I was killing time, wandering around while my son tried to convince a very overstuffed koi fish to take one more piece of fish chow, when I ran across a lovely sight…

A loom!  Now, I’m not a weaver, but I did once take a class, and I find the whole process fascinating.  As I stood in front of this loom and stared at the work in progress, I wondered what on earth the yarn was made of.  I couldn’t figure it out.  Was it jute?  No, not rough enough.  Was it wool?  No, no fibers sticking out.  Well, what the heck was it??

After dragging my family back over to the loom, textile artist Susan Lei, whose lovely work this is, was kind enough to ease my curiosity.  This strange, mysterious yarn was,… mulberry paper!

Through an painstaking process of carefully cutting rolls of Japanese mulberry paper into long strips, winding them up into a cotton thread wrapped yarn, and then hand dyeing them in tea to attain a warm, aged color, she was able to make a beautiful, natural fiber for her latest work.

As we stood and talked, my son became completely fascinated with the working of the loom, including the foot peddles Susan Lei used to lift and lower the warp threads.  He had a barrage of questions for her about how everything worked, and in the end, I had to practically drag him away.  That loom might as well have been a Wii game system.

It got me to thinking about how distanced we have all become from the way everyday things are made, much less works of textile art such as this.  Many people, perhaps most in fact, don’t even know what the terms warp and weft (woof) mean, even though without weaving, we would all still be running around in animal skins.Musings on our cultural disconnects aside, I wanted to take a moment to show you just how lovely Susan Lei’s work is.  The piece on her loom is the very beginning of a kimono she is creating for a show at CSULB.  The kimono takes its motif from a tree, hence the beautiful knotholes and leaves.  I hope I get an opportunity to see the finished piece, as I’m sure it will be breathtaking.

Susan herself is also lovely, but I’m afraid the one image I took of her managed to be one of those “oops you blinked” moments, and if she’s like me, she would probably not appreciate it being made public. So you’ll just have to imagine a tall, slender, talented woman in a beautiful blue kimono, standing by her loom, enticing adults and children alike into learning the warp and woof of life.

I mean, when you name your new chair line the “Kiss My Arse Recliner“, what is left for a poor blogger to do?

Designed to Q Collection’s usual high eco standards, this recliner is both functional and elegant.  Yes, an elegant recliner.  I never thought I would say those two words in the same sentence either.

Here is the list of sustainable features:

* no brominated flame retardants

* 100% certified wood

* no formaldehyde added

* no polyurethane

* natural latex foam rubber

* 100% wool batting

* natural jute webbing & burlap

* water-based, non-toxic glue

Currently available, in four pesticide free fabrics, for $1,690, this chair, along with the rest of the pieces in their new Studio Line, can be customized with your own eco-friendly fabric, or a selection from their For the Trade fabric collection.

I don’t know about you, but I know what my husband is going to want for Christmas….

Meanwhile, lots o’ pretty interesting stuff spied on the web this week.

image by jewelweeds

I’m entranced by these lovely hand blocked organic cotton linens from Jewelweeds. (mochatini)

Great, ethereal looking Tonic pendant lamp, made of 100% post consumer acrylic. (chictip)

More fun cardboard fort analysis! (BuildBlog)

Grandma’s old National Geographic collection transformed into a shelf. (Craft)

How to design in “Itty Bitty” spaces. (Inspired Design Daily)

Love the colorful glass bottle walls in this post. (re-nest)

Cute task lamp made of recycled egg cartons. (Dezeen)

Wishing everyone a relaxing, restful weekend.  See you Monday!

The U.S. based company Air Dye has managed to do exactly that, by creating a new technology that can dye fabric without using a single drop of water!  This is an amazing advancement, and one we desperately need in the textile industry.  There is one problem though – other than getting the word out and encouraging fabric companies to give it a try…

The Air Dye system can only be used on synthetic fibers, such as polyester, nylon and acrylic.  That being said, with synthetic fabrics so prevalent in the interior design industry, the water and energy savings alone make looking for the Air Dye label a new must for designers.  And what are those savings you ask.  Well, according to Air Dye’s website:

“Synthetic textile-dyeing consumes 2.4 trillion gallons of water a year, enough to fill 3,700,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. AirDye reduces water use up to 95 percent, (Percentage include the production of raw materials used in our process).

