In zanshi-ori, even a piece of yarn about a foot long could become part of a new textile. Japanese weavers saved yarn left from their own making or bought broken threads from local weavers, bringing materials from different batches into one fabric.

Short lengths could be tied together into a continuous thread and used for the weft, the yarn woven across the fabric. Joining all those little pieces took time. Changes in color and thickness formed irregular stripes, while the knots added little bumps you could see and feel.

Some leftovers were kasuri yarns, already dyed in sections to make a pattern when woven. Used in a new arrangement, those dyed and undyed sections could become scattered marks and unexpected stripes. A new textile could carry traces of the dyeing work prepared for an earlier one, along with the care taken to save and use its remaining yarn.