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Freebird 

(testing, testing, new blog/website coming soon...)

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Ceremonial Endeavour

This excerpt from a book that I adore speaks volumes about the ways that fashion and textiles were and can be (socially) sustainable.
There was a time when the making of cloth and clothing were personal endeavours, or regarded highly as cherished skills. This endeavour and understanding created a sense of spirit and status for the wearer [and the maker] while also acting as medicine for wellbeing; especially whilst engaging in the making process - this I believe, connects the fundamental purpose of clothing closer to the wearer.
The excerpt is taken from, Chapter 3 ~ Nosing out the Facts, Women who run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. 

In archetypal symbolism, clothing represents persona, the first view the public gains of us. Persona is a kind of camouflage which let's others know only what we wish them to know about us, and nothing more. But there is an older meaning to persona, one found in all the MezoAmerican rites, one well known to cantadoras y cuentistas y curanderas, healers. The persona is not simply a mask to hide behind, but rather a presence which eclipses the mundane personality. In this sense, persona or mask is a signal of rank, virtue, character and authority. It is the outward significator, the outward display of mastery. 

Notes on Chapter 3
Throughout Mezo-America, la máscara, the mask, connotes that a person has mastered union with spirit portrayed by both the mask and the spirit-clothing one wears. This identification with spirit through clothing and face adornment has almost faded away completely in Western culture. However, spinning of thread and weaving of cloth are ways to invite or be informed by spirit all in itself. There is evidence that the making of thread and cloth were once religious practices used to teach the cycles of life and death and beyond.

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Shimacho Stripe Book

Shimacho 縞帖 literally translates to ‘stripe book’. These Japanese books are a great archive and resource of the fabric that was being woven and worn in the 19^th Century, when most of these books were made.

The dark tones and subtle, small stripes, found throughout most of these books is due to sumptuary laws made during the Edo period (1603 – 1867), when the government dictated what a person could wear, and also when stripe patterns became increasingly popular as kimono patterns.

During this time, most common people had to dress in cotton or bast fibre clothing with dark colours and small repeats. Bright colours and expensive silks, and textiles that showed large repeats were worn by the upper or ruling classes.

These books were created for numerous reasons – according to some sources, some are sample and swatch books that were used for commercial use by businesses, and some were created by weavers to keep a record; as a scrapbook or a portfolio of sorts, of the different designs they’d created.

Some Shimacho were composed by families; by generations of weavers as a keepsake for their home and to inspire their work.

Legend has it that when a young girl left home upon marriage she would take a shimacho to her fiancé’s family home, so they could recreate or be inspired by her family’s woven cloth.

Although there is speculation that the albums don’t hold as much sentimental value as some of the legends suggest.

“In a culture and time where weaving was done in every home, my hunch is that there was a lot of swapping of fragments between families and neighbors, as there must have been a lot of mutual admiration and intrigue between household weavers, and these weavers wanted to compile as much inspiration as possible.” ~ Sri Threads

Images and text below from Sri Threads
This shimacho is typical of most: slivers of cloth were pasted into an already-existing book, the leaves of which were filled as swatches were gathered.It measures 9″ x 6″ or 23 cm x 15.25 cm and contains 15 leaves–and many worm holes, a common feature of almost any shimacho.

from Wafu Works Blogspot

from Wafu Works Blogspot

from Wafu Works Blogspot

Malaysian and Indonesian Textiles

Here are some images from my recent trip to Malaysia and Bali. I visited a Batik and Songket business called Noor Arfa in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.
And Sari Amerta Batik in Sukawati, Bali Indonesia.

We were greeted at the entrance for our  tour

DIY

Batik making equiptment

Iron batik stencils for 'block print' batik

Weavers weaving with banana and pineapple fibres

Wau Bulan (traditional Malaysian moon kite)

The above print is a hand drawn batik

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Below are images from Sari Amerta Batik in Sukawati, Bali Indonesia. Most of the images show the artists hand painting their batik creations onto silk.

The fixer's manifesto

https://sugru.com/manifesto

Images from the denim repair workshop with traid

Making, doing and mending with Traid in their Wood Green store. Above are a few of our samples. I learnt some handy hand sewing and repairing techniques. 

admiration - craft & reuse