Michel Garcia and Charllotte Kwon consider a pot of gallic tannin.

Michel Garcia arrived from France a few days early for his two workshops; Secrets from the Dye Garden and Indigo the Organic Vat. What do you do while in the company of a knowledgeable chemist, botanist and one of the leading natural dye experts in the world? You head straight for the dye studio of course.

We could have easily spent a month testing, experimenting and cooking up colour. But as we only had two days we limited ourselves to some indigo, mordanting, and tannin tests. One of our dye tests was done with logwood. Here are photos from the afternoon.

Logwood chips ready for dyeing.

Cotton sample about 5 minutes after going into the pot.

Fabric samples after about 30 minutes.

Finished dye samples with logwood.

New to the store – two books.

India produces and sporadically exhibits a range of hand-worked salvage clothing under the label “prophet of bloom,” as well as designing and making plant-dyed costumes for theatre and dance.

Our favourite quote: “While a rational observer could reasonably suggest that the craft of plant-based dyeing straddles the disciplines of art and science, requiring at least basic competence in plant identification and a passing understanding of chemistry, some results do defy logic and fall into the realms of magic and witchcraft … “

Murdoch Books 240 pages Hardcover. $40.00 cdn. Buy Online

Some connections:

India Flint's Website: www.indiaflint.com

Prophet of Bloom Blog http://prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com/

Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal

Edited by Darielle Mason

With essays by Oika Ghosh, Katherine Hacker, Darielle Mason, Anne Peranteau, and Niaz Zaman

This substantial book is well researched, written, illustrated and designed. Kantha quilts are created from worn out garments imaginatively embroidered by women with motifs and tales drawn from a rich regional repertoire. They were traditionally stitched as gifts for births, weddings and other family occasions. The characteristic illustration style that comes through in the embroideries is pure folk art – in a nation known for the range and quality of its folk art traditions.

Published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, this book is a comprehensive investigation into what might be called embroidered illustration. It is a welcome addition to the books documenting Indian craft.

Philadelphia Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press. 290 pages. Hardcover. $60.00 cdn. Buy Online

Some connections:

Philadelphia Museum of Art http://www.philamuseum.org/

Yale University Press http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300154429

Have you seen India Flint's works? Do you own a beloved Kantha? Hit us in the comments section.

Adrienne Sloane, who was just in town teaching her Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach workshop, has returned to her home stateside. We were pleased to discover that both Vancouver and Maiwa got a nice write-up on her blog: The Knitter's Eye. Thanks Adrienne!

When we creacked open the September 22 edition of the Georgia straight we were surprised and delighted to see that our work with KMVS embroiderers got a mention in the edition. Style writer Amy Lu says;

"Check out this beautiful burgundy silk purse from Maiwa. It’s the perfect size for carrying your day-to-day essentials, and the drawstring closure is secure so your treasures won’t fall out. The store carries a variety of sizes and patterns so that you can find the one that best suits your personal style."

Amy Lu features KMVS embroidered bags in "Kool Thing"

Read the full text of Lu's feature here.

We've recently added more embroidered works to the accessories section of our online store. We have  embroidered shoulder and carry bags. You'll also find "Buchki" bags - wonderful embroidered pouches and leather coin purses with embroidery. All these items are also available in the Maiwa store. Do you have an embroidered bag from Maiwa? We'd love to hear about it in the comments.

Embroidery from the KMVS cooperative showcases some of the finest stitches in the world.

The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes
What they are and how to use them

Washing yardage at the Ajrakh blockprinting studio in Dhamadka, India. This photo was taken before the 2001 Kutch earthquake. The seismic disruption shifted the water table and introduced iron and other impurities. Eventually the studio was forced to relocate.

Testing the Waters

The acidity or alkalinity of the water used for dyeing will affect the colour. This is true in the mordant bath, in the dye bath, and when washing the dyed fibre. Soft water is best for most natural dyes. The exceptions are madder, weld, logwood and brazilwood. These dyes develop better in hard water - water that contains calcium and magnesium salts.

"In places like central Asia and parts of Turkey the water is very hard. It has calcium and magnesium salts. And those cause difficulties for certain dyes, especially in the red family. This is very interesting, in the parts of the world that use madder, they have hard water, so that was their primary red. And in the parts of the world that use lac, a small insect dye found throughout south-east Asia, their water is very soft. So it is typical that the water where a red dye was developed … they had the right water for the dye." - Michele Wipplinger interviewed in the documentary In Search of Lost Colour.

