A weaver in Odisha winds tussar silk off the bobbins to prepare a warp for the loom.

Many areas in Odisha (formerly Orissa) are suitable for the cultivation of tussar silk. Tussar, Antheraea mylitta is a very large moth. In contrast to bombyx mori (the Chinese silkworm most of us are familiar with) the tussar caterpillars spend their larval stage outside in trees. As the larva grows the farmers move it from tree to tree to ensure that it has a fresh supply of leaves.

The worms (caterpillars, really) are beautiful and the most juicy green colour. They are eating machines, growing constantly as they change from the tiny worms that emerge from eggs to the massive creatures that are ready to begin spinning a cocoon.


The tussar moth is also raised in Assam and we encountered it in the moth stage when we visited in 2008. The silk is an amber colour and makes for very distinctive textiles. Entire villages will specialize in the cultivation, spinning and weaving of tussar silk. Threads are wound by combining the strands from many coccoons. They are often reeled by rubbing over a smooth surface such as the belly of a pot or the weaver's thigh. Thigh-reeling is popular and you can see artisans on the front porch, chatting and reeling throughout the day.

A village artisan reels tussar silk on his thigh.

Tussar silk in hanks dyed and ready for weaving.

Banjara women among the sunflowers.

Team Maiwa is in Southern India at the moment doing some research on the Banjara. It has been a week now, going from thanda to thanda. A thanda is a Banjara settlement. Historically these were temporary as the Banjara were nomadic, but increasingly thandas are becoming more permanent. We have been tremendously fortunate to be able to travel for a little while with Jan and Laxmi Duclos. Jan has lived most of his life in India and his wife, Laxmi Naik Duclos, is herself a Banjara woman and a master of the art of embroidery.

Tomorrow we leave Karnataka. Our days have been humid, dusty, and absolutely incredible.

Women bring out their embroidery to talk about patterns, mirrors, and cowries.

Jan has led us to some beautiful houses also, with wooden beams and traditional structures.

Last night (October 24) was the concluding event of the Maiwa Textile Symposium. New this year is a lecture/event that focuses on the work of the Maiwa Foundation. Maiwa's founder, and director of the foundation Charllotte Kwon, gave a talk that focused on a visit to the Living Blue project in Bangladesh.

Charllotte situated the project in contrast to the industrial garment production which dominates the national economy. The talk was illustrated with photos and video clips showing the work that the foundation did in troubleshooting dyeing techniques and looking over the systems of craft production.

Charllotte gave a passionate appeal to look to craft, not as charity, but as the natural resource of a culture that is located in the head and heart of an individual.

The Threads lecture was also an opportunity to launch the new Foundation book. A hardcover book documenting the work of the Maiwa Foundation since its inception.

The book is available to order online here: http://www.maiwa.com/home/books/books/index.html

Here are some preview pages of the book.

On Tuesday October 22nd Lorraine Roy delivered her lecture, The Sylvan Spirit. It was a walk in the woods with a person who has spent a lifetime among the science and art of trees.

Lorraine has tasted the twigs of the cherry birch and found them reminiscent of mint. She has studied the role of mycorrhizal fungi and found an astounding symbiosis connecting young and old trees. She has plumbed the depths of roots and spent many hours beside the native plants of the riparian zones of Southwestern Ontario.

And ... she has turned these experiences into a wealth of textile works created in her own unique method. She took the audience through the process and illustrated the results. Images showed the development of her work and also how she works with commissions.

At the conclusion of Lorraine's talk she presented a shortlist of her favourite books and some of the references she mentioned in her lecture. We are happy to give that list again here:

Lorraine Roy's Shortlist

“The Year of the Flood” Margaret Atwood
“Paradise of God”  Norman Wirzba
“Tree”  David Suzuki
“The Unfinished Universe”  Louise B. Young
“Seeds of Woody Plants in the United States” US Dept of Agriculture
“Native American Ethnobotany”  Daniel E. Moerman
Suzanne Simard, Mother Trees, UBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8SORM4dYG8
Test Tube Data: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21570671-archives-could-last-thousands-years-when-stored-dna-instead-magnetic

Lorraine Roy's website: www.lroytextileart.com

Janusz Wrobel’s website: www.januszwrobel.com

On Wednesday October 16th, Rachel Meginnes delivered her lecture - "The Plainweave Thread."
The audience was mesmerized by the progression of Rachel's work and the fastidious attention to detail that was payed to the fabric itself. Rachel works to remove threads, distress the cloth and then build it back up again with paints and surface treatments. The work can take weeks and it continues until she is satisfied that the piece is complete.

Rachel's journey was a fascinating one and she has often restructured her artistic practice to suit the locations in which she finds herself. A frequent phrase was "I needed to push myself." Indeed Rachel's body of work has been built up through a series of investigations as she interacted with new locations or landscapes. Often her starting point is a grid. "It's where I feel safe." she has said.

There was a lively question and answer after the lecture as people wanted to know more about both her work and her method of working. You can find Rachel's pieces online here: www.plainweavestudios.com

Rachel adapting her work to paper, while working in a friend's studio in San Francisco.

A series of works where Rachel has adapted her working methodology to combine fabric and paper.

The pinboard at Rachel's workshop in the Maiwa Loft.

