Jogakbo

Wrapping cloths, bojagi, were used to store, carry and cover things. Palace bojagi were usually made from a single piece of fabric, while those of ordinary households were often pieced from leftover fabric: this is jogakbo, made mainly by women in the Joseon dynasty. A jogakbo usually uses one material, such as cotton, silk, ramie, hemp or even paper; the pieces are joined with a triple-stitched seam called kkaekki, and the cloth grows in an irregular, spontaneous way until it is big enough. Colours often draw on the five directional colours and five intermediate colours, red and blue most of all. The oldest surviving jogakbo, at Naesosa temple, was made in 1415, probably to cover a Buddhist sutra. An American quilt is also often pieced from scraps on top, but it has three layers, the top, batting and back, sewn together across the whole surface, so the stitching becomes part of the design.

Follow the stitching: does it run only along the seams between pieces, or across the whole surface?

Were these pieces cut to a plan, or decided one by one as the cloth grew?