Most natural dyers consider rainwater best (although in certain places it may contain more contaminants than tap water) and river water next best. Well or tap water usually contains the highest concentration of contaminants from the pipes used to deliver it or the well itself. This is not usually a problem provided you determine the character of your water and either compensate or use it's qualities to your advantage.

For dyes that prefer hard water, calcium carbonate can be added in the form of finely ground chalk, or an antacid (Tum’s, Rolaid) tablet. Also soda ash, household ammonia, or wood ash water can be added to push the pH up.

If local hard water needs to be made acidic, add vinegar, lemon juice or a few crystals of citric acid. Water that contains iron is difficult to use for natural dyeing as it will not be possible to achieve clear, pure colours. The iron acts as both a mordant and a dye. Colours will be “saddened” by the iron and will come out muted and darker.

pH neutral (pH7) water should be used for rinsing and washing naturally dyed fibres and fabrics, otherwise there may be unwanted colour changes. A set of pH strips is a good way to test the water. When dyeing in a new studio, town or village it is wise to test the water first.

Next up - about fibres and cloth.

We've just put our latest podcast up.


Part 1
In this presentation the panel consider what it means to be a working traveller, talk about cultural intervention, trade, and the benefits and pitfals of craft preservation and marketing.

Join Bappaditya Biswas (weaver and entrepreneur), Stephen Huyler (anthropologist, photographer, and writer), Linda Cortright, (journalist and magazine publisher), Charllotte Kwon (owner of Maiwa and documentary filmmaker), and Sheila Paine (explorer and author) as they present a variety of approaches to travel, exploration, culture and craft.

" … the people were poor - and when people are poor they make things for themselves; once they’ve got money they buy them."

- Sheila Paine

Recorded at the 2009 Maiwa Textile Symposium on October 21, 2009
Posted September 2010

Subscribe in iTunes

The Mad Hatter by John Tenniel

The Craft Council of BC (CCBC) will be hosting an Afternoon Tea Extraordinaire from 2:30 – 5pm on Sunday, October 17th at Hycroft House – featuring an eclectic/formal tea service, and of course, hats! The CCBC is planning a number of fun and unusual activities throughout the course of the afternoon – tea leaf reading; tea tasting, fashion show and more, as well as prizes for the most outrageous and creative hats worn by our volunteers and our guests.

Proceeds from this event will go towards funding the new CCBC programs. BC was recently hit with severe funding cuts in the arts. Maiwa is providing table dressing for the event in addition to items donated for auction. Please come out and support BC Craftspeople, this event has the makings of a sensational afternoon.

Tickets can be purchased online on the CCBC web site.

Charllotte Kwon and Ismail Mohammed Khatri in India

Natural Dye Photo Sharing on Flickr

Today marks the mid-point of Charllotte Kwon's Natural Dye Workshop. Yesterday the class worked through over 80 dyebaths. We've noticed an increasing desire from students to document the results and processes through photos - and a need to share these photos with one another. After the workshop is over, when students are working on their own projects they often have a similar desire to share the details of how they got their colours.

To support this growing community we have started a group pool on Flickr. We have seeded it with our own set of photos showing natural dyes on Eri Silk. Each photo has the dye and mordant details in the description. We hope this online space can be a common area that can contain some of the enthusiasm for natural dyes once the workshop is over.

The Natural Dyes group is open to anyone with an interest in natural dyes - not just those from the workshop. We encourage your comments and discussions.

Here's the link:

Natural Dyes http://www.flickr.com/groups/1435067@N24/

The Spinner 1873 William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Some of you linguaphiles may already know A Word A Day - The daily e-mail giving an unusual word, its etymology and definition. This week the words have been related to spinning and are very interesting. Here is a set of links to the week's words.

Distaff
Spinster
Dizen
Subtile
Homespun


Jenny Dean's Wild Colour Reissued.

This classic book on natural dye use has started many fibre artists on their journey. It has been out of print for a number of years. Used copies consistently fetched high prices on Ebay. Now we are happy to report that the UK edition has just been launched with the North American Edition to be released in November.

Jenny gives full details of the reissue as well as information on any differences between editions on her blog. She also give some background on the publication process and the requests of editors on both sides of the ocean. Check it out here. Maiwa has copies on order. When they arrive they will be available in our stores and online.

Your comments are welcome.

MAIWA TEXTILE WORKSHOPS

There are a few openings in the following workshops. Click on the title for full details or online registration.


Dyeing:

Mudcloth with Michele Wipplinger
Discover the rich assortment of colour that can be gathered and brewed from the earth's crust.

