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What is a Hana Fukin?

August 01, 2025

image courtesy of Olympus Threads

Hana fukin (花ふきん), translates to "flower cloth" or "kitchen cloth" in Japanese. There isn't a comparable word in english for a generic "useful household cloth" and the closest maybe kitchen cloth or dishcloth. For us, a dishcloth is a generic term used to describe the cloth we use to wash or dry our dishes, but a hana fukin is so much more than that.

Hana fukin were a feature in the lives of most women. For women in farming communities, stitching and creating homewares was a necessity, while for those from samurai families, it was a lesson in patience and perseverance.

Beginning when her daughter was very young, a mother started crafting hana fukin, stitched with diverse patterns symbolizing blessings for health, happiness, and various auspicious occasions and seasonal events. These sampler style stitchings passed down knowledge for the daughter to use these patterns for repairs and decorative cloths in her own family.

Hana fukin is typically created by sewing two pieces of cloth together. The loosely woven fabric makes it easy for the needle to stitch the layers together. The double layer also hides the knots of the sashiko thread. With use, the cotton thread and fabric soften and hold up well to washing.

We now have ready access to pre-printed hana fukin panels. Most are printed with water soluble ink with minimal preparation required before we commence stitching.

It's important to remind you that you should not pre-wash or iron your panel before stitching. As most are printed with water soluble ink, pre-washing would remove all marking you would have a plain piece of fabric with no markings. Ironing your fabric may heat set the markings making them permanent and so they will not wash out after stitching.

The edges of the panels can be finished before or after stitching but my preference is to finish the edges before I start stitching. There are several methods of finishing the edges, so choose your preferred method.

For this panel, the top and bottom edges are selvedges so will not fray. I've folded the panel in half with right sides together and stitched a seam with straight stitch approx. 1/4" from the raw edges.

Next step is to turn the panel right side out and top stitch along the top and bottom edges as close to the selvedge edge as you wish.

Of course, you could finish the edges using hand stitching. Use your preferred method.

I like to use a form of backstitching to start each row of stitching. Thread your needle with your preferred sashiko thread (i'm using Ecru). Start 2 stitches in the end of your row of stitching.

Stitch the first stitch.

The second stitch is your 'turning' stitch. Take this stitch through the top layer of fabric only and bring the needle up at the beginning of the second stitch as shown in the photo below.

Continue stitching in the usual manner. The second stitch will be double thread but this will lock the thread in place without using knots.

Repeat this process in the opposite direction when you run out of thread or at the end of the row of stitching.

When all the stitching is complete, rinse the panel in cool water and dry flat. Press on the back with a dry iron is preferred.

Enjoy using your hana fukin as a table centre, a tray cloth, a basket liner or as a cover over a cup or bowl! A simple cloth but so many uses...

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