Mottainai- you shouldn’t waste [it]
What We Can learn From Japanese Textiles
Our grandparents live in Japan and I learn Japanese from them and the word mottainai is one of my favorite words. Mottainai doesn’t have a direct translation in English. It means you shouldn’t waste [it], so find a way to repurpose or reuse because [it] is valuable! People use this word a lot in Japan. Whenever I hear it - that makes me feel like I shouldn't waste what I was about to waste. It's like a magic word, it's not a scolding word but it teaches lessons and makes you rethink what you were about to do.
Where our grandparents live is very cold in the winter. We visit sometimes and I always notice that people in the area have certain styles of vintage looking embroidery on their bags, clothing - even bookmarks and wall hangings! I learned that it is called Sashiko. At the time I had no idea there was such a long history behind that embroidery.
Coincidentally, when I went to one of the craft fairs in Los Angeles, I happened to find the same style of embroidery stitched over the layers of old Japanese hemp fabrics. It had the unique design of embroidery stitched onto the area where it had ripped and was used to reconnect the damaged pieces of fabric. The artist told me that these fabrics are called Boro, which is a Japanese vintage textile. Connecting fabric with this type of embroidery makes the fabric come alive. He said It’s mottainai if you throw it away. The word boro usually means scraps in Japanese. Also boro boro means worn-out. Maybe that’s why people call the fabrics Boro.
So I decided to search for the origin of this Sashiko embroidery and Boro fabrics.
The Sashiko style was originally used by working class farming and fishing families to preserve their precious textiles and make strong and practical workwear during the Edo period (1615 – 1868). Hemp was the most common fabric for those workers and it often fell apart easily. In order to have strong clothing, families would stitch multiple pieces of fabric together in a decorative way to create fashion. In the winter season, Sashiko-stitched clothing kept people warm. Firefighters uniforms were made the same way too. Because the layers are thick enough to protect the body from fire.
Nowadays Sashiko is part of fashion worldwide. People use Sashiko style on jeans to cover holes, make bags etc. It is amazing that Japanese traditional culture is taking over the next generation as fashion.
Like Sashiko, Japan has another popular repairing art called kintsugi. The direct translation of kintsugi is 'connected with gold.' This art is used to repair broken pottery with powdered gold mix to put them together to have another life. The kintsugi style is to think that damage is part of an object's history. Adding a new story into the history is something we can do to respect the products and people who took care of them till now.
So, once your socks have holes, try stitching to give them another life. Once your clothing gets ripped, add another piece of fabric for a new look! It’s not that hard to stitch and it is very cheap to do. All you need is free time on the weekend and someone to teach you. There's also lots of information on the computer to help you learn how to stitch.
Remember, it's mottainai!