Dyeing to Discharge with Carol Soderlund
Selectively remove and replace colour using clamp, pole-wrap, stencil, screen-printing, and block-printing techniques. Create striking imagery with complex layering of colour.

Acid Dyes and Discharge on Silk with Ros Aylmer
Play with the many effects that can be achieved with acid dyes and colour removal on silk. Using various shibori processes, the class will work toward a multi-layered cloth.

Between the Colours: Creative Resist with Natalie Grambow
Obtain a comprehensive understanding of resists: what advantage each has, what effects can be obtained, and what the proper techniques are for manipulating fabric, colour, and resist.

Weaving:

Weaving in the Maiwa Tradition with Jane Stafford
Learn the loom-controlled techniques found in Maiwa's handwoven textiles. Originating in Bengal, India, these are simple structures pushing the boundaries of plain weave in fine yarns.

Woven Shibori: Weaving, Dyeing, and Shaping with Catherine Ellis
Explore the relationship between woven cloth and shibori using the loom to create shibori resist. Participants will weave fabrics of wool, silk, and other fibres to create woven resists for dyeing and shaping.

Knitting:

Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach with Adrienne Sloane
Use knitting fundamentals to create shapes while taking advantage of knit’s natural tendencies. This class in 3D knitting will start participants on a journey to develop a personal language of forms.

New Pathways for Sock Knitters with Sivia Harding
This class is an introduction to Cat Bordhi’s brilliant rethinking of the structure of the sock. Explore her eight new gussetless sockitectures featured in the book New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

Vintage Techniques: Modern Knits with Christa Giles
Shape your knitting on the needles. Move away from flat fabric and create beautiful special effects. These advanced techniques duplicate many details found in vintage and modern designer clothing.

Creative:

Creative Studio with Natalie Grambow
Creativity. How can it be tapped, mined, or made to flow when we need it most? In this original workshop, students will discovering techniques of creativity, letting go of assumptions that stop their work or hold it back.

We are on the eve of our 2010 workshop series. For the weaver's among us that means we get to welcome back Jane Stafford from Jane Stafford Textiles on Salt Spring Island. Jane is one of the most sought after instructors in weaving today. It is one of the high points of the workshop series when she arrives and we unload a number of looms from her van into the Maiwa Loft. It is wonderful to have textiles being created next to all the items from the Maiwa Textile Collection.

Jane Stafford's weaving studio on Salt Spring Island.

In preparation for her workshop (a few spaces are still open) and to share her perspective with a wider audience we've interviewed Jane about her start in weaving and how it has formed the centre of her life.

M. - What is your weaving history? How did you get started?

J.S. - I grew up being taught the "gentle arts," learning to sew, embroider, mend, repair, make useful again and reuse all things 'textile'. I saw my first loom when I was 19 and became fascinated with the idea that I could make my own cloth. It only took me a few weeks to find a way into that world - once I had a shuttle in my hand I knew that weaving would be my life. I know that sounds corny but it is true.

At 19 when everyone was asking what my future plans were, I started saying "Well, I'm going to be a weaver". I wanted a loom so I got a chattel mortgage on my little car and bought my Leclerc Fanny. We still use that loom today to weave all the mohair blankets. I went to university, took a few basic design courses and started to weave some of the worst cloth you have ever seen in your life! However, I have to say that every piece of bad cloth was an opportunity to learn how to make things better.

In 1981 I left Thunder Bay for Banff, Alberta to study weaving. The Banff School of Fine Arts had just changed their textile programme to a more artistic vein, one which I had not even been aware of. Art textiles were just coming into their own and I was offered a one year residency with full scholarship.

It was pretty daunting being a kid from Thunder Bay with little awareness of what was happening in the bigger world. I think I had a little angel on my shoulder because I spent the next seven years at that school. I was weaving large sculptural pieces and installations; doing collaborative work with dancers and theatre folk.

During this whole period I was torn between the artistic, large-scale work I was doing, and my desire to weave functional cloth. Mildred Constantine was a frequent lecturer at the centre during that time (she was the curator of decorative arts at MOMA) and as we spoke of my confusion she emphatically said "Well, you know Jane, their was a time when cloth was worth it's weight in gold".

For me, this statement was a validation that simple cloth could have great value in our lives. For most people, cloth in this day and age means almost nothing. We ask little more of it than to be able to throw it in the washer and the dryer. We get new clothes every season and we fill thrift shops with our clothes from last season - or worse, we just throw them all away. I knew that cloth needed to have a much more special purpose in my life.

