Nani IRO
Having just completed a few projects from Japanese sewing books, I have a new appreciation for instructions written in my native language. If you’ve got nerves of steel, it might be fun to whip up some of the projects that are on the Nani IRO section of Kokka’s site. http://www.kokka.co.jp/so-ing/sewing/index.html
If you’re not interested in interpreting the instructions, ogling the great patterns and styling is great entertainment as well.
If you’re not familiar with process of making silk fabrics, take a look at this great photo series from Fig Mento.
The How to make silk photo series contains high quality photos detailing the process of making silk in China. The included captions contain informative tidbits like, gourmet silk worms only eat Mulberry leaves and each cocoon takes around 36 hours to produce. I’ll leave the rest of the process i.e. cooking the cocoons and dying for you to explore.
I’m a sucker for African prints and when I saw this chair, named Binta, I had to post it. The chair was designed by Phillipe Bestenheider and said to be influenced by African wood carvings. The chair is upholstered with a medly of wax fabrics (traditionally worn by African women) by Moroso. If you’re also a sucka for African prints and haven’t seen the textiles from Vlisco check them out.
via Dezeen
This collection titled the Nonwovens by Sylvia Döhler caught my eye because of its purity. The textile consist of different natural material such as pine needles, leaves and twigs and a 100% Lenzing® FR (FR = Flame Resistant) backing so that it doesn’t completely burn your modern ranch down. What’s also nice is that each order is made individually and is therfore unique.
You can read more about the non wovens here.
via Stylepark
What you’re looking at is a collaboration by Moroso UK and Kvadrat. The fabric named Arena is designed by Royal College or Art graduate Cristian Zuzanaga and the chair is designed by architect Enrico Franzolini. If you’ve never heard of Kvadrat I reccomend checking out their collection of textiles. They have a large selection of high res images and a nice tool that allows you to browse around.
(If the above video doesn’t work check it out here)
If you don’t already know about what the non-profit L.E.A.F team is doing I reccomend checking the above video out. They are trying to make it easier for U.S consumers to find clothing and textile-related products that have been produced in ethical and sustainable ways. They plan to do so by labeling these products with a special tag. This transparency will be awesome and not having it was some of the reason I started La La Llama. Kate and I wanted to find ethically produced products for our homemade creations and found that a majority of the online retailers and wholesalers weren’t too interested in showing us details. That’s when the Llama was born.
I found this collection from Margaret at Chair Couture pretty amazing. The fabric choices really transform the pieces, making them all have a sense of calmness and serenity. Each fabric is made specifically for the piece being reupholstered. The chairs are French anitques and I would love to take a seat in any of them.
You can now browse by color in the Textiles section. You’ll also notice there is another category named Tags that allows you to browse textiles by tag. Have fun!
Yesterday, the Llamas went to a Japanese book store and picked up Happy Handmade Vol. 3. This is my first time buying a Japanese pattern book, but I can’t wait to get started.
For tips on reading and using the patterns included with this book, check out the tutorials on Label-Free’s blog, or the tutorial on the Purl Bee blog.
Another cool collaboration from Nike. This time they’ve teamed up with Paule Marrot Editions to bring the women something that’s pretty fabulous.
Check out more about Paule Marrot on the Llama:
via Nike
