Here at the Curious Eye we have long been fans of vintage Pendleton shirts, many of which we've purchased from Dave of Ragtop, but it was at Maison et Object that I discovered that the Pendleton Blanket came first. In fact, Pendleton started out weaving blankets for Native Americans and 'The Beach Boys' were originally called 'The Pendletones' . Pendleton have become aware of their popularity with 'style afficionados' and are now launching their homewares on the European market. We love these towels that are copies of traditional blanket designs. Pendleton homeware
Anwar Ayed Ghobran doesn't know exactly how long his family has been weaving on these looms, a least as far back as his grandfather, but I would guess many generations before that. I spotted a loom through an open doorway after we visited has ramshakled fabric shop, of course I couldn't resist a tour.
Based in the Nile side town of Akhmen in Upper Egypt, about 250 km north of Luxor, this technique of weave has obviously remained the same since the mists of time. I'm no weave expert but the amazing way of storing the warp on these enormous bobbins is something I have never seen before.
These woolen blankets are woven by the Gurung tribes people they are known as Rari. They are probably the oldest recorded export from Nepal. Trade with India has been noted as far back as the 3rd century ad.
I was lucky discover a little shop selling them in Kathamndu and a have purchased one. They are hand woven in strips then stitched together and are fabulously heavy somewhere between a rug and blanket.
Followers of The Curious Eye will know that I have spent quite some time in India over the past year. I have been developing a collection of home textile products with an association of women embroiderers based in Gujerat. Now the results are going to be launched in a public sale in Paris from 5th to 13th June. I have been invited to take part in the annual Heartwear sale in the offices of Li Edelkoort. Anyone who is in Paris should come and have a look, also on sale will be other products from like minded projects. Heatwears' new indigo collection from Benin, and other textile items from India, Tunisia and Columbia.
5 to 14 June 10hrs to 19hrs weekends and 13hrs to 19hrs weekdays, L'Usine 30 Bvd. St. Jacques, Paris, 75014.
I was in Paris a few weeks ago, and came across this classic needlepoint picture of a salty sea tar. How do I know that it's a classic? Well, because about five years ago, I bought exactly the same image as a needlepoint cushion in a flea market in New York.
This was a perfect addition to my bearded men collection (remember this?) - or so I thought.
However, the longer I spent in Paris (and then later in Brussels) - the more I noticed exciting examples of needlepoint, and came to realize how fantastic and underutilised they are. The use of colour and texture combined with the graphic quality can look very stylish, without any of the fusty echoes of 'handicrafts'. Best of all, they're so out of fashion, you can pick them up at flea markets for next to nothing.
So - now there's a new collection in town - and I'm aiming to fill a full wall of the studio entrance with needlepoint.
Vintage. American. Workwear. Are there three more beautiful words in the English language? I can't think of any offhand (although 'Fish and Chips' has a nice ring to it too).
It isn't surprising that designers return to the fields and garages of America again and again for inspiration. American workwear speaks of everything that is good in design. Clothes of the highest quality, the greatest functionality, made of the most simple materials, and accessible to the masses.
It sounds like a modernist manifesto, but there's nothing dry and minimal about workwear. A Pendleton wool shirt may be constructed for warmth and efficiency, but the colours of the plaid make it as beautiful as it is practical. An embroidered overall may act as a mobile advertising hoarding, but it also brings a simple garment alive.
Even tiny details like buttons and labels are filled with inspiring design elements.
If you're really interested in finding great pieces of American vintage, then Dave White of Ragtop Vintage is the man to go to. One of the most well informed vendors of Americana in London, Dave is a true aficionado of the genre, always guaranteed to have a few treasures from the 40's, 50's and 60's for you to marvel over and be tempted by. If you like your clothes filled with history, integrity and style - you can do no better.
Ragtop Vintage is available at Spitalfields Market every Thursday, and at Broadway Market on Saturdays.
Here are some of my ladies, I have just spent three days with them in a village about 4 hrs north of Ahmedabad. This piece of fabric is going to become a quilt ! It is covered with examples of their traditional stitches. They are very pleased because they say it shows all their traditional skills, and hopefully if we manage to get orders for their work it will bring them some much needed cash.
The design was inspired by the work of Kocuben, (you can see her at the end of this video) when I first came here back in March, I asked her to show me all the different stitches she knew how to do. When they I showed the small sample to a friend back home she commented that it was a design in itself. Hence upon my return a few weeks ago we set about producing this design. We will make placemats, napkins, cushion covers and this quilt the embroidery for which will take 6 or so women a week to embroider, it will then lined and stitched all through with running stitches! Products available early next year. Watch this space !