Around that time, Jack Larsen came to the centre and taught a workshop called "The Consummate Cloth" and I got to be his studio assistant. This was a pivotal event for me on many levels, but the most interesting thing for me was to be in a position where I just had to listen and to assist.

When you are in the 'student position' you have to perform, you have all the psychological issues around performing for your teacher and other students in your class and I never learn well in those situations. However, when you are simply assisting, you get to watch how the teacher imparts their knowledge and you can be a sponge. I didn't touch a shuttle during the entire 3 weeks but I learned more about aspiring to create a perfect piece of cloth than I had in all previous years of study. "The consummate cloth" - has a perfect sett, is designed to function and endure, has exquisite drape and hand, is simple and beautiful to the eye. To me, a bolt of plain white cloth, exquisitely woven is like the perfect loaf of bread. It is life!

M. How has weaving become the vital part of your life?

J.S. - I moved to Salt Spring Island in 1988. I started a family and I started teaching what I knew. My little business JST is the result of the last 22 years. Those years have been very organic. I have walked down roads that have failed, I have taken little paths that have opened to whole new fields. I have woven thousands of yards of fabric, taught hundreds of weavers, raised 3 beautiful boys and grown lots of vegetables. Weaving, family and farm, are my life.

M. What is your "take" on weaving? Why do you think people start?

J.S. - I think that all North Americans start weaving because of a general interest in textiles. Some are drawn to the technical end of it, and some to the design end of it. Some use it as a type of therapy. I'm fine with whatever reason they have - because we all need things in our lives for different reasons.

M. In which directions do you encourage your students ?

J.S. - The one thing I encourage all my students to do, is to, 'do it as well as you can'. I know for a fact that everyone can learn the skills necessary to create good cloth. Design and theory can be taught. Good technique can be taught. And with good technique and good design you are able to realize your dreams. These things are concrete.

I encourage my students to start with a small box. To learn about what is in that box, for example; Plain Weave. Plain Weave has got to be one of the most diverse and exciting weave structures that I can think of. The ability to transform itself into different, unique, amazing fabrics is infinite. We can create simple canvases on which to paint with a billion colours; in stripes, wide and narrow, then crossed with themselves, or other colours to create checks and plaids. We can use our reeds to change the density of the cloth; to create warp faced or weft faced fabrics. We can use our reeds to create crammed, dented and corded fabrics. We can weave multiple layers of plain weave simultaneously to create double cloth and triple cloth. We can throw different yarns into the mix, some that shrink and some that don't - to create 3 dimensional cloth. It is endless.

Once you have explored your plain weave box, then try exploring your twill box. When you stay in one box for awhile, you begin to know it. Once you know it, it is yours.

Weaving is a metaphor for life. The warp threads are what we have been given through our ancestry, they lengthen through our experience and as we weave our weft through them. Sometimes the structures we weave are complex and difficult and sometimes they are simple and elegant - just like life.

M. What is it about Bengal weaving that intrigues you?

J.S. - I am so drawn to the Bengal weaves because they are simple and elegant, multi layered, architectural and every time I look at them I am reminded of how much I have to learn. : ) They are 'consummate cloth'.

M. How is it you have a loom named after you?
J.S. - I have worked for Louet North America for many many years. I have done training for them, designed fabrics with their yarns, and co-created the DVD on all their looms. Every 2 years I used to go to the Convergence Conference with them to demonstrate their looms and at one of these conferences Jan Louet and I were talking about table looms. I told him all the things I liked about their looms and all the things I didn't like about their table loom. Jan asked me for a wish list, which I gladly provided.

A year later, I received a box in the mail with the first prototype for a new table loom. Everything that had been on my wish list was on the new loom. Jan made several more prototypes and in the end we have … The Jane.

----

After the interview we chatted a bit about production weaving and teaching. Jane told us that she found there was such a demand for the patterns and designs of her weaving that she changed her emphasis to teaching. Being liberated from the repetition of production work has enabled her to put more energy into the creative aspects of weaving. "And I love sharing the skills and techniques in a teaching environment."

Spaces are still available for Weaving in the Maiwa Tradition with Jane Stafford. The workshop explores the woven techniques of Bengal, India.

A container has just arrived from India - we've unpacked it and started to polish the wood ...


