Textile Gardens

Garden Bouquets

Some years it seems as though spring takes a bit longer to arrive.  False promises are dashed by cold un-spring-like days.  This year we had, in Santa Fe, some lovely weather in early spring followed by cold days and heavy winds that brought much dust instead of rain.  Finally, it seems as if we are on the right track and folks are preparing their gardens, cleaning their yards and descending on garden stores and nurseries.

I, too, have planted a few flowers, but do admit I am generally not in the running for gardener of the year.  For those of you who live in apartments, on boats or are still shoveling snow I offer some flowering thoughts, flowers on textiles, that is.

Floral motifs have always been a predominant theme for textile design. Textiles from lace to embroideries and embellishments, from vintage to contemporary, from all ethnic groups, have floral displays of botanicals (real and sometimes imagined).

Today I present to you several books from my reference library which illustrate the various textile interpretations of floral design.

A  Needleworker's Botany, Heather S. Miller,

Fifty examples of early botanical art from the library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

 Lace, Heather Toomer, B.T.Batsforf Ltd, London, 1989

A guide to identification of old lace types and techniques.

 Flowers of Silk and Gold, Sumru Belger Krody, The Textile Museum, Washington, DC, Merrill Publishers Limited, 2000

Four centuries of Ottoman embroidery

The Embroiderer's Flowers, Thomasina Beck, David and Charles, 1992

"A feast of inspiration for all lovers of embroidery".

William Morris Textiles, Linda Parry,Weidenfelf and Nicolson, London, 1983

"A comprehensive survey of the many original, colourful textiles produced by Morris & Co..  Included is a fully illustrated, definitive checklist of Morris & Co.'s patterns for printed textiles."

Opulent Textiles - The Schumacher Collection, Richard E. Slavin III, Crown Publishers, Inc., NY, 1992

"This exquisite full-color volume highlights the artistic creativity and high quality for which Schumacher fabrics have been known over the past hundred years."

Russian Textiles - Printed Cloth for the Bazaars of Central Asia, Susan Meller, Abrams, NY, 2007

"Gorgeous, printed cotton fabrics created and manufactured in Russia from about 1860-1960 specifically for export to Central Asia."

These are only a few from my collection.  There are hundreds of publications featuring textiles available for your reading enjoyment.  Visit your local library or bookstore for a touch of textile gardens.

Designs from Paradise Revisited

Last summer I wrote three blogs on the subject of Aloha Shirts from Hawaii, entitled Designs from Paradise.
6/21/13,  7/16/13,   7/26/13

Much to my surprise I read in the Wall Street Journal , Saturday/Sunday, April 5-6, 2014 an article in the Style and Fashion Section entitled "Lei It On".

Author Christopher Tennant noted well-known fashion houses were interested this season in the wardrobe icon of the 50's, The Aloha Shirt.  He quoted the expert, Dale Hope and told a bit of the history of Hawaiian casual wear.
He even explored the secondary market in vintage Hawaiian design clothing.

Now, I might wonder if one of my favorite references for this blog, might be referencing me!

Malaysian Batik 2

Malaysia- Batik 2

Batik is a method of design using wax resist. The origins of this design technique remain unclear. We know this process dates back to Egyptian times, nearly 2,000 years ago, from samples found in Egyptian tombs.  Some believe SE Asian batiks originated in India as India produced the fine cotton necessary for the fine detailing of the designs.

The word “batik” comes from Malay “tik” meaning spot,dot or drop.  There are over 3,000 batik designs, which are grouped as follows:

1. geometric: garis miring, ceplokan, kawang, tumpal, and tambal miring (a kind of patchwork design believed to have magical properties.)
2. non-geometric: semen (swirling foliage with stylized animals and birds, cloud designs)
3. isen : simple, repetitive  background designs found in the less expensive batiks

Motifs were inspired by culture, religion and nature.  There are few contemporary batik motifs, instead the tradition continues with the continued use of traditional designs.

