“When you believe that you cannot stitch your own heart back together, go to work on the hearts of other people; there is no surer way to repair yourself than to repair them”. ~Andrew Solomon
We’re going to travel to a destination in this post: Japan.
About 4 years ago, while researching different stitching practices and their emotional importance, I came across a reference to something called “Senninbari”. These were belts or strips of cloth worn by Japanese soldiers during WWII. They were stitched by women of the family and given to the soldiers before going off to war. Now, 1,000 stitches or knots is a lot, and there is no way one soldier’s family could do it alone.
So, they enlisted the surrounding community of women to help. Every woman that could be found would add a stitch to the belt.
The belts were around 5” to 9” wide and ranged from 3 ft to 4 ft in length. The stitches were arranged in rows or groups of rows along the front of the belt.
The women of a soldiers’ family stood outside temples, train stations, stores and on street corners, enlisting the help of every woman who walked by to add one stitch to the belt. It was a labor of love and an emotionally charged process, steeped in intention and presence.
Unknown author – 毎日新聞社
These belts were acts of devotion, a protective talisman, conveying courage and good luck to the wearer during battle.
A Senninbari is traditionally done with red threads which represent vitality, strength, and protection. Each stitch, or French knot, is a prayer for strength and to return home safely. Sometimes they had additional symbols such as a tiger or the red sun of Japan.
While sitting and journaling one evening, the word “Senninbari” dropped into my consciousness quite abruptly and I’ve been thinking about how to reimagine the concept and representation of Senninbari for stitching use in the 21st century. With all that is going on, some of us may actually be going off to war; however, more of us are likely to be dealing with daily personal trials and tribulations that feel like we’re going to battle daily.
Maybe you’re dealing with:
• Being single/single parent without enough resources and too much debt
• A caretaker in some capacity for a loved one and the challenges that come with that
• Battling an illness or condition that is debilitating or limiting
• Dealing with a horrible boss, job or both
• Unexpected job loss
• Unexpected health diagnosis
• Living with financial instability and other challenges
• Living in or near an actual war zone or civil/political unrest
• Living in these uncertain times
• One or more of the “-ism’s” or any kind of discrimination
Hell, it may be all of them. I can personally check off about half.
Whichever one you are relating to, including anything not listed, all of them will affect your mental and emotional health in some way, shape or form. And all of that will affect you physically. You don’t have to believe it; it’s a simple truth.
Many of us could use something to touch or be worn, hidden from prying eyes, that give us courage daily in the face of whatever adversities we are experiencing. Creating or carrying a comfort object for grounding yourself emotionally and feeling protected is not a new concept. Comfort objects have been carried in various forms by humanity for thousands of years.
And while it would be a bit much to make a 1,000 stitch Senninbari for daily courage, strength and comfort, something smaller would be totally doable. Maybe for yourself, maybe for someone else. Maybe to carry, maybe to display where it can be seen when needed. There are no rules to how it can be used.
I decided to try this out. I made a Senninbari in a circle. It morphed into a sort of mandala, with a cluster of red French knots in the middle. A place to draw the eye. A place that I can touch and ground when my mind starts flying into ugly places and freaking out when I begin ruminating on the unexpected. The texture is nubby and holds me in the moment.
The outer circle is just a row of stitches. But I decided to try my hand at French knots after the first row because I wanted to have that grounding texture when I needed it. And French knots look so pretty and cute! Then I learned the truth: they are mean and fickle and totally unforgivable if they thread gets knotted while pulling the needle through.
The circle isn’t very big, only about 3.5” across the middle. Some of the knots actually look decent, others look like a hot mess up close. Don’t look. Big, small, wonky, neat. None of them look the same. Many of them hold stressful thoughts, worries and emotional ponderings as they were being stitched. Prayers for courage and strength in each knot.
Can this be done in all simple stitches? Absolutely. Senninbari’s were done in both simple stitches and French knots. That’s my next one. I’ll share it when it’s done.
Do you carry something for courage when you go out into the world every day? Something that grounds you and helps you feel comforted? Drop a comment and let me know!
Sit, sip and stitch with me.
in the company of stitches 
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