Welcome back to the source—Maiwa Supply

Maiwa Supply on Granville Island has just finished renovations. We have reopened and are ready to welcome you.

Natural dyes, fabric paints, yardage, silkscreen supplies, brushes, yarns, books, everything you need to get creative with textiles and the fibre arts.

We are open 7 days a week, 10am-7pm.

Come and visit us. Located on the outside corner of the Net Loft building, Granville island - the heart of artisan Vancouver, Canada.

We just cracked the packing tape on our box of Selvedge Magazine #72. We were delighted to find Sonia Ashmore's review of our book in the "READ" section. Her review begins with the line: "This book should be required reading for anyone who does not consider that textiles are a subject for serious study." Thank you Sonia and thank you Selvedge.

We have just published Revisiting A Quiet Manifesto. It is available for free in our stores, and online at ISSUU. Take a look, let us know what you think ...

Issue #65 of Selvedge Magazine; "Immersed in Indigo" featuring Jane Callender

Issue #65 of Selvedge Magazine, "Immersed in Indigo" featuring Jane Callender

Registration line-up shortly after 8am on June 20th 2016.

Registration opening day was bright and sunny. While in the lineup people worked on their textiles and many of them were pretty impressive.

We have just consolidated all the available spaces in the 2016 Fall Session and put everything online. If your favourite workshop is already full, please call and ask to be added to the waiting list. People's plans change and some spaced do occasionally become available.

See all available workshops here:  http://www.schooloftextiles.com/wksp-registration/

A big thank-you to all of our volunteers and staff who helped make this registration one of the smoothest ever!

Maiwa's own Sophena Kwon has been making (blue) waves with her Indigo Social. She held two at Maiwa East in April. She is in the middle of two more right now (the second sold-out event is tonight) she has two scheduled for July and plans for more after that.

Jennifer Scott of the Westender, a Vancouver newspaper, wrote a feature on the Indigo Social in its most recent issue, The story is illustrated with wonderful photographs by Brit Gill.

Here is a link to the online version:
Designer Files: Getting Social with Indigo. 

Interested in the Indigo Social? Full details can be found at sophenakwon.com.

Abduljabbar Khatri in the Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, UK.

This month, Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, UK, was at the centre of the block printing world. Three events kept us focused.

The first was an exhibition in the Bonington Gallery featuring block printing history and sites of contemporary practice. The exhibition, titled Imprints of Culture: Block Printed Textiles of India, included historic pieces, items of traditional dress, video footage of process and a compelling series of stills documenting the individuals who keep this time-consuming craft alive. We arrived in the last days of the show and were able to photograph Abduljabbar Khatri next to a print design based on cloth fragments recovered from Fustat, Egypt. In the background is one of Abduljabbar's masterworks, a double sided ajrakh cloth with a complex centre motif. In 2007 Abduljabbar's two brothers, Ismail and Razzaque, presented lectures and workshops at the Maiwa Textile Symposium. In January, curator Eiluned Edwards was interviewed by Aesthetica Magazine about her experience putting together the exhibit.



The second was the release of Eiluned Edwards new book, titled Block Printed Textiles of India: Imprints of Culture. We are just in the process of adding it to the Maiwa online store and will post a review when it arrives (but we've had a brief look at it, here in Nottingham and are very impressed!).

The third was a program put together by Eiluned titled "Culture, Heritage and Sustainability." It was a one day seminar held in Nottingham Trent University exploring the ways in which cultural heritage is managed and sustained in different contexts—with a strong emphasis on India. Participants included Sandy Black, (author of The Sustainable Fashion Handbook), Charllotte Kwon (of Maiwa), Abduljabbar Khatri and Eiluned Edwards, Divia Patel (co-curator with Rosemary Crill of the Fabric of India Exhibition), Ritu Sethi (of the Craft Revival Trust), Ruth Clifford (graduate student looking at design education for traditional artisans) and Jatin Bhatt (of Ambedkar University, Delhi) who looked at the craft sector from a systems standpoint.

It was an engaging day and concluded a number of smaller events including a hands-on block printing workshops delivered by Abduljabbar Khatri.

Maiwa is a place of many talented staff. One of our own, Melodie Borosevich, has designed and made a jewellery line based loosely on tribal styles. Worked in silver, her designs are a thoroughly modern reinterpretation with clean lines and elegant curves.

Maiwa is pleased to have a selection of her pieces for sale in the main store on Granville Island.

Above, Melodie Borosevich's jewellery worn by Ja Pace who has modeled Maiwa clothing for our photo shoots and fashion shows. Photographed by another Maiwa staff, Tim McLaughlin.

See more photos on Maiwa's instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/maiwahandprints/
Tim's instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/tmcltmcl/
or Melodie's instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/_____mellow_____/

Or see the real thing in the Main Maiwa Store.

30-50% off all furniture at Maiwa East until Sunday Feb. 21st.

Jane Stafford in Sabahar's weaving shed - Adis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Well known weaving instructor, Jane Stafford has just returned from a trip to visit Sabahar in Ethiopia.

Jane and Sabahar first met at the 2011 Maiwa masterclass in Bengal. So, like a textile matchmaker, Maiwa is quite proud that the two have kept in touch and maintained a relationship.

Jane has given a full description of her Ethiopian visit in her newsletter and now she is re-posting the story on her website.

Here are direct links:

Part 1
Weaving in Ethiopia Part 1

Part 2
Weaving in Ethiopia Part 2

Jane working with the weavers.