The fabric you are about to see took three and a half years to make, and so the creators tell me it will never be done again. If these men lived in Japan they would surely be declared living national treasures. They are certainly well honoured here in India and internationally.
Their workshop is on the pilgrimage route of any self respecting textile enthusiast, andas the visitors book proves they have regularly and enthusiastically welcomed guests from all over the world since the 1940’s.
I was greeted by the youngest member of the family who gave me a very comprehensive explanation of their work in excellent English. Their family has been weaving in the same spot since the 12th century, when legend says that King Kumarpal invited 700 families of Patola weavers to settle in Patan.
Today they are the last family in the area to weave using this age old technique. Every aspect of the cloth is created in their studio, from the point when the un-spun silk arrives from China, to the finished woven cloth. The dying process takes the longest. Both the warp and weft threads are tie-dyed, in many cases several times - each time moving the ties to create the often complex motif.
With each woven fabric (which are generally wedding saris) taking 4 to 6 months to make, there is no question of buying off the peg! If you would like to order now you will have to wait around 6 years.
The two Salvis (weavers) working together weave about 8 to 9 inches a day
A warp in preparation ties attached ready for its first dye bath, underneath on the stool is the pattern they are following for this particular cloth.
The dye area, only natural dyes have been used here for the last 30 years.
An ancient incredibly detailed patola (as these ikats are called) preserved behind glass.
800 year old vegetable dye 'the design laid down in patola may be torn but it shall never fade'
We have been wanting to feature Katherine May's work for a little while now - ever since we saw it in conjunction with the wallpapers of our friend Clara Vuletich in Clapham. We were thrilled to finally meet her last week, and get our hands on some of these images.
Katherine is a textile artist, specialising in quilts. It's certainly true that quilting (along with other traditional crafts) is experiencing an upsurge in interest at the moment. It fulfills many of the current obsessions of the design industry - that hunger for pieces that are unique, personal, and filled with history. It also feeds into the desire for re-using and 'up-cycling' old materials - the way that being both eco-friendly and thrifty can lead to beautiful new design.
Katherine's quilts meet all these criteria. But they aren't just beautiful and right on - they're clever too. A quilt made entirely out of old Action Man outfits or Barbie clothes? Just brilliant. With ideas like these Ms May is definitely one to watch.
I found these sari lengths on my recent trip to India, I was taken to a shop that sold only cotton printed saris, they are printed on almost transparent cotton. Amid the myriad of designs I was particularly taken by these almost 70's style prints, some reminiscent of prints found on cleaning cloths in the west, others like some synthetic design from a small town timewarp dress fabric shop. What makes them really fresh and modern is the fine cotton they're printed from. They come highly starched and are almost like great folded sheets of wrapping paper, and each has a small contrast piece to make the traditional 'Choli' blouse always worn under a sari. I am hoping to develop a range of lanterns from them !
We at The Curious Eye have always been big fans of knitting. And having discovered these extra-extra-large needles, we're now big fans of Big Knitting. A hefty 120cm long, they're mostly used as visual aids to help teach basic techniques, but we think that they offer some very exciting possibilities for creativity.
You could create massively outsized mohair jumpers, for an exaggerated punk/goth look, or create enormous cable-knit socks that could work as sleeping bags, or knit together lengths of rope or cable to create exciting textural furnishing fabrics.
Best of all - the very act of knitting with them is enormously physical and great upper body exercise. You could knit yourself a natty workout outfit, whilst actually giving yourself a great work out.
Maybe knits-ercise could be the next big thing - all we need to do is combine it with a spinning class that allows you to actually spin wool and we're in business...
I started writing this post with the sentence: "I've always loved Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and furniture" - and then I realised what a redundant statement that was. Of course I love Lloyd-Wright, everyone loves Lloyd-Wright. Without him, our whole understanding of design and decoration would be completely different. It's like saying you love Einstein's theories, or Shakespeare's plays - a no-brainer.
I had no idea that along with revolutionising architecture, designing classic furniture, and basically redefining our whole concept of modern interiors, Lloyd-Wright also designed textiles. I came across these amazing curtains of his at Mark McDonald in Hudson. Designed in the mid-fifties for F.Schumacher, they're like a textile version of his stained glass windows, and incredibly chic. Possibly the ultimate modernist curtains - it's amazing that they've never been re-issued.
