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
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
Call the Search Off: Guatemalan Organic Handspun Cotton Cloth Found
October 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
When traveling to cloth-weaving villages, there’s generally one “something” that I’m intrigued by or in search for. Three years ago, it was the seemingly rare handspun cotton and handwoven cloth made from the organic natural cotton beige color “ixcaco”, the … Read the rest
The Alchemy of Indigo
September 7, 2012 by 1 Comment
The smell wafts up from the handwoven, indigo-dyed cotton cloth as I’m ironing it. It’s an unmistakable odor—a little sweet, a little pungent. If you’ve dyed with indigo, you know this smell and you understand the magical, transformative process of … Read the rest
Meet the Maker of the Indian Handwoven Silk Cloth
April 6, 2012 by 4 Comments
Sometimes one is lucky enough to meet the maker—I’m talking artisan-made cloth here.
I’m in an elevator in corn country Nebraska in steps an exuberant woman wearing the almost exact replica of a handwoven, naturally dyed silk scarf that I … Read the rest
My Mood Is Indigo
March 17, 2012 by 1 Comment
It’s summer and the indigo dye pot is alive and well, being fed by various students at the former Textile Arts Centre in Chicago. I can smell the dye pot—it’s a disagreeable odor, one like no other. Not putrid, nor … Read the rest
Boro, The Ragged Beauty
March 9, 2012 by 4 Comments
Falling in love with a textile is a fairly easy thing for me. I’m easily swayed by anything indigo dyed and, if it’s handwoven, all the better. The first time I laid eyes upon Japanese BORO cloth, I snatched … Read the rest
Hmong Batik Indigo Cloth
February 1, 2012 by 2 Comments
The smell of hot wax rises from the grass-covered hut every morning. A petite elderly woman, dressed in a traditional sarong, walks slowly down the stone-covered path, the Mekong river her backdrop. She carries a roll of hemp cloth, and … Read the rest
Dyeing a Woven Shibori Scarf
November 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Woven shibori is the perfect medium to explore natural dyes, resists, and layering of colors. One doesn’t even have to weave on a loom in order to work with this technique if you are using the woven shibori “blanks” that … Read the rest
