Name: Sashiko Workshop with mai ide
Start: 2026-01-24T10:00:00-08:00
End: 2026-01-24T12:00:00-08:00
Location: 411 NW Flanders St, Portland, OR, United States, Oregon 97209

A mindful workshop exploring Japanese mending as cultural practice and emotional repair. We will make a coaster or patch, learn one of the traditional Sashiko patterns, and reclaim a slow, meditative hour of care for yourself and the planet.
Join artist mai ide, a visual artist based in Portland, OR, for a relaxing morning of Sashiko stitching — not just to learn a technique, but to explore cultural significance. This workshop invites you into the world of traditional Japanese mending, where each stitch carries stories of sustainability, resilience, and healing.
Sashiko Workshop with mai ide
Saturday, January 24, 10am-12pm
Japanese American Museum of Oregon
411 NW Flanders St., Portland
Entrance on NW 4th Ave.
Registration required. Visit jamo.org/sashiko for pricing, registration, and other details.
This is more than a craft workshop — it’s a space to reflect, connect, and embrace vulnerability. As we mend fabric, we also mend ourselves, contributing to the holistic well-being of our planet and our communities.
Materials will be provided. Participants are also encouraged to bring their own piece of cloth or clothing to be repaired to enhance the personal themes of the workshop.
What is Sashiko?
Sashiko (刺し子) is a traditional Japanese embroidery and stitching dating back to the Edo period (1615 – 1868). It was first developed among working-class people, farmers, and fishermen to mend their daily clothes and clothing. Through Sashiko, they could make garments stronger, more durable, and last longer. They kept mending in this way and passed techniques down from generation to generation. As such, Sashiko is one of the oldest traditional Japanese upcycling techniques.
About the Artist
mai ide is a Japanese-American artist from Tokyo, now based in Portland, OR. Their multidisciplinary approach investigates their own cultural intersectionality and deep ambivalence of race and gender as an immigrant, mother, and woman. As a non-native speaker of English, ide’s practice is expressing discomfort of being classified or perceived by society as an “other” or “forever foreigner” in the U.S. ide’s use of salvaged fabric and Sashiko stitches conveys their simultaneous vulnerability, fragility, and ferocity under a constrained, violent, and volatile society. ide holds a BFA in Art Practice from Portland State University (OR) and an MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, as well as degrees in sewing, pattern making, and textile design in Japan, where she worked for twelve years as a material designer. Their previous exhibitions and performances include the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Kyoto in Japan, and Jordan Schnitzer Museum in Oregon.