Handa

This beauty just got here🌊
A botanical indigo kasuri cotton from a mill in Japan I’ve been working with for many years now- they still specialize in the traditional textiles of the region and use the old Japanese natural dyes. Kasuri is the Japanese name for ikat- meaning the pattern in the fabric is created by first dyeing the warp threads before they are woven. Then they need to be carefully aligned on the loom to create the desired pattern as it weaves up.
This one makes great garments like shirts, blouses and dresses as well as home decor projects like cushion covers, headboards, window treatments and of course, it’s a quilters delight. Linking to it now in stories/highlights

Traditional Hawaiian Bedclothes pt 1
In understanding the iconic Hawaiian quilt, we first need the context of the traditional textiles of Hawaii, pre-1820 (before the missionaries of New England arrived). The common cloth then was called ‘kapa’, made from bark and bast fibers mostly of the paper mulberry tree which were beaten and felted to make the texture soft and then stamped with natural dyes in geometric patterns, the video excerpts here are from the 1926 ‘Moana’ an originally silent film I love which follows daily life in a Samoan village, the process shown is typical of Polynesian barkcloth making- very similar to Hawaiian kapa. ‘Kapa moe’ are the bedclothes made from stitched together panels of kapa. This was the final layer or coverlet in the fastidious arrangement of traditional bedding which was made up of many layers of finely woven pandan leaf (lauhala) mats(13-16) which were laid on the floors of the traditional house ‘hale’ (7-10, I included perhaps too many images of these unusually beautiful thatched structures)- the higher the status of the occupant, the finer the weave and abundance of these mats. In Kauai and Niihau there were mats made from a sedge grass called ‘makaloa’ (17-19), so soft and fine they were coveted by neighboring warriors and chiefs, sometimes taken as trophies.
Though some families had less- a typical set of bedclothes consisted of 4 undecorated barkcloth sheets topped by an intricately stamped kapa, all fastened together at the foot. Bedding was kept clean by washing it with a damp cloth and frequent sunning. When not in use it was rolled up in the houses rafters with pieces of sandalwood and seeds of the mokihana to keep it smelling sweet and to deter pests. Kapa making continues, though more scarcely and so has become a rare art form. There are of course many historical examples in museums and private collections. Infuriatingly, credit to the makers of these pieces is largely undocumented except the visitors that📸
1-5:except of Mother Tu’ungaita from Flaherty’s ‘Moana’
6via Los Angeles County Museum of Art
7.Pic by brother Bertram
10,13, imagesofoldHawaii.com
11.Pic by David Eickhoff
17-19 via the

🆕🍍! Golden gorgeous piña silk (yes, fiber from pineapples), hand dyed with aswete (Annatto) just arrived from the Philippines. It’s the bounciest, arguably the prettiest… it shifts through various golden caramel hues in the light and has these fine stripes that add to its glorious texture. This is a beautiful traditional fabric of the islands that had been produced the same way for hundreds of years- the fibers are so delicate and labor intensive that it’s impossible to machine weave. I wrote a couple posts on its history and production last year when I first began offering piña cloth (I just restocked it in undyed/unpatterned also), I’ll reshare in stories today.
How to use it… well. It’s clearly ideal for hypnosis. But I also think the traditional application of making blouses remains brilliant (look at those sleeves in the last 2 pics, look at that badassness), I’d like to make myself one for the summer. Most of my customers use it as window treatments, which is also brilliant because it’s the way it dances with light is so ethereal and wonderful. Available by the yard, linking it via stories and ofc always in my profile link

Traditional indigo resist in China, a technique dating back to the Han dynasty 206BC - 220AD in which intricate patterns are put on fabric using a paste (made from soy and lime), usually applied with carved stamps or drawn freehand using tools (6-9). Once the paste has dried and the indigo vats have been prepared, they are dipped into the indigo (10-12) which cannot reach the cloth underneath the paste, and hung to dry before the paste is then removed by scraping (1,12). This process would traditionally be the last step of making this cloth as prior to the dyeing, the h**p and cotton would be harvested, processed into thread, handwoven on looms into cloth and then this narrow cloth would be sewn together in panels to make up a usable width for bedclothes, clothing and other utilitarian use. I offer the antique form of this fabric (handwoven, handspun, hand stitched) in both pieces that are large and wide and would have been used as bedclothes, and a 17” width by the yard and I also have small pieces and offcuts that can be used for patchwork, details, mending, etc.
-videos via
-pics 6,8,9,10,14,15 via thrummed
All others are my own or unknown source