Textiles in Thailand

This winter found me taking up my most ambitious textile adventure yet - a first visit the country whose name translates to 'land of the free'.  Thailand has been the winter stomping ground of artist and natural dyer Elisabeth Viguie Culshaw for many years, and her shout out for a small group to join her for the first time called me loud and clear. This display of sumptious silk at the Jim Thompson House was just one of the many many rewards.

Having a little prior knowledge about Thai silk, I was highly delighted to find that the Jim Thompson 'Silk' House Museum was just a five minute walk from our Bangkok hotel. Thompson, an American architect by trade, designed and built this prestigious Bangkok home in the 1950s, collecting and repurposing old Thai teak buildings and creating a magestic and traditional home surrounded by lush gardens.

Thompson began working as a silk trader after WWII, producing and promoting the vibrant high end fabrics.  His pioneering work transformed declining Thai silk production into a global luxury brand, and lifted many people out of poverty.  Following his unexplained disappearance in Malaysia in 1967, the house packed with Asian art and antiques was preserved as a musuem and makes for highly a interesting and tranquil visit in bustling Bangkok.

No surprises that my eye was swiftly drawn to this silk Thai pillow.  Traditionally constructed in hand woven colourful cotton fabric and filled with 'kapok' seed fibre from the Asian 'Ceiba pentandra' tree, I could feel a early doors UK project stirring! A vibrant silk exhibition space adds to the house visiting experience, along with a high-end retail shop and a charming farm shop selling affordable local artisans crafts.  

And so to the the topic that filled many of my Thai days this winter - indigo.  A plant that has been revered and passed down through generations for over 6000 years, indigo production flourishes in Thailand, most particulary in the North East region.  Our first group outing brought us to the Hands Across Culture - Kramm International Symposium in Central Bangkok and I found myself peering at plated indigo dyeing ingredients in wonder!

The Thai word most used for indigo is 'Kraam' and the variety grown in Thailand is Indigoera Tintoria, which differs from Persicaria Tinctoria, the Japanese indigo plant generally grown in the UK.  Indigo 'vats are produced using an indigo paste, lime bark to maintain alkalinity and and often tamerind - the latter is one of various fruits used to aide fermentation.  I came to learn much about these products and many more natural dyes in following days.  So with a little encouragement from textile artist Dudee4Me, here I am on day one of our activities, straight into indigo blue despite my unsuitable clothing - at least I had rubber gloves on :)

What was quickly evident, is just how powerful Thai indigo vats are.  My experience of Japanese indigo has been dipping fabrics many times to achieve a blue of any depth.  These cotton and rayon pieces dyed by conference delegates achieved this depth of deep blue with just two short dips!  Thai indigo was evidently powerful stuff and I was super keen to learn.

These simple tie dye pieces were only the tip of the indigo iceberg at the symposium, with a stunning exhibition of contemporary household and fashion items in every imaginable shade of indigo blue.  How fabulous it was to see quality creations by Thai textile artists, clearly demonstrating that natural dyes and high end products can absolutely go hand in hand.

Prach Niyomkar of Mann Craft was one of the main contributors at the symposium, and it was a delight to later spend time in his stunning garden in Sakon Nakon.  Known to many as Mann, he introduced us to his incredible natural dye space, packed with plants I have long loved, only ever read the names of, and many of which I had never heard of at all!  I was transfixed the first time we walked around the garden, what a wonder it was to be cocooned by lush foliage and flora at every turn, most of which could be used as material for natural dye.  As we would come to learn, the palette of colours available from Mann's garden is considerable.

Here are just a few of the amazing flora that my eyes relished for the first time on that magical morning.  From top left to bottom right: 

Tithonia Diversifolia (Mexican Sunflower), 

Bixa Orellana (Lipstick Tree), 

Saraca Indica (Asoka Tree), 

Senna Alata (Candlesticks)

To be introduced to such a wide array of new plants was incredibly exciting, and oh to have spent the rest of my winter in this garden, learning about these and many other beauties, and the natural dye colours they give.

