Ogawa works on inner-filling shaping, quilting checks, quilt and pillow filling and finishing, and final product inspection. She previously sewed footwear and brought that sewing experience to the workshop.
The processes I handle
My work includes shaping inner filling, checking and correcting quilting, filling and finishing quilts and pillows, and inspecting finished products. I hope to keep improving my skills across all these processes.
My previous job was footwear sewing
I used to do footwear sewing — so operating a sewing machine was not entirely unfamiliar when I came to the workshop. But bedding and footwear are two different worlds: bedding is larger, demands higher evenness, and uses a far wider range of fabrics. Under my seniors’ guidance I adapt to these differences every day.
“From the customer’s standpoint”
Small stains or rough stitching are easy to overlook in mass production — “you’d want to let it pass,” but I deliberately remind myself: stand in the place of the customer who buys this one. For the customer this is not a cheap purchase but something to look forward to — so those small details cannot be let go.
“May you have good dreams”
Every shikibuton the workshop makes is carefully made by colleagues, one by one — I hope the customer who receives it sleeps a little better for it. “If I can be of even a little help to everyone’s sleep, I would be glad. May you have good dreams” — that is what I want to say to every one.