Slow Stitching Set - Indigo & Driftwood

A little collection of materials, a needle and thread, and the freedom to see where your imagination takes you

Our Slow Stitching Sets bring together an unusually rich assortment of vintage textiles, hand-dyed fibers, beautiful threads, beads, paper ephemera, and small found objects. Each material has been selected for its color, texture, history, or simply because we thought it would be interesting.

The collection moves through shades of deep indigo, faded denim, soft gray, and sun-bleached white. Antique textiles, delicate silk shibori, and pale pieces of driftwood bring together colors and textures that feel beautifully weathered by time.

These aren't conventional kits with a prescribed pattern or finished project. Instead, they're an invitation to experiment with layering, stitching, wrapping, gathering, embellishing, and making something entirely your own.

What Can You Make?

There's enough material here to explore a dozen or more small projects, depending on their size. The generous pieces of linen and cotton provide a foundation, while the smaller treasures become the details that make each piece personal.

A few ideas to get you started:

• Stitched talismans and amulets: Layer fabric fragments, add interesting objects, and stitch everything together into a small keepsake

• Mini textile collages: Combine indigo cloth, silk ribbons, paper, and decorative stitching into little works of art.

• Brooches, bag charms, and key chains: Use the included safety pins, swivel hook, and linen cord to turn your stitched creations into something you can wear or carry.

• Sachets and tiny pouches: Make use of the balsam fir needles, wool stuffing, and soft fabrics to create small fragrant pieces.

• Fabric beads and necklaces: Wrap scraps of cloth and silk around small forms, embellish with thread. 

• Needle books and stitched patches: Create something useful from your experiments.

• Small wall hangings: Use the included driftwood as a hanger for a miniature textile composition, or wrap it with colorful threads and fibers.

The Stories Behind the Materials

Part of the pleasure of slow stitching is discovering the character of the materials themselves. We've gathered pieces with very different origins, many of which would be difficult to find individually.

Japanese Indigo & Vintage Textiles

The collection includes indigo-dyed cotton fragments reclaimed from Japanese workwear, along with pieces of old Japanese cotton cloth originally used for rice-flour bags. These utilitarian fabrics were made for everyday use, and their textures, fading, and wear bring wonderful character to new stitching projects.

You'll also find vintage Japanese silk shibori in shades of white and cream. Shibori is a traditional resist-dyeing technique in which fabric is bound, stitched, folded, or compressed to create patterns. The resulting silk offers a beautiful contrast to the sturdier cotton and linen fabrics.

Antique American Coverlet Fabric

Among the textile fragments are pieces of antique blue-and-white woven fabric from a coverlet discovered in Ohio. Coverlets were practical household textiles, often woven with intricate patterns that reflected the skills and traditions of their makers.

Hand-Dyed Silk Ribbons & Specialty Threads

A selection of hand-dyed silk ribbons brings shades of marine blue, navy, pale gray, and pearl to the collection. Their soft drape and subtle color variations are wonderful for gathering, layering, wrapping, and adding movement to stitched pieces.

You'll also find vintage thread originally dyed for Japanese kasuri weaving. Kasuri is a form of ikat in which threads are resist-dyed before weaving to create patterns in the finished cloth. Here, the bright indigo thread can become part of your own stitched design.

Other fibers include variegated embroidery thread, organic hand-sewing thread, linen cord, frayed silk velvet, and textured ribbons.

Ledger Pages from 19th-Century Iowa

One of our favorite discoveries is the original paper ephemera included in the set: pages from a school fund register kept in Madison County, Iowa, between 1873 and 1895.

These pages carry the handwriting, numbers, and everyday recordkeeping of another century. Incorporate a small section into a textile collage, use it as a background for stitching, or simply enjoy the beauty of the old paper and penmanship.

Vintage blue postage stamps add another layer of printed history and visual interest.

Glass Beads & Found Details

The collection includes cobalt-blue recycled African glass beads and blue Fulani funeral beads. The latter are associated with West African bead traditions and have a distinctive character that makes them especially interesting in small textile compositions.

Vintage mother-of-pearl buttons offer a softer, luminous contrast to the glass. Small pieces of driftwood, felt, wool fibers, and other found details invite you to experiment with texture and dimension.

What's Included

Each Blue Slow Stitching Set is carefully assembled to closely resemble the assortment shown in our photographs.

Fabrics & Textile Fragments

• Small Blue & white Kaya Bag by Ban Inoue, for keeping your materials together

• Heavyweight linen in Off-White - 9" × 22" (22.9 × 55.9 cm)

• Midweight Linen in Natural - 18" × 22" (45.7 × 55.9 cm)

• Cotton muslin - 18" × 22" (45.7 × 55.9 cm)

• Vintage Japanese white and cream silk shibori

• Indigo-dyed Japanese cotton workwear fragments

• Antique blue-and-white woven American coverlet fabric

• Old Japanese cotton rice-flour bag cloth

• Additional indigo-dyed cotton scraps

• Blue felt fragments

Threads, Ribbons & Fibers

• Assorted hand-dyed silk ribbons in shades of blue, gray, and pearl

• Royal-blue frayed silk velvet ribbon

• Blue-striped linen ribbon

• Natural frayed cotton-linen ribbon

• Silk crepe ribbon with frayed edges

• Vintage indigo-dyed thread prepared for kasuri weaving

• COSMO Seasons variegated embroidery pearl cotton, Color 101

• Hamanaka organic hand-sewing thread

• Natural linen cord, 2 mm

• Wool slubs and nepps

• Wool fiber for stuffing and dimensional work

Vintage Paper, Beads & Found Objects

• Original ledger pages from an 1873–1895 Madison County, Iowa school fund register

• Vintage blue postage stamps

• Cobalt-blue recycled African glass beads

• Blue Fulani funeral beads

• Vintage mother-of-pearl buttons

• Small piece of driftwood

• Small bag of balsam fir needles

Tools & Finishing Details

• 2 hand-sewing needles and 2 embroidery needles

• Assorted safety pins

• 1/2" (1.3 cm) swivel hook

A Note About These Collections

Many of the textiles, beads, papers, and other components are vintage, antique, reclaimed, or handmade. Their variations, irregularities, signs of age, and occasional imperfections are part of what makes them interesting.

Each set is assembled to be a very close match to the one photographed. The vintage materials are available only in limited quantities, and some cannot be replaced once our supply is gone.

There are no rules for what you make, no pattern to follow, and no expectation of perfection. Just a collection of beautiful and curious materials, ready for you to give them a new story.