On Tuesday October 15, Akemi Nakano Cohn delivered her lecture - Journeys and Traces: Art and Life through Katagami. In the talk Akemi presented an evocative journey that began with her family's traditional japanese costumes. Akemi discussed her art and how certain commissions were the result of attempting to translate a particular inspiration.

Akemi concluded the talk by showing some of the traditional tools used in her work and holding up both the finished cloth and the stencils used to make the distinctive patterns. She explained how the the stencils were made and cut and how they were an early mass production technique.



Our next lecture is The Sylvan Spirit with Lorraine Roy on Tueday October 22nd. Tickets are still available here.

Our furniture - where it comes from - how it's made.

Dedication is everything - a student piece made while studying in Japan with Bryan Whitehead.

Saturday night John Gillow presented a detailed and story-filled account of his travels in the Islamic world. It was a visual journey and the audience were fortunate to be able to see and handle the textiles first-hand.

Thursday night the Maiwa Symposium was proud to welcome back international traveller, textile dealer, explorer and author John Gillow. John has published eleven books of textiles documenting diverse techniques, cultures, and fibres. Examples were in the Maiwa store and hung in the Net Loft building.

The first event of the Maiwa Textile Symposium - Bryan Whitehead's exhibition opening.


Join us this Friday September 27 for Quirky Japanese Makimono an exhibition by Bryan Whitehead. The exhibition reception starts at 6pm at the Silk Weaving Studio: 1531 Johnston St. Granville Island, Vancouver, Canada. See the map below.

click for larger version

Bryan's lecture and two workshops are sold out. Check out our website to see more information about Maiwa Events and Lectures.

India Flint spoke to a capacity crowd on Thursday night as she took the audience through some impressive ways to get colour on cloth. Starting in her native Australia, India showed slides of the many beautiful shades and patterns to be had from eucalyptus leaves. She also explored the options available from river and ocean muds and waters, as well as an extensive variety of plants. The talk included images of India's gallery installations and also her work done in costume design for a number of companies including the West Australian Ballet.

True to the title of her lecture: The Peripatetic Alchemist - Travels with a Dyepot, India started a dye project as soon as she arrived in Vancouver. Within 50 yards of the Net Loft (the event location on Granville Island) India collected a variety of materials including plants and some handmade nails. She made a dye bundle and heated it in a small crockpot that she brought with her. At the conclusion of the lecture India unwrapped the parcel to reveal some remarkable colours.

Our next event is textile author and trader John Gillow presenting African Textiles on September 26th. Tickets are still available here.

Thursday night Michel Garcia opened the 2013 Maiwa Textile Symposium lecture series with a talk about the remarkable world of plant-based mordants.

Michel Garcia teaching at the Secrets of the Dye Garden

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

This This is the last vat recipe in our series "The Organic Vat." It follows our introduction, About the Organic Vat, our general procedure post, Indigo: The Fruit Vat, and our last post 3 Organic Vat Recipes.

The Ferrous Vat

This is called the “1, 2, 3” vat – it is a cold vat that is great for cotton and silk. It is not recommended for wool because of the iron.



The Ferrous Vat gives a beautiful dark indigo and has the advantage of being a cold vat that keeps for months. It is good for printing as it does not require long dips. It is a vat that has been known throughout history.

Prepare as with the fruit vat.

Start with hot water – almost boiling. Add the indigo to the vat, then the ferrous sulphate, then the lime. Wait for the vat to turn yellowy-green. Check for the bronze surface and the dark bubbles. Begin to dye with short dips (10-15 minutes). Oxidize in water and then the air.

These organic vats were originally developed by French dye chemist and botanist, Michel Garcia. Michel has been teaching and lecturing at the Maiwa Textile Symposium since 2009. He has worked with Maiwa in India as a dye specialist, most notably at the 2011 Maiwa Masterclass. Michel and Maiwa founder Charllotte Kwon meet on a regular basis to conduct natural dye research, explore recipes and test procedures. Together they are always looking for techniques that give the most exquisite colours - made to outlast the fibres they adorn.

This is our last day of our natural dye workshop at Jane Stafford Textiles. It is the day when we teach indigo. Indigo sits alone in the line-up of natural dyes. It has its own unique chemistry and behaviour. When items emerge from the dye pot it is nothing short of spectacular.

Charllotte Kwon opens up the last day with instructions for gathering the samples.

The workshop opened with explanations on how to gather and label samples. Students make a comprehensive swatch book with the combinations of dyes used carefully annotated.

The group moves outside where we have a perfect day for dyeing.

Many of the techniques that Charllotte taught can be found in the Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes. Check out our posts on Indigo and our recent posts about the Organic indigo vat.

Charllotte explains how to make an indigo dye pot.

Charllotte and Gale Anderson-Palm check the pH in a dye pail.

Gail demonstrated some clamp resist. To see what goes on she used clear plexiglass. You can see the dye creeping in on the edge.

Yarns and swatches overdyed with indigo.

Students divided up their samples and a certain number of them were overdyed with indigo. After the required overdyeing the pots are opened up to individual pieces. Students worked with some stitch and clamp resist. Indigo is always an exciting end to a workshop.

Jane Stafford herself - unfurls her scarf after a dip in the indigo.

That wrapped up our Salt Spring Island workshop. If you are a resident of Salt Spring or the nearby areas and would like to take a workshop like this keep your eyes on Jane Stafford's web site and make certain you subscribe to her newsletter.