools, and we have some really gorgeous ones in the shop to make embroidery and sashiko a dream. Tulip‘s assortment of Long Sashiko Needles and Clover‘s specialised Sashiko Needles are the crème de la crème of fine stitching. Both brands also have an array of excellent tools for other kinds of stitching. Embroidery hoops from Nurge are also a must. They’ll keep your fabric aligned and in place to make your stitching super simple, and their quality is unmatched. Whatever you plan to make with your Buaisou threads and swatches, we have the haberdashery tools to get it done!
Ototoito Stitching Joy
If you’re feeling full of the joys of stitching and can’t wait for more, all the beauties from Ototoito are back in stock. Learn the basics (or go back to them) with the Stitch Sampler that will give you the foundation to create all kinds of things and is a great way to see how the textures and finishes of different threads look once stitched. Bring a bit of whimsy to your embroidery drawer with the Kirakira Thread Set created just for Loop! Create cute decorations for your home with sweet embroidery kits: Karakara seashells, Kirakira jellyfish, Fukafuka insects, and Mofumofu cat. The Atsumi book Embroidered Book of Natural History Motifs is back in stock as well, a beautiful, picture book style collection of stitches depicting trees, flowers, shells, snowflakes and more.
Miyuki Matsuo Totes
We are oh so pleased to have the work of Japanese artist Miyuki Matsuo back in the shop! Her detailed embroidery never fails to delight, and she has a bag to suit every need. The Large Embroidered Bird Tote has a convenient shoulder strap and easily fits up to A4 size. It’s perfect for shopping or toting around your larger works in progress. The Mini Bird Tote is a cute smaller version that is great for bringing your daily essentials or smaller WIPs on the go. Lovely Mini Pouches keep all your haberdashery bits organised — and they fit in either of the tote sizes!
Mina Perhonen Fabric Swatches
We have a few stunning Fabric Swatch Sets from Mina Perhonen, and loads more on the way in the next few weeks! We love these serendipitous collections of gorgeous pieces from the Mina studio. So precious that not a single piece is wasted. We’ve seen some stunning examples of how these little treasures get incorporated into mending and stitch work over the years, and we never tire of opening a new pack to explore what’s inside!
Please keep in mind that we’ve adjusted our opening hours on Friday the 26th of June to make it more comfortable to visit us during the heatwave. The shop will be open from 10:30 to 3:30.
Happy stitching, and stay cool!