the MAIWA BLOG: September 2022

A PATCHWORK HISTORY OF RURAL LIFE

THERE IS ONLY ONE OF EACH QUILT

Fields of colour, a familiar favourite cloth patched into place, a play of fabric. All pieced together and covered with tight running stitches. These vintage quilts have been cherished for years, worn out, re-made and given new life. They are medium-weight and big personality.

Kantha quilts are made for household use in rural parts of Bengal and Bangladesh. Favourite prints, saris, and beloved lengths of cloth are stitched together with plain and coloured threads. Every quilter has her own individual style. These quilts are used as bedcovers, blankets, tablecloths, picnic blankets, car blankets, couch blankets ... there is no limit to the utility of these textiles.

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

Thursday, September 29, 2022 No comments

WHAT THE WELL-SET TABLE IS WEARING

THE BAGH BLOCK PRINT

Bagh is the place in India where these distinctive patterns are born.

The graphic nature of a Bagh print adds character and depth to any setting. The patterning is a beautiful balance of figure and ground that allows motif and colour to sing together. Hand block printed on 100% organic cotton using natural dyes and traditional techniques.

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The graphic impact of a Bagh block print is due to the dramatic use of of red and black; a style which originates with the Bhil and Bhilala cultures residing in Madhya Pradesh, India. The printers of Bagh are Khatris who migrated south from Rajasthan during the Mughal incursions. They remained to take advantage of the high copper content of the Baghini river. Today, a few small studios still follow a traditional block printing process.

Light and medium weight cotton cloth is scoured and prepared with a complex mixture containing tannin. The cloth is printed with mordants, but as the mordants themselves give no colour during application, a bright pink dye is added - traditionally from the dhawda (flame of the forest) flower. This dye permits the artisans to check registration of the patterns and align overprints. Areas which appear pink during this initial stage will appear deep red when the cloth is finished.

Traditional dye methods include the fermentation of iron-water to give a black colour. Horseshoes and other scrap iron is added to a jaggery-water mixture in a process which can last between fifteen and thirty-five days. The distinctive blocks are carved from hardwood and can print thousands of impressions before needing to be recut.

Washing during the various stages of the printing process is still done by the riverside. Lengths of unfinished cloth with the distinctive pink colour are evidence of traditional artisans at work.

Maiwa works with Bagh craftspeople using traditional block printing techniques. The bold patterns are a proud and dramatic statement of the cultural heritage of this area.

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

Tuesday, September 27, 2022 No comments

HAND BLOCK PRINTED WITH

NATURAL DYES ON ORGANIC COTTON

AJRAKH

HAND BLOCK PRINTED CUSHIONS

Ajrakh is a traditional block printing technique practiced by artisans living in India's Kachchh Desert. For centuries, wooden blocks have been used to print eloquent geometric patterns on cotton. These patterns are timeless, revealing a remarkable play between figure and line. All our bedding is hand printed with natural dyes on organic cotton.

The printing blocks are hand-carved from hardwood. These are used in a complex printing process that can involve up to thirty distinct steps. The many processes of scouring, washing, printing with mordants, dyeing, washing, printing with resists, dyeing, washing, printing with dyes, and final washing can take up to three weeks to complete. Much of the beauty and depth of Ajrakh cloth comes from the intricacy of the imprint and the presence of the hand of the artisan.

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THE AJRAKH ARTISANS

In this short clip Jabbar Khatri carefully places wooden printing blocks to create a geometric design. Read more about the ajrakh artisans here.

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

Thursday, September 22, 2022 No comments

This is a follow up to our July promotion of the shawls of Silpinwita Das. Each shawl is unique and we are very proud to offer a new collection of works.

HAND PAINTED WITH NATURAL DYES

Hand painting cloth with natural dyes is an ancient art. In India it is known as kalamkari, which means "pen work". The freedom to place natural colour in a painterly way requires considerable skill and natural dye knowledge.

These contemporary works are the genius of Bengali artist Silpinwita Das, daughter of the famous kalamkari painter Ajit Das. Silpinwita's works are inspired by folk art and her studies of the landscape of Santinikan, which she describes as "red soil, and meadows of lush green paddy fields, where rows of chhatim trees and palms charmed me from the very beginning."

Silpinwita Das has named her work "Haridra". In Sanskrit, “haridra” means yellow, the colour of sunlight, warmth and spirituality. Each work is unique, distinct and entirely hand made. Each brings life and movement wherever it is placed, styled as a shawl, hung on a wall, or draped across a table.

The colour pallet is achieved with natural dyes; the black colour is created through a fermentation process using scrap iron, molasses, mahua flower, chickpea flour and betel leaf. Other colours come to life with Indian madder root, catechu (cutch), indigo, marigold flowers, pomegranate rinds, turmeric and myrobalan.

Each shawl is one-of-a-kind. There is only one of each design.

See All Shawls Here

Read more about Silpinwita Das

See All Shawls Here

NATURAL DYE EXTRACT KIT

This kit includes 60ml Synthrapol soap for scouring, 100g Gallnut Extract, 250g of Alum, 100g Soda Ash for mordanting and 10g each of these natural dye extracts: Chestnut, Cochineal, Cutch, Fustic, Lac, Logwood, Madder Rich, Quebracho, and Weld. Maiwa's Guide to Natural Dyes is included with the Kit.

Extracts easily dissolve in water and are so concentrated that only a small amount is needed. Great to use on all natural fibres.

See the Natural Dye Extract Kit Here