Blog
Jan 07
Textile Travel Wanderlust
Today’s mail arrived including a handful of travel catalogues. I do a quick flip through the pages to see if any of them include distant journeys with a remote chance of meeting textile artisans. I flag ones that may and put them aside to return to after finishing this blog.→ Read more
Dec 15
This Season of Gifting and Thanks
When we launched ClothRoads four years ago, we began by gifting to a few international organizations–one of those was the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC). Year over year, we not only witnessed CTTC’s growth but its sustainability. Next year, CTTC will be twenty years old. It has aided→ Read more
Dec 03
ClothRoads Wishlist — New Textile Books of 2015
After donating thousands of fiber and textile books, there are still titles we placed on our wish list this holiday season. This past year, we (ClothRoads and Thrums Books) gave most of the Pourrey Cross Library, which was housed at Interweave Press, to Colorado State University’s Avenir Museum and Fiber Department, and local→ Read more
Nov 12
Indigo and the Stories of Our Lives
Indigo is a natural dye deeply embedded in cultures around the world. Many times as my blue hands pull cloth out of vats of indigo, I ponder the question – why do we do what we do? What can be accomplished by passing on the techniques of creating cloth and→ Read more
Nov 05
Riffing on a Traditional Peruvian Alpaca Hat
One handknit alpaca hat, traditional Peruvian, worn by children in the Accha Alta community in the Andean highlands. One slouch shaped, paying homage to the traditional one while offering a modern interpretation. Both are loaded with colorful bumpy textures, called grutas, making distinctive patterns.→ Read more
Oct 22
Guatemala’s Natural Dye Ambassador: Olga Reiche
To separate her passion for natural dyeing from hand weaving, or designing from teaching, isn’t possible for Olga Reiche. All she touches is intricately woven together within her home country of Guatemala and shared far beyond. This spirited woman with a quick smile has been working with indigenous artisans on→ Read more
Oct 15
A Beginner’s Way to Indigo and Shibori
No skills required. Really. It’s easy. Natural dyeing with indigo and shibori resist techniques can be done quickly without prior dyeing or weaving experience with these artisan-designed methods.→ Read more
Oct 01
ClothRoads and Bolivian Hand Spinners Team Up for Spinzilla
For the second year running, ClothRoads is sponsoring a group of twenty-five Bolivian hand spinners, named the Warmis Phuskadoras, in an international hand spinning competition, Spinzilla. (Warmis is Quechua for women, Phuska is Quechua for drop spindle, and doras is Spanish for women who spin.)→ Read more
Sep 10
Natural Dyes: Explore the World of Indigo
Our journey through the ancient and mysterious world of the natural dye indigo begins here at ClothRoads. We’ll ride the indigo magic carpet throughout the holiday season. Let’s begin with an overview of this dye deeply embedded in cultures around the world–one that is both art and science, and touches the→ Read more
Sep 03
Bandhani Artisan Expands Resist-Dyeing Tradition: Aziz Khatri
Learning bandhani, the Indian name for a resist-dyeing “tie-and-dye” technique, at the feet of one’s elders is the traditional way. It’s what imbeds deep cultural meaning and a connection to cloth, permeating the tactile senses beyond spoken words, and contributes to artisan mastery.→ Read more