Mann had already set up indigo vats prior to our arrival and they sat 'blooming' in dappled sunlight awaiting our attention.  While a glorious sight to behold, I was learning fast that the skill, knowledge, care and attention to get vats to this stage is considerable.  Indigo dyeing in Thailand, is a cultural practice that is handed down the generations and after a long period of decline, it is thankfully now enjoying a resurgence through the dedication and passion of artistans like Mann.  His clay indigo vats were very asthetically pleasing, however, vats are typically much larger for dyeing quantity materials for the commercial market.

While Thai indigo vats require only gentle heat to kick start or revive, many other dye plants require considerable heat to coax the release of their colour.  My group spent many an hour in the dye garden peering into aliminium pots on woodstoves, enjoying the aroma of wood smoke and plant material.  The gathering and preparing of all plants before entering the pot is a lengthy task, selecting fruits, flowers and bark at the right time and with minimal impact on the plants and trees.  While the former was kindly done for us, there was much chopping and squishing of the chosen materials to correctly prepare them for boiling.

Preparing all natural dyes is a process to be savoured, and Golden Shower fruit was one of the materials we worked with our hands.  Cassia fistula is the National tree and flower of Thailand, and is revered for its vibrant yellow blooms that symbolise unity and presperity.  Blooming from March to May and its bark, leaves and fruits yield natural dyes from golden yellow through to browns.

It was without doubt a weighty task to produce all of these cotton and linen fabric samples dyed with a combination of Indigo, Golden Shower fruit, Myrobalan leaves, and Santol and Peltophorum bark.  Mann and Elisabeth worked tirelessly to facilitate this throughout our two garden days, and keep track of which dyes, mordanting and modifiers had been used on which samples.  As shown on these samples labelled by group member Sue, an extensive and interesting pallette of colours was achieved from just 4 dyes, widened by the use of mordants and modifiers.  Aluminium Suphate and Aluminium Acetate were used as pre mordants, and Aluminium Sulphate as a post mordant.  Lime and Ferrous Suplate were both used as modifiers.

Quality natural dye end products by Sakon Nakon artisans, typically in cotton or rayon, wowed me throughout my delightful Sakon Nakon days.  Mann's textile work was an exemplar of this, and his contemporary combining of the indigo blue spectrum with other natural dyes was hugely appealing.  Like many Thai textile artists, Mann has a wide range of dyeing, spinning and weaving skills I was delighted to bring home a few of his creations.  

Artisans specialising and collaborating were clearly at the root of the successful creative ventures we had to pleasure of visiting.  The North East of Thailand particularly specialises in indigo, starting bountiful production.  This huge field of Indigoera Tintoria at Baan Ton Kram at Chiang Mai was quite a sight to behold, and our group learnt a little about the seasonal growing, harvesting and production of Indigoera Tintoria, and also the lesser grown wild Indigofera Suffructicosa.

The production of the valuable indigo paste for Thai textile artisans is a craft in itself.  Fresh indigo leaves are usually harvested in September/October, and the leaves are soaked and fermented in large tanks for several days until the water turns green.  Lime is then added and the mixture is stirred vigorously to oxidize.  After resting, the the liquid is removed leaving the powerful indigo pigment that can be kept for up to a year.

Studio ChiangDao Blue similarly produces high quality indigo, alongside dyeing and workshops in a most atmospheric studio.  Working with indigo for artisans like owner Siripohn is deeply spiritual, and supports a way of living and working with indigo that transcends processes and finished results.  Our glorious afternoon starting with a home cooked lunch, followed by rolling, folding, dipping and washing will be ever etched in my memory.

Similarly our morning at Ban Donkoi, a creative hub in Sakon Nakon, a community that makes extensive use of indigo and other natural dyes to design and and create sustainable fashion.  Weaving leader, Mrs Thawil Upri, showed around the hub, a model community supported by a Thai Royal initiative.  The collaboration consists of 7 local groups who grow natural dye plants and cotton, making natural dyes, spin and weave.

Their textile processes include specialist 'tie die' weaving where the loom warps are tied before they are dyed dipped in indigo and other locally produced natural dyes.  The complex and stunning weave designs that result from the many weavers are quite astounding and as can be seem with this very informative eBook, they produce a vast number of intriate designs and motifs.

