Last year at the tsechu (festival) in Bhutan, I noticed several women wearing kiras reminiscent of Tibetan Hothra. Continue reading
Textiles imitating textiles: Tibetan hothra jalo in Bhutan
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Category Archives: Techniques
New Thrima Exhibition at RTA in Thimphu, Bhutan
What a wonderful time to be visiting Bhutan! I love the thrima technique and will be there in December to see this new exhibition. Continue reading
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Textiles imitating textiles: Chinese embroidery
I am fascinated by cross-pollenations between textiles of different cultures (such as batik influenced by patola designs, or block-printed fabrics imitating Thai kit designs) as well as across media (such as stone carvings depicting patterning in clothing). In October, I finally made my first visit to the National Textile Museum in Washington DC, and saw the exhibition China: Through the Lens of John Thomson and found another skilled imitation of one textile technique in another textile medium. Continue reading
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Zoucheng: Zha-ran production
In Zoucheng, our lovely guide took us to visit 3 families who were producing zha-ran, or stitch-resist tie-dye. Continue reading
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Zoucheng: Zha-ran Butterfly Technique
Among pieces of tie-dye I had purchased in Arimatsu in Japan, were some pieces of indigo-dyed heavy cotton. I was fascinated with the small butterfly stitch-resist patterns, but despite scouring books on shibori techniques, I failed to find out how to create them myself. Continue reading
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Ghada Techniques
The ghada is woven in narrow strips, with an interesting technique for creating the textured bands that run weft-wise. Continue reading
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Benares Saris Techniques
Seeing the dark and cramped space where these saris are woven, I perfectly understood why the senior weavers from this workshop had taken their warp to the local park to prepare it for mounting on the loom. Continue reading
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Toda Embroidery Techniques
Beyond Koranur near Ooty, Tamil Nadu, these Toda women embroidered black and red synthetic yarn onto cream fabric to produce designs that look from a distance as if they are woven into the fabric.
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Patola Techniques
Patola is created by tying and dying a pattern into both the warp and weft threads, which are laboriously aligned during the weaving process.
