Have an old towel ready (I recommend a towel that is not too large, preferably a hand towel : approx. 15" x 30" ). If you prefer, you can use pretty much any cotton fabric of that size, a long rectangle shape.
Lay the towel flat. Then fold one short end of the towel towards the center.
Then fold the other short end so that the both ends meet.
Fold the towel again in half. I fold it this way to avoid one of the long sides gets too thick to sew.
Pin around the corners and start running / sashiko stitch with a thick thread.
Then stitch the center area of the towel (see design samples below).
Here are some traditional stitch samples for zokin (I use the water-soluble disappearing ink-pen to draw the lines on the fabric) :
Some fun, modern(?) stitches...
...Or you can customize your own zokin stitch design, of course!