Handmade rakes from the rakemakers of Bagru, Rajasthan. Ordinarily these rakes are available only once a year at a special market festival. We saw them in the market and loved them so much that we brought some back. Made from carved wood, bound at the neck with a special handmade hide fitting.
Price each 29.95

The second item is an old teak sideboard. The beauty of the wood on this item provides an elegant compliment to any room.
Price 999.00

The third item is perfect find. Another old piece, this one is a flawless chest of drawers. Ten drawers with iron hardware. Classic lines finish the teak wood on this piece.
Price 649.00

The fourth item is an old teak vanity. Finished in the style of a writing desk this piece has four small drawers and a hinged box at the centre. Two larger drawers are found underneath with a mirror top and centre. This item is well suited for a hallway, bathroom or bedroom.
Price 649.00

Another eclectic item, this old hat stand features two mirrors, six coat hooks, standing space for umbrellas or walking sticks, and a drawer for keys, gloves or scarves. An addition that will make leaving or returning to the house a pleasure.
Price 499.00

The sixth item is and old cabinet, both tall and narrow. It has been finished to emphasize the beautiful patina on the distressed surface. The unusual shape of this cabinet works well for a corner, pantry, or niche area.
Price 599.00

We receive containers on a regular basis holding old furniture, carved doors & thresholds, teak cabinets, coffee tables, book cases, engraved water urns, ironwork chairs and tables, furniture handpainted by the renowned Abhi Shakar and Jetu Singh, and many other items both large and small.

All hardwoods are old or reclaimed.

Previously we gave a little overview of some of the factors influencing rising cochineal prices. Like all crops, cochineal prices depend on supply and demand, with a number of complicated forces at work: Large buyers trying to keep the price low, farmers wanting a better return, unexpected demand from changes in the market. Not to mention all the usual forces that shape the harvest; weather, disease, pests and disasters.

For anyone who's life was caught up in the agricultural production of colour it must have seemed like a pipe dream to discover that you could simply "make" a colour. No harvesting, no plantations, no labour disputes, no drying, extracting, or storage problems.

Enter our man William Henry Perkins. It is 1856. He is a young chemistry student working in a makeshift laboratory in his flat. Little more than a table and some beakers. He is trying to get to quinine - very useful in combating malaria in the British Empire's tropical colonies. The process fails but does yield some interesting colours in the beaker.

In his history of Perkins, Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, Simon Garfield notes that a less curious man would have thrown the failed experiment away in disgust or disappointment.

Perkins investigated further and the chemical dye industry was born. The first synthetic colour was, quite remarkably, one of the most difficult to make from natural substances. It was close to imperial or tyrian purple (a shellfish dye). It was also close to logwood, but much more saturated.

The dress at the top of the post was made around 1862. It clearly shows the new synthetic colour. It is not difficult to imagine the sensation that it would have caused in the textile industry. The industrial revolution had already changed the production of cloth,  now it was poised to change forever the way that cloth was coloured.

Maiwa is well known as an enthusiastic proponent of natural dyes. So why are we talking about synthetic colour? For two reasons: First, Perkin's discovery puts an exact date on the first use of synthetic colour. Everything before 1856 was dyed naturally. Some critics of natural dyes claim that it is the very nature of natural dyes to give timid shades that live short lives. A visit to any textile collection or museum confirms that this is simply not true. The classic example of the longevity of natural dyes are tapestries and carpets.

There is a second reason to be familiar with the history of synthetic dyes. Although synthetic colour helped to eliminate some of the worst aspects of colonialism - slave labour on indigo plantations, for example - it created a new set of problems with toxic substances and the disposal of dye waste. In some parts of the world those problems are still with us today.

Particularly in the west, environmental objections have led to considerable improvements in synthetic dyes. For the artisan market a wide range of safe, effective and colour accurate synthetic colourants are available.

More information about the birth of synthetic dyes can be found in our documentary In Search of Lost Colour.

Catherine Ellis: Silk Currents

Silk

Woven shibori resist, scoured, permanent pleat

This box arrived the other day at the Maiwa Loft. International first-class mail. We receive a lot of packages, many from locations all over the world, but this one was particularly interesting. It held a couple of prepared warps for the Woven Shibori class that starts almost exactly one month from now.

Catharine Ellis's breakthrough technique - woven shibori - embraces new approaches to the art of weaving and dyeing. In this technique weft threads create stunning and unique resist patters.

We have a few spaces still available for students to learn this technique and we will send the prepared warps directly to the student with their registration confirmations.

Woven Shibori is a process of weaving and resist that Catharine Ellis developed in the early 1990’s and has continued to evelve both technically and artistically.