Cotton is the primary weave fibre for Donkoi, along with some rayon.  The cotton is grown as one of the add-on crops that provides additional income after seasonal rice planting is complete.  With pre and post moranting, cotton takes up natural dyes well, indigo and other tannin rich plants particularly.  The formulas for each plant have been handed down and knowledge is shared within the Donkoi communities.  These few photos do very little justice to the quality of the end products the community produce.

Cotton has been grown in Thailand for thousands of years and continues in the North East, where organic and sustainable farming is worked by local communities.  Crops such as Gossypium Herbaceum are planted in October/November, with harvesting and producing in February/March.  The growers, spinners and weavers are very often women and the income generated much improves the quality of living for their families.  There are a number of different coloured varieties of cotton, including green and brown and it is typically handspun.

Prang Rojanachotikul, a long standing Thai weaver, artist and educator, works extensively with hand spinning cotton and weaving, and she has pushed out the boundaries with her innovative creativity.  She has developed a very interesting technique with cotton yarn inspired by ancient Thai manuscript covers that she call 'Jandok' wrapping.  Her samples of geometric designs were both stunning and inspiring.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon with Prang in Chiang Mai, learning how to create a simple geometric design with cotton yarn.  Starting at the centre, the braiding involves wrapping around the bamboo sticks in a way that felt like knitting cast on.  With a fiddly start holding the sticks steady, watching a design emerge was very satisfying, and I our afternoon passed in a flash.

Thai silk production similarly dominates around the North East, and with my abiding passion for silk, I was delighted to find examples of stunning weaving throughout my Thai travels.  This stand by the Detail Cultural Network Community at the Bangkok Symposium had a exceptional display of beautifully woven silk scarves and few of my group could resist making a purchase - myself included!

Our visit to the Queen Sirkit Sericulture Centre in Sakon Nakon gave us insight into the natural dyeing of silk.  A protein fibre that takes up natural colour with ease, this stunning array of silk fibres made for an impressive display.  Silk must by dyed at much cooler temperatures than cotton to retain its natural lustre, so cool indigo VATS are perfect.  Simple washing of the fibre is all that is required beforehand and the range of natural dye colours that the centre had produced went from a light golden beige through to the deepest natural dye black I have every seen.

Sericulture is the term given to the farming of silk worms for the purpose of making silk.  Mulberry leaves are the staple diet required and the centre has specialised in cultivating the shrubby Mulberry bush trees typical of Thailand.  The larvae are fed on Mulberry leaves for around 30 days, at which point they are moved onto a rattan frame where they will begin to spin a cocoon.  It takes around 14 days for the pupa to  metamorphose into a moth, and then it secretes a fluid to break through the protective cocoon.

While silk production such as Eri allows the full 4 stages of the life cycle, Mulberry silk moths sadly never get to leave their cocoons as their natural exit damages the silk.  Boiling cocoons to achieve this feels very unpalitable, and also that the moth pupae is widely eaten in Asia as a tasty snack!  As someone who has a genetic love of silk, the only way to deal with this troubling fact is to keep the end result in mind - one cocoon produces a stunning filament of between 900 - 1,300 metres.

Brown is another colour that features frequently in the Thai natural dye pallette.  Sadly school uniform misery kept this firmly on the edge of my colour radar for many years, however, thankfully my Somerset wetland home area has latterly re-engaged me with this warm and comforting colour of nature.  Tannin rich plants such as walnut and alder have long been on my natural dye radar. 

Yet the origin of this brown natural dye was to be a complete surprise, and I imagine many will look at the adjacent photos and will be none the wiser!  This is the fabulous flower of a fruit that I love to eat and I was interested to find out that these flowers are routinely cut from the tree as it promotes better growth.  So to reveal exactly what fruit this is - my much loved banana!

Our group spent a glorious afternoon, with 'Banana Blood' textile artist, Tang Kanidha at her studio a little way outside Bangkok.  What a privilage it was to spend time in her inspirational space, and to experiment with painting and printing with banana flower sap.  It seemed incredible that the sap of the young flower could be used so creatively, and better still that it is actually a product that would have otherwise gone to waste.

