Textile Width 450mm, China
Fancy a striped shirt made with hand woven cloth?
Before that some stripes illusion.
Archives for category: fabric
L400xW70xH60mm, China
These are a pair of wooden shuttles for the hand loom.
Anyone interested in weaving and other Chinese craftwork should watch out for the workshop organized by the Jin Ze Arts Centre, a not-for-profit art and craft organization aimed at the preservation and promotion of the fine tradition of Chinese craftsmanship by fostering exchanges of ideas and techniques between practitioners of traditional crafts and contemporary designers via innovative approaches.
Here is a weaving workshop held last March, wish I was there!
L940xW50mm, China
This embroidery band is for the tying the end of the trouser leg. This was part of a typical Chinese costume until the introduction of the western style garments, you can still see the older generation still keeping up this tradition. Along with the long Manchu grown “qipao”, the pot bottom shoes and the pig tail imposed in China by the Manchurian. Before setting up the Qing dynasty, the Jurchen tribe was a nomadic tribe who often spend their days on horse back, the puttee was a beautiful functional accessory for their costume.
DIA250mm, China
This embroidery was taken from a du dou, a traditional Chinese under garment. Du dou for men and children are mostly decorated with embroidery, normally by the mother or the lover. This embroidery is one from the mother to the child, the pattern of the embroidery is filled with object of blessing.
In the middle is a TIGER, representing bravery.
Surrounding the tiger are 6 treasures (from 12 o’clock);
GOURD – charm against evils,
BOOKS – wisdom
FAN – inject life into the dead (one of the treasures of the 8 Immortals)
XIU QIU – love
SCISSOR – charm against evils
RHINOCEROS HORN – victory
PAINTINGS – scholarly
RIM DIA220mm, China
This felt hat is part of the Beijing Opera costume, it is one that is worn by the Chou (clown) character. Within the clown category, it is separated into the fighters and the intellectuals (I guess for clowns, this would mean the non-fighters). This hat is used by a type of intellectual clowns known as the Towel Clown (Jin Zi Chou) in the role of an old and amusing man. The most famous of the Towel Clown is Chong Gung Dou, the old guard who helped the loyal prostitute Su San to escape.
Textile Width 1140mm
This is a piece of tie dye fabric, the folds created by the tie is still visible on the cloth, like the sketch mark on a drawing. For me, these marks of process are very subtle and touching. There is a sense of human creativity verse the now computer aided design products.
To see the making of tie dye fabric click here.
W200xL100mm, China
Similar to the western wallet which began its life as a knapsack for carrying articles not restricting to money, the Chinese wallet too start as a bag for keeping items like handkerchief, seals and of course money. The use of the wallet dated back to the Han dynasty, on the Bezeklik cave painting, 12th century CE, one can see Uyghur princes dressed in Chinese style robes and hanging wallets on their waists. As time goes by the shape and decoration of the wallet became more and more elaborated.
W700xH1400mm, China
This costume belonged to the wizard of the minority Dong tribe. In the villages of Guang Xi area, each village will have their own wizard, whom like Harry Potter are passed down from generations of wizards. The wizard would make offering to the gods as well as casting away the evil ghosts. Life in the villages are harsh, whenever sickness or other misfortune fell on a family, they would asked the wizard to see if the place needed cleansing.
W300xL460mm, Hong Kong
These beautiful tote bags are the creation of CottonCar for her collaboration with Soil.
An imaginative use of our fabric with a contemporary design.
Available @ Pop-Up Bookshop Gallery @ Fringe Vault
W300xL400mm
W310xL400mm
L700mm, Thailand
This smart garment belongs to the Striped Hmong tribe (Hmoob Txaij) of Thailand, they are one of the 5 hill tribes in the area between Northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. Amongst the Hmong tribes, there are 4 sub tribe – White Hmong, Green Hmong, Striped Hmong and Hmong Chinese. The Striped Hmong’s costume have striped bands on the arms.
Mountain Folkcraft 