Our one-step process cuts the energy consumption of dyeing by up to 86 percent.  That’s more than 2.8 trillion megajoules per year — enough to power more than 12 percent of the homes in the United States for a year.”

So who is using this new technology? So far in the interior design world,  Hunter Douglas Hospitality and FLOR carpet tiles have both signed on, and I’m sure many other companies will follow.  Particularly because the technology adds little, if any, to the cost of dyeing the fabric.  In addition, it is possible to do things such as print a different design on each side of a single piece of cloth, making for great possibilities in reversible draperies and other applications.

Imagine if all the plastic water bottles in the world (around 200 billion a year) were recycled into polyester fabric, and then dyed using Air Dye technology?   What a great step forward that would be.

People often ask me where the inspiration for my designs come from.  In my previous life, when I worked for a design house, they would send us out “trend shopping” the goal of which was to be inspired by what we saw at stores…. often high-end boutiques.  Trend shopping was my least favorite part of my job.  I know many people (primarily women) would love to be given a company credit card and told to “get inspired” but I always found this task to be rather soul-less.  What’s the joy in creating your own version of what has already been done?

Now that I am my own art director, I make it a habit to go “trend hiking” on a weekly basis.  I always bring along my camera instead of a VISA and look for new inspiration in the natural world around me.  Designs such as Fields of Honey are a direct result of such adventures.

However, sometimes, an idea comes from people in my life.  Such is the case with 40 Ginkgos.  I vividly remember having lunch with Rachel Hulan upon our first in-person meeting and having her tell me about her attraction to the ancient Ginkgo tree.  I think I was talking about my personal connection to the Redwood tree…

I told her then that perhaps I will do a Ginkgo print one day.  A couple of years went by.  Then one day I was visiting my friend Theresa in San Francisco.  Growing out of the sidewalk in front of her house on Divisadero Street is a Ginkgo tree.  I decided to take a few leaves off the ground home with me and those leaves transformed into the pattern 40 Ginkgos.  The color pallet for the design was inspired by my mother-in-law who LOVES the combination of red, green and white.  It reminds her of the red Geraniums that abound at Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

I have had a few customers request “holiday” colored fabrics I thought this design in this colorway would be the perfect holiday print that could be used year round.

So, to break down the process of how I work:
1. Idea – thanks to Rachel
2. Reference – thanks to the tree

3. Sketch – almost all of my designs start with a Sharpie pen and white paper.

4. Color, scale and layout are then created in the computer using a vector based program.
5. Colors are chipped, and artwork is sent to the engraver and screens are made.

6. Initial strike off is received to test the color and screens… adjustments are made as necessary.
7. Approval is given and production begins.

8. The wait begins…. as the fabric is printed, rolled, packaged, palletized, and in this case put on a boat for its travel to the USA from India.
9. Fabric makes it through customs and is inventoried at our warehouse in South Carolina.
10. Orders are filled and fabric becomes part of our “in full bloom” collection.

I am happy to announce as of today, 40 Ginkgos has made its way through the long process and is now available for purchase!  Of course, this fabric has been printed on 100% organic cotton and is certified to GOTS standards for the processing.  Now that I “call the shots” I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I love starting the day with a delicious looking image like this in my in-box!  Harmony Art now has the beautiful “Evelyn & Janette” in stock, and it’s available through PM Organics and soon to be available through Organic Fabric Online (AU) and Pure Fabricz (EU).

Harmony Art has also released a version I covet, called simply  “Evelyn” on which only the black flowers appear.

And of course, I can’t forget the wonderful “Ginkgo” print that I mentioned before in one of my very first posts, but was not yet in stock. This one is available through Organic Cotton Plus, NearSea Naturals, PM Organics and soon to be available through Pure Fabricz (EU).

Now if I could only take a minute to run out and get some granola, my tummy would stop reminding me that I’ve been staring at these images for far too long this morning.