Traditional Japanese shibori uses a variety of means to compress cloth before it is dyed including stitching, binding, folding, pleating, ect. The stitched shibori was the inspiration for woven shibori. In traditional stitched or mokume shibori parallel rows of running stitches are sewn by hand with a needle into a piece of finished cloth. When the stitches are completed they’re used to gather the cloth tightly. Then the cloth is dyed. The folds in the cloth resist the dye to varying degrees, resembling mokume or wood grain.

This class is suitable for weavers of all skill levels.

Catharine taught the Professional Fibre Program at Haywood Community College for 30 years before retiring in 2008. She is now devoted to studio work and teaching a limited number of workshops. Her original training was in traditional woven techniques, which led her to weave functional fabrics for many years, often incorporating ikat resist dyeing. More recently, her career has been defined by the discovery and exploration of the woven shibori process.

Catherine Ellis is the author of Woven Shibori, Interweave press 2005.

If you are a weaver you won't want to miss this rare opportunity to study with the woman who created and popularized the woven shibori technique.

Catherine Ellis: Wool Felt - Dyed

Merino wool

Woven shibori resist, felted, dyed

Catherine Ellis: 400 Steel Threads

Stainless steel, 80" x 20"

Woven shibori, heat

Catherine Ellis: Silence

Merino wool

Woven shibori resist, felted

From the Maiwa Archive. This story was originally published in the Vancouver Sun ten years ago on May 1, 2000. We are proud to say that we are still dealing with artisans the same way. The text of the article is reprinted here or click on the images for a PDF version.

by Alan Daniels
Sun Business Reporter, Vancouver Sun

[Photo caption] THREADS of HOPE: Charllotte Kwon works tirelessly to improve the lot in life for Indian workers who make cloth such as this.

Charllotte Kwon spent $250,000 buying textiles in India last year for her Granville Island stores, but could have paid 30-40 per cent less if she hadn’t been so determined to drive prices higher.

In a complete reversal of conventional wisdom, she thinks globally and acts locally, and her business philosophy is the antithesis of the traditional bottom-line mantra to buy low and sell high.

Instead, she believes in paying above the going rate for the complex weaves, botanical dyes and collector-quality embroidery that she purchases.

On buying missions to remote Third World villages, she convinces artisans to raise their prices, because she believes they should be paid more like professionals than subsistence workers.

Traditional textiles are her passion, she says and she believes improving living standards of people who produce them is the only way they will survive.

“It appalled me how much was disappearing at a fast pace,” she says. “I love being part of this age of technological advances, but I can’t bear to see what the world is losing in the collective, creative energy of cultures and all of their history.”

She says the first time she tried to get artisans in India to raise their prices, they reacted with amazement and distrust.

“’She’s going the wrong way. She’s bidding up. She doesn’t know how to negotiate.’”

She deals with that by showing local people the actual price stickers from her store, translating Canadian dollars into rupees.

“I tell them. ‘This is what I sell for. This is what it costs me to move it from your village to Mumbai. This is what it costs to ship it to Vancouver. This is how much I pay Canada Customs. This is what I pay my employees, this is my rent on the store, this is what I pay in tax and this is what I can pay you.”

In most cases it is substantially more that the artisans previously were getting.

“They have been stepped on so much under the Indian system,” she says. “Crafts people are really low on the respectability totem pole, yet society places art at a high level. They need to see themselves that way.”

Dismissing any suggestion that she is a charitable institution, Kwon says she operates a profitable business, employing a dozen people in Vancouver.

Maiwa Handprints, which includes two retail stores selling clothing and bedding with a production studio in East Vancouver, and an office and warehouse in Mumbai grosses $1 million last year.

“I’m doing this because I want to prove to myself it’s possible,” she says. I am not going to pay minimum wage, I am going to see where my maximum is. I live okay. I don’t need anything more.”

Kwon insists she is a business woman, not a benefactor, although she concedes that whole families – even villages – in India depend on her orders.

“We don’t just drop in somewhere and say, ‘Do you weave? Anything happening here?,’” she says. “Careful research happens first. We will visit and area, get a feeling for it, talk to people, see if there’s a market, assess whether we would upset the balance.

“Only then do we get product samples done. Once we have established a working relationship as professionals – say two or three orders a year – we will not leave them. They will make the decision that they want us to leave.”

When she started her business a decade ago, Kwon, a weaver and silk-screen artist, travelled widely in Asia to learn about her art and find materials – in China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia – but India became her passion.