It has taken a fair while to process my mega textile experiences this Winter - this is a very condensed account!  All credit to our illustrious leader Elizabeth for organising such highly engaging and memorable textile experiences.  The Thai people we met were all so very hospitable, and genuinely grateful for our interest in their skills and creativity.  

As I looked out at the majestic Doi Chiang Dao mountain on our last afternoon and reflected on my Thai days, how fortunate I felt in my first visit to the 'Land of the Free'.

Finding France

For all that France is a hop and a skip travel destination, it has somehow stayed well beneath my roving radar.  So with just 21 or so miles of water to find a way of crossing, France felt like an achievable option for returning to foreign travel this year.  I will forever recall viewing the Paris skyline on my first morning from the tower of the Sacre Coeur, serenaded by a symphony of midday bells.  It was a giddying experience on lots of levels, least of all because I experience vertigo and I had climbed a very long way up!

Known as the 'city of light' for its historical age of  enlightenment, visiting Paris felt meaningful in a year where I have much to learn.  With just a few days to take in a city that realisically demands weeks of exploring, I felt grateful for helpful guidance of places worthy of visiting.  I relished being cocooned in buildings that rarely make a first Paris travel schedule and the church of Saint Severin in the Latin Quarter was one such location.  Even on a low light day, the glorious 19th windows created a colour infusion that soothed and wowed in equal measures.

The world renown artist supply shop, Sennielier, on the nearby the banks of the River Seinne was another haven of colour comfort.  Long revered for its high quality oil pastels used by artists from Picasso onwards, the pops of intense colour against traditional wood cladding made for very sensory browsing.  I was time-travelled back to teenage art shopping as I relished high quality supplies of every persuasion and while my purchases were modest, they would later come to inspire numerous heartfelt textile creations.

Such beautifully furbished shops were aplenty in Paris and a morning stroll in Monmartre found me standing in 'Dam Boutons'.  Never before had I seen three walls of a shop covered with button tubes from floor to ceiling and while my eyes span in all directions, my mind whizzed around potential projects.  As I slowed my senses, I began taking in buttons in every concievable colour, shape and size.  Modern and vintage buttons alike were catered for and while the latter is always my preferred choice, I was mesmerised by the former.  A modest selection of button purchases understandably took me a fair while to choose, particularly as the owner had a strict selection method to ensure that the button tubes ended up back in their correct position!

Of course my ultimate preference will always be to be enveloped by textiles and a visit to the Musée de Cluny finally brought me in front of the much researched Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.  These six immense medieval tapestry masterpieces depicting a lady and a unicorn are considered to represent the fives senses - sight smell, taste, hearing and touch.  The sixth tapestry shown here, 'To My Only Desire', is considered to represent the heart and sixth sense - so very fitting to sit with and contemplate its meaning a while.

Woven in Flanders around 1500AD in fine silk and wool, the threads were coloured with the best available natural dyes, called 'Grand Teints'.  Red from madder roots, blue from woad leaves, yellow from weld leaves and green from combining woad and weld.  While all three dye colours were reasonably lightfast, the weld yellow had the least durability over time and consequently absence of yellow has changed all of the woven green elements shades to blue!

It was to be a fair few months later when I would learn more about the historical blue, that coloured French and European textiles for many centuries.  This delightful shop came onto my radar while Sunday strolling around Toulouse, when I spotted brown ball of dried leaves in the window display.  While I had never seen a woad ball first hand before, it sure did look like one. A speedy Google translation revealed that the French translation of 'pastel' is 'woad', but oh dear me, the door to Maison du Pastel was firmly closed and I peered for a sign to see when it would next be open.  

Thankfully a return visit came to pass and the oceon of natural blue that sat inside was every bit as thrilling as I had anticipated.  The friendly owner explained that her business included growing woad locally in some volume and then producing a powder pigment from the leaves.  The intensitiy of the pigment was such that it had been used to colour an incredible range of locally made products in the deepest of blue hues - textiles, wood, ink, toiletries, paint and even sweets!