One method of applying the resist is the use of a “canting”(Tjanting), a small copper vessel with a spout, resembling the bowl of a pipe with an attached handle.  Cantings may have more than one spout in parallel.  The bowl is filled with the molten wax (made from beeswax and paraffin) and holding the tool like a stylus the artist draws the design with the wax flowing from the spout.  This type of batik is referred  to as Tulis, meaning to write or draw. Since true batik is reversible, the waxing process must be repeated on the reverse side. The artist draws freehand and, therefore, Tulis batik may be very intricate.

Because producing designs with a canting is very time-consuming, batik artists may use a metal block made of strips of thin copper set upright soldered to a metal base with a curved metal handle. Using this metal tool (called a “cap”) dipped into molten wax, a single worker could stamp up to 20 lengths of cloth per day as each cap consists of the entire design element.  Several caps of different sizes and shapes could be used, with as many as ten pairs of caps needed for complex designs

After the waxing, the first dying is done using a combination of chemical and natural dyes.  After the initial dying, wax from the areas next to be dyed is scraped away or reapplied for additional dyeing.  Once all color has been applied the fabric is washed and soaked in as fixing solution.  Thorough rinsing follows and a boiling water bath melts remaining wax, which is then saved.

Malaysia Batik

Spring Break – Malaysia  Batik 1

My first introduction to batik production, many years ago, was in the Indonesian archipelago.  Trips to Ubud, Bali were planned around visits to the textile shops of Rai Rupini.  This lovely woman patiently answered my many questions and graciously showed me countless examples from her inventory of thousands of vintage Indonesian hand-made textiles.  I guess Rai is responsible for my out-of-control textile collection. From her I learned the value of the most humble textile and the beauty of the most elaborate.

 Rai Rupini

Homage to Balinese Women, The Seniwati Gallery of Art by Women, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, 1994

Photograph by Beth Van Gelder

Although I purchased many, many types of Indonesian textiles, my favorites were always vintage batiks: their wonderful patterning, their natural dye colors, and the soft hand of much loved, much worn and laundered fabric.  

It is a fact that many textile enthusiasts ignore the textile traditions of mainland Southeast Asia, which are closely related to those of the Indonesian islands.  Our visit to Malaysia this spring reinforced my view that peoples of Asian cultures developed similar textile traditions and variations could possibly be due to cultural and religious differences.  Because of the close proximity of these countries it is often difficult to determine where certain textiles originated and which textiles were a result of the high amount of trade between these regions although all may share common beginnings.  The east coast of the Malay Peninsula also produced cotton as did Indonesia and India.

Batik Design, Pepin Van Roojen, Shamhala, Boston, 1997

Textiles and the Tai Experience in Southeast Asia, Gittinger & Lefferts, The Textile Museum, Washington,1992

Batik fabrics and clothing are abundant in Malaysian markets.  Instead of purchasing vintage, I bought many contemporary fabrics and caftans of vintage batik design.  The cost was enticing and the selection amazing.  While I would hesitate wearing clothing made from my vintage fabric collection within miles of spaghetti sauce, blueberry pie or red wine I happily wear my modern reproductions.     

Next blog will discuss the technique of batikdesign.              

Cloth for Taxes

It’s Tax Time!

I don’t think there is anything that inspires more dread than filing tax forms, unless it is an envelope from the IRS with an audit notification inside.

Face it!  Taxes have been around forever and aren’t about to go away anytime soon.

There are many examples in textile history about cloth used as tax payments as far back as the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.  I thought I would share a few examples from other cultures with you today.

In Hawaii, before the islands were “discovered” by westerners, commoners worked the land owned by their chief and paid taxes to both their local chief and the king.  Tax payments were in the form of food and clothing.

In China (500BCE-1500 CE) taxes levied on each household were paid in grain and cloth, one bushel of grain equaled one bolt of cloth.  The state levied taxes in “new textile” (cotton) which was grown in the north.  The raw cotton was sent to the south to be made into cloth and re-exported back north where taxpayers bought the cloth to pay their taxes.

In 17thC Spanish Peru cloth was the most valuable commodity.  It was used as a form of currency and for the payment of taxes.

