We love the warmth, texture and character of natural woven fibres. We only source the highest grade jute, cotton and hemp available.
HESSIAN
Hessian (Goni) is a dense woven fabric usually made from the skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres producing a coarse fabric, but recently it is being used in a refined state known simply as an eco friendly material for bags, rugs and other products.
In Indonesia, about 80% of the area is sown to kenaf, 15% to roselle, while 5% is under white jute. Jute, Kenaf and Roselle are vegetable natural fibre plants next to cotton. In trade there are usually two names of jute, White and Tossa (golden colour).
Affectionately known as ‘the golden thread, we use this vegetable fibre handwoven from the Tossa Jute plant native to Tuban, East Java, to create our design crafted rugs and runners; baskets and bowls; placemats and coasters, We use natural vegetable dyes to give colour.
Harvested twice per year, the raw jute is trimmed and then washed with boiling water to remove any insects, before being separated into sections for twisting, plaiting, weaving and stitching. Completely free of chemicals, the fibres are perfectly safe for our artisans to work with, and free of any unnecessary nasties. Natural products – pure and simple.
The worldwide awareness on environment and health is likely to provide new opportunities on jute, due to its environment-friendly characteristics. In recent times they are found to be a valuable aid to sound environmental management. Jute is an annually renewable energy source with a high biomass production per unit land area. It is biodegradable and its products can be easily disposed without causing environmental hazards. The roots of jute plants play a vital role in increasing the fertility of the soil. By rotating with other crops like rice and potatoes, jute acts as a barrier to pest and diseases for others crops and provides also a substantial amount of nutrients to other crops in the form of organic matter and micronutrients.
COTTON
We use 100 % Natural Handpicked Handwoven Cotton( Tuban Tenun Gedog) from East Java to craft our batik & throws.
Tuban Tenun Gedog is made from Kapok Lawa (Brown Cotton), a fluffy staple fibre that grows in a boll, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the Kapok Lawa Trees, native specific to Tuban Region, East Java. Kapok Lawa is rare, harder to grow and therefor more expensive than Kapok Putih (White Cotton). It is 100% hand picked, hand-spun, handwoven & unique due to its natural two colour (brown & white) cotton thread cloth. This unique handwoven two coloured cotton cloth is only still found in rural areas of Tuban, East Java.
Only the best cotton fibre balls, from Kapok Lawa (brown) are handpicked by the old female villagers whom then home hand-spun the fibre into thread onto primitive handmade spools. The cotton threads (loom) are then coated with rice starch to make it firm and easy to weave. The weaving (tenun) is done by hand on teak primitive tools (kemplongan), to produce the hand woven cotton cloth called “Tenun Gedog”. The name came from the sound of the loom when they do the weaving process “dog…dog…dog..
The handwoven cotton cloth is now either, sold as natural unique two colour thread Tuban Tenun Gedog, or ancient old design methods, such as Ikat, Batik, Tie-Dye, Palangi or Tritik is applied to create unique works of art, each with their own tale to tell. The whole process from harvesting to Tuban Tenun Gedog takes several months to complete.
HEMP
We admire the strength and versatility of this natural fibre. Long used by Bengali rope makers, our artisans twist, knot and crochet thousands of finely twisted fibres to make each piece.
Grown without chemicals, hemp is naturally resistant to pests, mould and ultraviolet light. These qualities, along with the beautiful texture, make it one of our favourite fibres to work with.
WOOL
Our wool is hand loomed from local desert sheep, chosen for its rugged texture and warmth. We craft throws from the fibres that same as the shawls used by nomadic Rabari tribes, who wear them to stay warm during crisp, nocturnal desert crossings.
This is a slow, unhurried production, the fabric has been crafted by master weavers in the desert region of Kutch, India. Sheep are clipped; fibres are spun; and many hours of weaving undertaken; before the edges and tassels are finished to perfection.