“I am a high-energy person; I have incredible drive,” she says. “India was the first country that used all my energy and creativity. I was really exhausted there.”

She goes four times a year, usually travelling by jeep to villages in which she deals directly with the artisans.

“I won’t deal with co-operatives run by the Indian government and I don’t deal with governments here,” she says. I am very single-minded about that.

“I have hired a local man and his mother in Mumbai. We have established an export company and we have an export number that crafts people can use.”

Kwon refuses to deal with agents, because that’s where the corruption begins. Dealing directly with the artisans guarantees they get full payment and ensures continuity of supply.

In a village called Ntuma, in the northeastern state of Nagaland, production for Maiwa has grown from three weavers to 30. Yet it took three years before any product reached her store because initially it didn’t meet her standards.

Kwon says she persevered because she could see the potential and she paid for every shipment she rejected.

Finally she was rewarded with what she describes as “absolutely perfect product” a complex weaving produced on a backstrap loom with supplemental weft, which she uses for pillow covers, place mats, table runners and bedding.

In some cases, she has taken photographs of traditional weavings from London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, or the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C and persuaded artisans in the areas in which it originated to recreate it.

“It eats at you when you love certain things the way I do,” she says.

In Vancouver, Susanne Summersgill, owner of Some Piece of Work, a store which sells naturally-dyed clothing for children, and is a teacher in the textile department at Capilano College, says Kwon is a frequent guest-lecturer.

“She talks not only on the technical side of weaving, but also about her business, which is inspirational,” Summersgill says. “The students are just in awe of her at the end.

“It’s about ethical business. It’s about making a difference in the world. It’s about stepping lightly and it’s about fulfilling her passion. She is an amazing person.”

Kwon, of British background, married to a Chinese, notes that originally she had no ambition to open a retail store. She applied to open a studio in Granville Island and found she had space for both. Soon the retail side took over.

“When I realized there was an extraordinary number of talented people in the world who couldn’t continue because they couldn’t find a market in their country, my business started to have an identity beyond my own work,” she says.

It was a huge realization when I realized I could be quite happy creatively in ways that didn’t require me to produce anything. I could be a link or bridge to people that were producing work that just astonished me.”

Kwon says she has great respect for the artisans she works with to the point of paying for all product that was destroyed in a recent cyclone in the state of Orissa on the Bay of Bengal. In return, she expects loyalty and quality.

“There has to be a responsibility an liability on both sides,” she says. “I am not going to put a product in my store that isn’t going to show its worth as absolutely the best.”

Kwon credits teamwork and the enthusiasm of her staff for Maiwa’s success and for spreading it’s credo.

“I truly believe there’s a need for economic trade in the way that Maiwa trades. There can be different ways of trading. It can still happen in a global economy. There isn’t just one model. There can be lots of different ways and lots of people can make a living from it.

She says she is sure there are others who share her philosophy.

“I would love to have a conference of this type of business,” she says. “We could all get together and see how each other is doing. There’s definitely room for that.

We've broken the seal on a new shipping container and unloaded some very beautiful items.

We receive containers on a regular basis holding old furniture, carved doors & thresholds, teak cabinets, coffee tables, book cases, engraved water urns, ironwork chairs and tables, furniture handpainted by the renowned Abhi Shakar and Jetu Singh, and many other items both large and small.

All hardwoods are old or reclaimed.

The top cabinet is reclaimed teak with two glass doors. Perfect for a book case, stacks of textiles or your dining room plates. This cabinet stands 5 feet high.
Price 499.00

The second item is a hand carved and painted mantle. This piece is one of the architectural embellishments that we receive regularly. We have a few of these that range from 2 - 4 feet in length. They all have been finished with teak wood to make a useful shelf.
Price range $189.00 - $389.00

The third item is a wooden display case with a glass door. At 20 x 14 inches and six inches deep, these make wonderful spice cabinets for the kitchen. We've had one customer tell us they have one in the front hall to hold everything needed as they leave in the morning - keys, letters, those videos they rented and shouldn't forget, a cellphone, that borrowed book they keep meaning to return ...
Price range 89.95 - 149.95

This is a solid teak chest - finished in rich, saturated colours. These make very good small tables with the added benefit that you can hide considerable clutter inside at moment's notice (until it's full that is, then you have to get another one).
Price 249.00


Teak bench. Simple and elegant. This bench is a delight for the beauty of the wood. It makes a great accent to a front hall.
Price 299.00

Maiwa East
More than you imagine
Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10 - 5
Sunday 11 - 5

How to find us.