One of the most interesting tax stories I have read comes from Korea in the late 1600’s.  It seemed Korea faced a problem with the minting of coins for their cash currency, which was used for personal and government debts.  Somehow the principle of a monetary economy was somewhat lacking and the minting of coins became so rampant that the people started melting the coins for the base metal itself.  In other sectors, the coins were hoarded as they were expected to increase in worth beyond their face value. For centuries cloth had been used as a tax payment, now with “cash” as the acceptable form a serious problem arose when certain citizens were unable to pay in “cash” if they couldn’t sell their crops for a reasonable return..  This started a political debate about whether cloth or cash were preferable.  It went so far, that in 1726 a proposal to eliminate cash for taxes and reinstate cloth or grain was instituted, however this lasted only a short while and was discontinued some six months later. (probably after everyone used their cash to purchase cloth, as in ancient China).

So, I guess I should be grateful that I can file electronically, use my credit card to pay the damages (while gaining air miles) and not have to worry about spinning, weaving and sewing my payment.

National Textile Museum of Malaysia

Spring Trip- Malaysia 1

While visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia we happened upon the National Textile Museum of Malaysia.  Located a short walk from the Central Market, The Textile Museum is housed in an elegant, historic, colonial building of Moghul-Islamic architecture.

The museum’s role is to “ collect, conserve and document and display the diverse national textile collection, especially the traditional handwork of the multi-ethnic society of Malaysia comprising Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli  and the indigenous peoples of Sabah and  Sarawak”.

The museum’s five galleries artfully display their beautiful textile collection with informative didatic panels. There is also a small video room, unfortunately the film is not in English but the visuals can be enjoyed nonetheless.  Also within the building is a small café and gift shop.

Admission is free and the museum is open daily from 9am –6 pm.  Anyone visiting K L should plan on spending some time there.  A cool stop for a usually very hot afternoon.

For those not fortunate to be visiting the capital city and the museum check their website.

http://www.jmm.gov.my/ms/museum/muzium-tekstil-negara

Blogs in the near future will explore the treasures of this institution.

Spring Break

Well, I’m just back from a short spring vacation: 10 days in Malaysia and 10 days in the South Pacific.  A long way to travel for a short time.  I will share textile adventures with you as soon as I Photoshop some pictures.  This vacation I didn’t concentrate on buying vintage textiles as I have a very large collection of vintage batiks, ikats and songhets from trips to Indonesia.  Instead I hit the markets for clothing for me and for gifts.  Nothing can beat the selection (and prices) of markets.  In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the Central Market was the place to bargain and was conveniently located a 20 minute ride on the city “hop on” free bus from our hotel.  Although I had vowed to purchase only for others, I couldn’t resist purchasing a “few essentials” for myself.  Also visited were KL’s Chinatown markets and the various markets of Penang (an island off the coast which we also visited).  My only restraint was the thought of the over-weight baggage fees for the return flights.  For caftans, scarves, tee-shirts and batik fabrics the markets could not have been better.  However, for shoes, that is another matter.

If you have followed this blog you know I really, really love shoes.  The selection of gorgeous, reasonably priced, footwear is astounding in Malaysia.  So a trip to the large city malls was in order.  Store after store of shoes, sandals, flip-flops, boots of every description.   And talk about bling!!  Crystals and rhinestones are the usual embellishments in Asia, but this was simply over the top.  It was as if a thousand workers manned with those “bedazzler” tools went  berserk and decorated every surface of silk blouses, scarves, tee-shirts and, wait for it, shoes.  Displays of jeweled shoes sent light beams across the stores.  Encrusted flip flops called my name.  Unfortunately I am not expecting an invitation to a royal wedding and here in Santa Fe they might be considered over the top.  Therefore I begrudgingly settled for a pair of coral and tan leather loafers and one pair of lovely sea-foam green suede flip flops with suede flowers.

The great misfortune of this trip was missing the Malaysia International Shoe Festival.  I cannot even begin to imagine what wonders one might have encountered.  But rescheduling our home reservations seemed excessive (besides, I was outvoted).