Kogin
By Adeline Panamaroff
Adeline, a freelance writer/proofreader, located in Edmonton, Alberta can be contacted at www.adelinepanamaroff.com for writing and marketing requests.
History: Kogin, like many of its stitching relatives, sashiko and hitomezashi, had its origins as more of a utilitarian method then as an adornment technique. During the early Edo period in Japan, 1603-1868 CE., peasants were not allowed to wear clothing made from cotton fibers. This left only linen and hemp fabrics, often homespun, as the only option for clothing for the everyday labourer. This was a problem for those who lived in the northern region of Honshu, Japan’s main island. Winters there are harsh, with deep snow. It was here that kogin was invented.
Peasants were also restricted to only being allowed to dye their fabrics indigo, brown or black. Using undyed linen or hemp yarns, kogin stitchers would work horizontal lines of running stitch from right to left through the fabric. The stitching was dense, covering most of the background fabric both on the front and the back of the piece. This created a triple thick garment that was both warmer and stronger than the original fabric.
The densely laid stitches are meant to look like fallen snow on a dark ground. Using geometric repeating patterns that take their motifs from nature, such as flowers, beans and latish fence designs. Kogin stitchers created many patterns that were passed down from mother to daughter. Most girls would start learning this technique from a very young age. Once they reached a marriageable age, young women were expected to create a garment for the future husband that would impress his family with the skills of his future wife.
In the Meiji period, 1868-1912 CE., cotton finally became available for the working class. By this time kogin had developed quite a broad range of patterns and even had strong regional variants. Cotton was readily adopted as a material to stitch kogin onto.
The post World War II era marked the industrialization of Japan. With this came the ability to obtain mass produced textile items so home stitched clothing fell out of favor. This decline almost led to the extinction of kogin. The last few decades have seen a renewed interest in kogin as a national art form. It has also found a foothold with international audiences, especially through needleworking groups.
Example of Kogin embroidery. Design by Marietta Douglas / Worked by Arlene T.
Technique: Kogin is a counted thread technique, where a running stitch is worked over 1, 3, 5, or 7 threads of an even weave fabric. The length of the stitch varies throughout the pattern, and is stitched in horizontal lines, worked from right to left. When a new line in the pattern is started, the piece is turned upside down to continue the right to left motion of the thread. The thread is to be kept loose so that it is a bit raised off the surface of the fabric. The thread used to work the kogin pattern is not cut or knotted when a row of stitches is complete. It is either used to continue the next row, or woven into the stitching on the back of the fabric. This gives the reverse of the embroidery the same look as the front of the work.
Traditionally kogin was worked on indigo, black or brown linen or hemp fabrics, with unbleached yarns. This creates a striking one-color embroidery style, much like sashiko, but with varying stitch length, more linear direction and much denser in stitch quantity.
Patterns which were once passed down verbally from generation to generation, are now more widely accessible through print books, hand drawn on graph paper or taught through hands-on workshops.
Innovation: Throughout kogin’s revival during the past few decades, it has undergone some noticeable changes. The classic dense patterns are still very popular, but new patterns have emerged that utilize the negative space of a piece more fully. More of the backing material will show through on modern patterns than will in traditional ones. Also, kogin is not used as much on clothing as it once was. Nowadays kogin can be seen as an embellishment on place mats, coin purses, book marks, and as a small accent on any number of items. While kogin generally remains a one color embroidery technique, any color that is available is used by modern stitchers. Some patterns even call for two contrasting colors to be used.
References and Further Reading:
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