Since 1856, when the first aniline dye was invented by William Henry Perkin, the use of natural dyes has seen a steady decline – supplanted by cheaper and easier to produce synthetics.  It is only recently, with the renewed interest in more sustainable forms of textile production, that the world has started to rediscover how amazing natural dyes can be.

All images by David Handschuh

Even with the renewed interest though, the use of natural dyes in the United States has thus far been on a very small scale.  Really little more than a loose network of dedicated textile artisans and crafters, up to their elbows in vats of tea and berry juice.  Small scale that is, until Noon Design Studio came along…

Madder Root

The only commercial scale natural dye production house in the United States, Chicago based Noon Design Studio developed their system for colorful, consistent, large scale natural dyeing while pursuing better dyeing methods for the portable solar bags of sister company Noon Solar.  They now provide their dyeing services to designers around the U.S., and can work on both a yardage or by the piece basis.  Best of all, they dye by weight and are capable of taking jobs as small as 10 pounds.

Cutch wood chips

Says founder Jane Palmer…

“I love naturally dyed textiles because of their unique beauty; they have a presence of hand and luminosity that cannot be created with chemical dyes.  I also love the dyes because of their sustainability with the earth and connection to thousands of years of history.”

Cochineal

Noon Design Studio uses only sustainably harvested natural materials in their dyeing process.  Their materials consist of fruits, woods, roots and even insects.  For example, they use madder root, pomegranate, walnuts, indigo, cochineal bugs, and many other dyestuff to achieve a rainbow of luxurious colors.

Just launched in January, Noon Design Studio may be the beginning of a real revolution in fabric design here in the States.  Certainly many textile, fashion and interior designers will be knocking on their door soon.  Imagine the possibilities!

Image of Harmony Art organic cotton fabric - Eyes of the World.

In honor of St. Patrick (and the fact that it’s my birthday) I’m going to go have a little breakfast and a day off, but you will still be getting a great post today on green kitchens, courtesy of Susan, from Susan Serra and Associates

And in the tradition of giving gifts to others on your birthday, please accept this bit of inspired silliness…

However, there is an equally beautiful solution, and that is “Peace Silk”, which is used by Rajboori to make their amazing line of bed linens and throw pillows.

Peace Silk is created from wild cocoons where the moth has been allowed to fully develop and emerge on it’s own.  Although the cocoons have a hole in them, and therefore a broken silk thread, the shorter threads are still usable, and create a silk with a wonderful texture and softness.

Rajboori takes this beautiful Peace Silk and creates beautiful, colorful fabrics using non-toxic dyes.  Woven by skilled artisans on rare, 10 paddle jacquard looms, the fabric is made in a process that can take 15 days.  The dyed fabric is then dried in the abundant sunshine of India, as it has been for centuries.  As a final step, to create the desired softness, the fabric is beaten by hand using hammers made of tamarind wood.

Finally, all the fabrics are cut and sewn into a kaleidoscope of colorful patterns for pillows, quilts and coverlets.

And if your tastes run more towards the subtle and sophisticated, they have just come out with a new color range for Spring 2010 that is sure to intrigue you.

For information on how to purchase, or to see their entire line, visit the Rajboori website.

All images via Kurikan

First in our series is the cloth ware company Kurakin.

After receiving a research offer from the government to see if it could find a way to use food scraps as colorants, the Tsuyakin Kogyo Company, of Ichinomiya, Japan, developed the “nokori dye” method. 

Based on historical dyeing techniques used for centuries, “nokori” utilizes eleven different food items to create soft, rich colors for fabrics.  Colors range from subtle tans and golds, to deeper lavenders and greens, depending on the crop source used, and the time of year in which it was harvested.

Although able to create great dyes from the food sources, the stability of the color over time and exposure to light concerned them, so they did add a small amount of traditional dye to the mix as well.  I’m hoping that with time and additional research they can convert to using 100% natural dye.

Once they had created the cloth, the Tsuyakin Kogyo Co. needed something to do with it.  Founded in 2008, the Kurakin company was put to the task of designing and marketing the delightful cloth baskets and pouches you see above.  Unfortunately, these are currently only available for sale through their Japanese language site.  Of course, there is always Google Translator if you’re feeling really desperate for one of those cute baskets.  I know I am!