Looking for a creative summer project? If you've never experienced the magic of dyeing with indigo, summer is a perfect time to try out a vat. We know some dyers (such as Jenny Balfour-Paul and Lucy Goffin) who make it an annual social occasion with two or three friends in the garden. No need to worry about dripping on the lawn as you move the pieces from the vat to the clothesline. The sight of your blue creations waving in the breeze is a strong inspiration for new projects and techniques.

When Maiwa conducts workshops, such as this one in Morocco, it is always the indigo day which stands apart in our memories. The unique experience of colouring cloth and yarn quickly has everyone searching for items to place in the vat.

We've just redone our instructions for indigo (both synthetic and natural) and woad. They will help you get started working with these historic dyes. The instructions contain recipes for both indigo and woad, tips and cautions.



We have instruction sheets for a variety of textile techniques available for free download in our online store.

We have a few openings in all the following workshops. Click on the title for full details or online registration. Workshops run September, October, November 2010.


For Dyers:

Mudcloth with Michele Wipplinger
Discover the rich assortment of colour that can be gathered and brewed from the earth's crust.

Dyeing to Discharge with Carol Soderlund
Selectively remove and replace colour using clamp, pole-wrap, stencil, screen-printing, and block-printing techniques. Create striking imagery with complex layering of colour.

Vat Dyeing with Ros Aylmer
A number of dye techniques can be most effectively done with vat dyes, making this technique especially attractive to those working in the film, theatre and costume industries.

Acid Dyes and Discharge on Silk with Ros Aylmer
Play with the many effects that can be achieved with acid dyes and colour removal on silk. Using various shibori processes, the class will work toward a multi-layered cloth.

Between the Colours: Creative Resist with Natalie Grambow
Obtain a comprehensive understanding of resists: what advantage each has, what effects can be obtained, and what the proper techniques are for manipulating fabric, colour, and resist.

For Weavers:

Weaving in the Maiwa Tradition with Jane Stafford
Learn the loom-controlled techniques found in Maiwa's handwoven textiles. Originating in Bengal, India, these are simple structures pushing the boundaries of plain weave in fine yarns.

Woven Shibori: Weaving, Dyeing, and Shaping with Catherine Ellis
Explore the relationship between woven cloth and shibori using the loom to create shibori resist. Participants will weave fabrics of wool, silk, and other fibres to create woven resists for dyeing and shaping.

For Knitters:

Artful Knit: A Sculptural Approach with Adrienne Sloane
Use knitting fundamentals to create shapes while taking advantage of knit’s natural tendencies. This class in 3D knitting will start participants on a journey to develop a personal language of forms.

New Pathways for Sock Knitters with Sivia Harding
This class is an introduction to Cat Bordhi’s brilliant rethinking of the structure of the sock. Explore her eight new gussetless sockitectures featured in the book New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

Spin, Blend, Knit, Lace with Venessa Bentley

Explore spinning yarns and knitting lace work. Learn about the wheel, fibre choice, preparation, and spinning technique. Work with exotic fibres such as alpaca, llama, merino, polwarth, camel, mohair, angora, silk, and more.

Vintage Techniques: Modern Knits with Christa Giles

Shape your knitting on the needles. Move away from flat fabric and create beautiful special effects. These advanced techniques duplicate many details found in vintage and modern designer clothing.

Knitworks: Knit to Flatter and Fit with Sally Melville

A knitter who spends the time and energy to make her own clothes should be rewarded with a result that makes her happy and proud. Learn how to knit to fit and flatter, with no mystery as to how this happened.

Fair Isle Knitting with Venessa Bentley

Fair Isle knitting is a distinctive form of circular, stranded-colour knitting inspired by the seaside, meadows, moorlands, and skies of this distant place. Learn the art of Fair Isle knitting which is marked by rich colours and varied geometric designs.

For the Creative:

Creative Studio with Natalie Grambow
Creativity. How can it be tapped, mined, or made to flow when we need it most? In this original workshop, students will discovering techniques of creativity, letting go of assumptions that stop their work or hold it back.

Funk Shui Felting with Jessica de Haas
Discover the many fascinating ways to create pattern and design on the felted surface. These include fabric inlays, colour layering and cutout, creation and use of partial felts and wool and silk "papers" to achieve crisp lines.

Works on Canvas with Natalie Grambow
Canvas is for artists, and an unstretched canvas is an open invitation for the surface designer to begin exploration. In this highly creative workshop, suitable for both the novice and experienced artist, participants will be guided through the steps of making an art cloth.