There was also information on the history of woad growing in Europe, ultimately quashed when indigo imports began from Asia and the Americas.  In some countries woad is considered a noxious weed and it is illegal to sell or buy.  Strangely so to me, as my attempts to grow have so often thrwarted by cabbage white butterflies!  Woad is now often considered a poorman's blue to indigo, yet Maison du Pastel is pushing out the boundaries.  It has it challenges all the same with managing crops through weather extremes and replacing honed skills on retirement.

I was greatly blessed that such skilled and dedicated makers found me in France this year,  strangely all with minimal planning and when I least expected.  Feeling disappointed after finding a closed art museum door in the Southern village of Elne, one turned corner later revealed the shop of book makers and restorers - Le Moulin.  

In addition to historical book restoration, Le Moulin creates contemporary books made with the highest quality materials:  traditional cotton Catalin fabrics woven on old looms, and Washi paper, created by hand with fibres from the inner bark of various Japanese trees.  Reknown for its thinness, pliability and durability, Washi paper is often used in historical book restoration.  To chat with the owners about their heartfelt work made for a most memorable afternoon, that my new journal will long remind me of.

My French finds for the year ended in the charming city of Perpignan which nestles at the foot of the Pyrenees.  A medieval fair filled the streets of the old town on a baking late summer weekend and how wonderful it felt to wander around the stalls of highly skilled heritage craft artisans.  What an impressive spectical they created, dressed in vibrant medieval costumes and the variety of crafts being demonstrated was quite astounding - wood, metal, glass, paper, natural materials and of course textiles.  Chatting with a lace maker and braid maker was such an unexpected pleasure and revealed yet again that the French create with immense passion and skill.  

To say that my French findings this year are a drop in their creative oceon is a massive understatement.  It is abundantly clear that France is brimming with highly skilled artisans working across many disciplines and that historical and contemporary textile techniques are very much thriving.  There is without doubt very much more for me to learn in the 'land of the Franks' - which made me smile when I found that 'Franks' orginates from the old French and Latin words for 'free' - the most vital and precious ingredient of creativity.

Heritage Craft Festival 2025

I was delighted to make a further collaboration this summer, with Coldharbour Mill in Devon and 11 like-minded artists and makers.  Returning to the Mill's atmospheric Fox Gallery, we made a glorious space to showcase traditional crafts with textile, paper, leather and willow through displays of work, demonstrations and workshops.  Sharing knowledge and skills with our visitors, it was a heart warming way to spend a few summer weeks ad we are very grateful to the Mill for generously hosting this second summer Festival and to Daniel Carpenter of Heritige Crafts for giving time to come along and open.

There is something very satisfying and nuturing about sharing skills and knowledge, and this is the underpinning ethos of keeping traditional and heritage crafts alive.  I believe that such crafts are increasing vital to our wellbeing in our fast and furious 21st century world and that working our hands slowly in meaningful ways provides necessary meaning, respite and recovery.  Here is a snapshot of some of the traditional crafts that we had on offer and that were enjoyed by our many visitors at our Festival - a big thank you to all who came to see us.

And here we all are on our final afternoon before dismantling our Festival gallery.  A huge thank you to Nesta Davies, Arthur Sharp, Adam 'Red' Morrigan, Justine Hartly, Rosie Burns, Philippa Reid, Amy Stevens, Sara Finch, Wendy Greaves, Lucy Turner, Susan Bradshaw and Alison Katte for their generous contributions, energy and support throughout the two weeks - such a talented and kindly group of people to spend summer weeks with this year :)

Sensational Silk

Just spend a few moments thinking what your life would be like without ANY textiles! They are intrinsically linked to so many aspects of our lives, and yet their ready availability often means that  the simple pleasures textiles provide are so easily taken for granted.  The touch, smell, sight and sound of certain types of textiles can evoke feelings of pleasure and comfort for us all in seconds.  My list of these pleasures is very long and yet there is one textile that for me consistantly sits at the top of my list - sensational silk.

