Why is it every time I think of an indigo vat, the lyrics “Can’t you smell that smell?” pop out of my mouth? Assuredly, Lynyrd Skynyrd was not referring to indigo in his song. But here I was at the … Read the rest
ClothRoads Scarf of the Month: Traveling Blocks in Weaving
May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
What better combination is there than naturally-dyed silk and a simple weaving structure? If you’ve been following my ClothRoads scarf of the month, you’ve probably noticed a trend—I like simple, yet intriguing, hand woven structures. Ones that beg for a … Read the rest
Kala Raksha, 20 Years Preserving Traditional Art and Empowering Artisans
April 25, 2013 by 7 Comments
Call it comforting, enriching and soul-satisfying. That’s what it felt like upon entering Kala Raksha, an Indian handcraft artisan center in Kutch, Gujarat. Hearing the chatter and laughter of the women as they sat in a circle stitching, listening to … Read the rest
ClothRoads Scarf of the Month: Bandhani, an Indian Tie Dye Resist
April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
There’s sensuousness to reading a cloth, taking one’s fingers and lightly passing over the surface, like braille. To me, Indian bandhani is the braille of all artisan-made cloth resists; this is why I chose it as the ClothRoads scarf this … Read the rest
Discovering Handmade Textile Treasures: Ajrakh Block Printing and Natural Dyeing
March 30, 2013 by 2 Comments
In this dry, desert Gujurat-region of India, the starkness of the landscape was a marked contrast to the vividness of the naturally-dyed cloth, the edges weighed down by rocks, drying in patches on the ground. A stones throw away, the … Read the rest
All by Hand: Block Printing Cloth at Anokhi
March 21, 2013 by 1 Comment
It was an exquisite day for a journey to the centuries-old, preeminent region of woodblock makers and printers–blue skies, clear air, rich vegetation surrounding us as our van climbed up the switch-backed road outside Jaipur, India. Lake Sagar below was … Read the rest
The ClothRoads Scarf of the Month: The Indigo Spiral
March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This I know–one cannot have too many scarves. And since the launch of ClothRoads, my drawers are brimming. I have a few cold-weather scarves—handmade, of course, but the others tend towards the “statement-making” variety. I’m often asked what compels me … Read the rest
The Many Hands of Khadi Cloth
February 14, 2013 by 1 Comment
“Khadi is the sun of the village solar system.”-Mahatma Gandhi
Standing in the middle of a Khadi Bhandars (a khadi sales outlet owned by the government), we’re taking turns looking through a thread-count loupe magnifier at the fabric of … Read the rest
We Have Gold in Our Hands
February 7, 2013 by 6 Comments
“We have gold in our hands and we did not even know it.” –Aasif Ansari, weaver
Traveling through the northwest region of India and meeting one artisan after another was beyond exhilarating–it fed our textile-loving souls every second. Each encounter … Read the rest
Ikat Maestros: Indonesian Textile Artisans
June 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
“I remembered what my father always said: ‘Never leave the land of your great grandfathers, and develop it for a good cause,” Alfonsa Horeng recalls. “That local wisdom was what convinced me to leave my career in the big … Read the rest
