the MAIWA BLOG: November 2020

OUR SEVENTH FREE LESSON

KEEPING A DYE JOURNAL

Nothing is as helpful as good record keeping.

See Our Free Lesson on Keeping a Dye Journal

We have launched our new online teaching platform at maiwa.teachable.com. We are now offering our seventh free lesson - this one on working with a dye journal.

ON DECEMBER 1st 2020

We announce our first three online courses.

Registration opens December 7th at 10am Pacific Time

MAIWA SCHOOL OF TEXTILES

Online Learning on Teachable

maiwa.teachable.com

We have always wanted to expand our teaching to a wider audience. We think that everyone should have access to high-quality instruction in textile techniques, delivered in an engaging visual format.

Watch Our Teaser Here

Taking full advantage of over thirty years of world-wide textile research, Maiwa has been busy writing, editing, filming and producing its first set of online workshops.

schooloftextiles.com

Our website at scholoftextiles.com remains active and hosts our podcast listings. It will also contain all the listings of all our workshops - be they in-person or online.

In December we open registration for our first three online courses.

Make sure you are subscribed to our email list.

Keep an eye on schooloftextiles.com for updates.

A NATURAL DYE JOURNAL

At Maiwa, we love dye journals so much we designed our own.

This journal has been an idea of ours for a long time. It is like a combination of a travel journal and a natural dye journal. It is the journal we have always wanted. The paper is robust and can take a wealth of paste-ins — yarns, swatches, photos, leaves.

See the Natural Dye Journal Here

Saturday, November 28, 2020 No comments

A NATURAL DYE JOURNAL

At Maiwa, we’ve kept journals all our lives. For the past 34 years working in textiles & natural dyes we’ve traveled to lands that have offered up history and wisdom of the plant world and artisan techniques, always keeping our journals near. Recording what we’ve learned, memories that have touched our souls, techniques that have inspired us and ideas that have sparked on the road.

This journal has been an idea of ours for a long time. It is like a combination of a travel journal and a natural dye journal. It is the journal we have always wanted!

Like any journal, a dyer’s record becomes more valuable as time passes. This is especially true if you love to experiment with dyestuff, mordants and tannins. A journal is an aid to memory which will bring back all of the wonderful sensations of dyeing.

Of course, a dyer’s journal can contain much more than notes about process. It can contain your plans for colours, inspiration from nature, drawings, paint samples, and your thoughts on the dye process.

You may find yourself wanting more than one…

The pages of this journal are sprinkled with photos that inspire; images of plants that give colour to cloth, techniques documented, freshly dyed yarns hanging on the line, natural dyes in all their glory.

There is a lot of space for drawings and notes, for remembering how you achieved a colour and the feeling you had on the day you did. How you journal is totally personal, we just supply the space to begin.

SEE THE NATURAL DYE JOURNAL HERE

Shown: The Natural Dye Journal with dyed samples attached

The Natural Dye journal shown with Maiwa's Natural Dyes, Additives, & Soaps.

Shown: Naturally dyed fabrics and yarns

SEE ALL OF OUR KITS HERE

NATURAL DYE KIT

THE ULTIMATE NATURAL INDIGO KIT

NATURAL DYE EXTRACT KIT

THE ULTIMATE NATURAL DYE KIT

TANNIN IRON EXPLORATION KIT

NATURAL INDIGO FRUCTOSE KIT

SEE ALL OF OUR KITS HERE

This year’s holiday shipping times are going to be difficult to predict.

For international shipping,

please plan ahead and allow a generous amount of time.

To our U.S. customers – don't forget that the exchange rate works in your favour, it's like an extra discount.

Thursday, November 26, 2020 No comments

Block printing is one of the most versatile ways to put pattern on cloth. It is such a phenomena in India that entire cultures and communities evolve in the service of this remarkable printing technique. We are proud to commission traditional block carvers to cut the designs that we sell online.

Our orders keep an entire community of block carvers working. We commission traditional blocks for processes such as Ajrakh and we also commission blocks to sell in our stores so that all artisans can experience the wonder of working with wooden blocks

Some blocks are designed by us, but most are designed by the very clever geometric imaginations of the carvers themselves. We've just had a huge order arrive - and they are fantastic!

It is not necessary to print with these blocks to appreciate how beautiful they are. They work as extraordinary objects that will inspire you each time you see them.

SEE ALL WOODEN BLOCK KITS

SEE ALL WOODEN BLOCKS

We've hand-selected some of our very favourite things as well as gift ideas that we love. The work of skilled artisans speaks through weave, stitch, pattern and colour — and adds a layer of meaning that never fades.

There is something for everyone, from one-of-a-kind hand embroidered bags, to handwoven shawls, to the gift of supporting the Maiwa Foundation in its many projects.

VISIT OUR COLLECTION OF PERFECT GIFTS

This year’s holiday shipping times are going to be difficult to predict.

For international shipping,

please plan ahead and allow a generous amount of time.

To our U.S. customers – don't forget that the exchange rate works in your favour, it's like an extra discount.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020 No comments

OUR SIXTH FREE LESSON

SET UP YOUR STUDIO

From drying racks to drain guards — some simple tips for getting the most out of your studio space - be it a spot in the garden or a room in your apartment.

See Our Free Lesson on Setting Up Your Studio

We have launched our new online teaching platform at maiwa.teachable.com. We are now offering our sixth free lesson - this one on setting up your studio.

Over the following weeks we will be posting additional free lessons on important topics for textile artists.

ON DECEMBER 1st 2020

We announce our first three online courses.

Registration opens December 7th at 10am Pacific Time

MAIWA SCHOOL OF TEXTILES

Online Learning on Teachable

maiwa.teachable.com

We have always wanted to expand our teaching to a wider audience. We think that everyone should have access to high-quality instruction in textile techniques, delivered in an engaging visual format.

Watch Our Teaser Here

Taking full advantage of over thirty years of world-wide textile research, Maiwa has been busy writing, editing, filming and producing its first set of online workshops.

schooloftextiles.com

Our website at scholoftextiles.com remains active and hosts our podcast listings. It will also contain all the listings of all our workshops - be they in-person or online.

In December we open registration for our first three online courses.

Make sure you are subscribed to our email list.

Keep an eye on schooloftextiles.com for updates.

Saturday, November 21, 2020 No comments

ONE OF A KIND SHAWLS

Over the centuries, communities of block printer have often migrated. When they do, their designs and ways of working change and evolve. This is certainly true of the Mumbai block printers. Originally dyers from Kachchh, Gujarat, Ahmed Khatri and his son Sarfraz Khatri have taken the art of hand block printing in a completely new direction. Still working with natural dyes and traditional processes, they only work in contemporary designs they themselves create. They have designed an astonishing array of special blocks to create unusual distressed effects such as might be found on old painted walls. They have also designed a range of motifs, borders and embellishments. On silk, their preferred cloth, the designs have an incredible vibrancy and life.

SEE ALL SHAWLS

Any day of the year, really, is the right day for a shawl. We find comfort in cloth, held next to our skin, wrapped around us. Under a coat or over your shoulders, a shawl is so simple - a rectangle of cloth - yet it is the very idea of comfort.

These shawls are magnificent creations best kept close. And they are as versatile as they are beautiful — wrapped around you to stay warm, or even spread on a bed or sofa; a showcase of pattern and thread.

SEE ALL SHAWLS