These silk scarf finds at an auction in the depths of last Winter provided a great deal of pleasure for a miminal cost of £25!  Their sheen, drape and vibrant colour palette reflects much of what I have long loved from silk.  Yet conversely, one of my earliest silk finds from teenage fabric shopping sprees had a very different look.  There are many types of 'natural' silk in a range of colours and silk 'noil' was, and still is, a particular favourite.  Woven from the left over fibres after processing silk cocoons, I love its slubbiness and simplicity and I have used it to stitch clothing, curtains and much more.

In the years since I began nuturing my passion for silk fabric, I have found and worked with so many different types.  Recycled Kimono silk capured my interest some years back, both for its high quality and striking designs.  A densely woven fabric with a variety of textures, these are achieved through a variety of weaving techniques.  My long standing supplier, Jasuin, is one of the diligent traders who dismantles vintage Kimonos into their original pieces, enabling the beautiful fabric to be repurposed.

I've constructed quite a range of projects from recycled Kimono silk over the years into many small projects, including cushions, bags, decorations, book covers, face masks and boxes.  The stunning naturalistic designs are a delight to work with, it cuts and stitches beautifully and wears extremely well.  Even older fabrics can look as vibrant as the day they were first woven.  This was the first project I ever made with my inital fabric purchase and it is still one of my favourites.

Another huge benefit of silk is that is takes dye extremely well and experimenting with natural dyes was an obvious and most enjoyable journey for me.  A protein fabric like wool, natural colours from leaves, flowers, bark and roots adhere well to silk fabric and their resulting colours are surprisiningly long lasting.   This was one of my first experiments with eco-printing, a simple process that involves layering natural materials on damp silk, rolling tightly and then steaming.  The choice of natural materials is key to this fun process.

I made many natural dye samples on smallish pieces of silk during my experimentations, using a wide range of natural materials.  All were attractive and finding a way to showcase them felt important.  Last summer I began using them to create a long piece of embroidery to be wrapped around an old bobbin from Coldharbour Mill in Devon.  A project idea inspired by Somerset Textile artist Paula Simpson, I completed this over the following six months, intuitively chosing silk samples one at a time to generically hand embroider.  By the Spring my one metre length was complete.

I also embroidered this very simple shibori sample over the late Winter weeks, for a memory quilt for the late Susan Dye of Nature's Rainbow.  I shibori stitched and dyed this piece of Ponge silk in a pot of madder dye the autumn before last - set up with roots from the precious dye garden of Susan and her partner Ashley - a very happy weekend.  I, along with many others, owe much to Susan's immense knowledge, enthusiasm, and generosity on the subject of natural dye.  I will always remember Susan very fondly and with much gratitude, it was a great privilage to have spent time with her and to make a simple stitch offering to her memory quilt alongside like-minded others.

Ever mindful of the increasing price of silk, I have also recently returned to a technique I learnt long ago, to make a textile from silk 'carrier rods'.  A by product of the silk reeling process, these rather dreary looking pieces come into being when silk thread is 'reeled' from cocoons and some of the filaments rap around a rod in the machine.  While they look pretty unspiring in their raw form, they can be utterly transformed into a textile that is very attractive.

Like all silk, they take dye well and this pile in a  vibrant colours suddenly look a whole lot more appealing!  Better still, these coils of silk waste can be split down into layers, so one carrier rod can easily multiply by six.  Silk in its rawest form has a natural gummy substance called 'sericin' which is actually what gives silk its strength and elasticity.  This allows that the split carrier rods can be pressed together to make a kind of paper, which can then be used for all kinds of creative projects.

The textile created from this rather quirky technique can be easily embellished with machine and hand stitch.  This is one simple example where the fabric has been used to make covers for simple books.  The sheen that we all expect from silk is wonderfully evident and the characteristic durability and strength are perfect for book covers.  What a transformation from its humble orgins.

Silk 'fusion' with unspun silk fibres has been anther of my recent silk passions - a kind of paper making process using different types of mediums.  I have been having lots of fun this summer moulding varying types of silk fibre around all kinds of objects, including glass forms.  These simple tealights are made with naturally dyed fibres by Devon fibre artist Jane Deane, with the addition of a few pressed flowers.  Silk fusion is one of the topics I will be demonstrating and teaching at the atmospheric Coldharbour Mill in Devon, for a second Heritage Craft Festival this August - more to follow on this soon.