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Quite some time ago I designed two fabric ranges for ‘Carol Mills Fabrics’. The first book consists of five and the second four fabric designs (all in various colour ways).
My favourite fabric is ‘Arrival’ (above right).
‘Pinotage: Grape of the Cape’ (above) was used for wine cooler bags.
All these fabrics are still available in most fabric stores as far as I am aware.
When I first had the idea to make bags I started collecting fabrics. I was so inspired and proud of my ‘collection’ that I even took a picture of it.
Now my fabric collection has taken over my bookcase. My books are in boxes in the cellar and the remaining few are lucky to be squeezed into the bottom shelf overflowing onto the floor. There are some toppling piles of books on top of the bookcase but these are also stacked higher with fabrics. Needless-to-say, the bookcase is very wobbly now.
By the way, the bookcase does not normally look like this (I tidied it last night). It is usually a choatic mess with fabric crammed into every possible space. It also does not take long for it to return back to that madness.
Over the past few months I have noticed more and more campaigns against the use of plastic bags both locally and 
internationally. I think this is great. A few years back South Africa stopped giving plastic bags out for free and we now have to pay 46c for one. The change that this brought was huge. For one, litter visibly reduced by what I would confidently say, at least 50% and we started looking for alternatives to carry our grocery’s and shopping in. These alternatives quickly emerged in the form of cheap fabric bags which has started a whole move on it’s own. Woolworths (one of South Africa’s leading brands and food and clothing stores) introduced what we now refer to as the ‘Woolies bags’.
I think everybody must have at least two. I think at one stage they were given away for free but now you buy them which is fine becuase the colours are bright and fun and the purpose basic. This was a great branding opportunity for Woolworths and others big brands soon caught on. Sometimes I wish it was not all a branding competition but when the bigger picture is positive, I guess I should not criticise.
There has been another option that I cannot leave out of this post: the big red and blue thick plastic bags that zip closed. These bags have been around for ages and are most often seen on long taxi journeys (used as luggage bags) or for carrying grocery’s on top of heads. They are SO cheap (R15 which equates to about $1.50) which is another reason why they are so popular. I have two which I use to transport my fabric and bags around in. The picture below was taken with Jeremy’s cellphone the other morning. The man was carrying one of these plastic bags on his head whilst his friends were carrying a mattress of theirs.
It is surprising how many countries still have not caught onto how easy it is to cut litter by simply stopping free plastic bags.
I came across this great fabric collection via Elle Deco.
The fabrics are created by John Robshaw and unlike many today that are old traditional prints, these are reinterpretations of them. This means that inspiration comes from the traditional but they are original, modern and gorgeous!
I am usually one to go for the ‘old’, the textile with a story but John Robshaw has managed to still keep that, and add ’sparkle’. He does this by respecting the traditional methods of painting and print-making, keeping the intended meanings of the fabrics (to tell stories) and still valuing the mistakes that mark a hand-printed fabric and as he puts it “records the human hand.”
These pictures (above) are from his video. Click here to view it.
Another ‘drawing-in’ point for me was that he went to India to learn about Indigo dyeing. This is one of my big dreams!!! Just reading how he describes the indigo dyeing and woodblock printing process makes me go all dreamy eyed:
“It’s so simple and natural. You touch a woodblock to wet clay and then to the fabric. After the clay dries, you dip the cloth into the indigo vat and the clay stays on. One dip gives the fabric a sky-blue color, two dips and it deepens to cobalt, three dips and it’s a saturated midnight blue. Then the fabric is laid out to dry in the sun and later the clay is washed off. The dyer says the indigo vats are like a mistress because they need constant attention. I was completely fascinated by the dyeing and printing processes, as well as how the finished product is used. Textiles become intimate companions in daily life, whether as a pillow, bedcover or sarong.”
Oooohhh….maybe I could go and visit him in India…….either way…I have to buy something now! I’m falling in love….oh dear! Especially with these indigo dipped pillows.
Every year Heimtextil trade show presents all the latest in textile design. It is often easy to distinguish the trends and to define in what movement direction the consumer is moving. However, this year (presenting Fall/Winter 08/09) there were over 2,800 exhibitors so to identify the trends was not as easy.
Here are a few of my favourite textiles (grouped into three trends I could fathom) from the show.
Nature: There is a move towards the more graphic art and nature drawings. It is the elements that are most important. Take for example, an ordinary tree trunk and fragment the colours inside into a formulated pattern (refer to the top right image). Gold is another big trend when mixed with rich red or royal purple (see the third image from the right on the top). Black and white is another movement (refer to the last image) you can see the influence of traditional hand-crocheting techniques in the flowers. My favourite in this collection must be the bugs and stem textile design (second image on the top). I do not know what the significance of the bugs having numbers in them is but the simplistic nature of the design and basic use of red and black appeals to me.
Clockwise from top right: Bruckert Creations; Plage SA; Quid Novi; Bruckert Creations; Stromma Sweden; Joaquin Reina; Prestigious Textiles; JAB Josef Anstoetz KG
Animals: I could not help but include these four textiles. The first one with the chicken and eggs I think is adorable and so fun. I can image this fabric as a cushion on a wooden bench outside a farmyard kitchen. Animals in textiles, as trend, can be either abstract and simplified or perfect and detailed like in the third textile of Squirrels and Deer. In this example I think it is important to focus on the theme more so than the design as a trend – the deers and squirrels are both cute and gentle creatures often used in fantasty stories. Fantasy and beauty are two big trends of the summer, more prevalent in fashion with the return of fairy dresses and the use of light airy fabrics. In the fourth textile below the deer is used again reinforcing this use of magic and symbolic power. The drawing of this textile is also very stylized and sketchy. This sketched quality has been around as a trend for some time now but I also do not think it is going away. I love it. I also think the unusual combination of elements in this design makes it special and even more interesting.
Clockwise from top right: Sprugel Hometex; Print Forum; Stromma Sweden; Rasch Textile GmbH
Combinations: Colour, colour and colour. Colours are in but it is the shade and hue that matters most! Look at the cushions by Mexx Bed and Bath (right) and you can get an idea of the colour combination and how prints are overlapped, combined and co-ordinated. Put spots with stripes or plains and suddenly it is not so overpowering, but once again, it is the colour combination that is most important. This chair by Globaltex Ltd has a purple, red, pink and lime green spot. It sounds a yuck colour combination but because the shades are right, it works wonderfully and looks delicious.
Most importantlly for Fall/Winter 08/09 is to have fun, combine your black and white sketch textiles with your brights (that are in the right shade) and create a house full of wonder!
I am an absolute fan of Amy Butler’s bags and fabrics. I came across her bags and fabrics in about November last year and she became one of my main inspirations in starting up Wren.
She started out making small passport sized bags, then started creating surface designs for a friend and feel in love with it. From there she started a sewing pattern bussiness and slowly it has grown into the Amy Butler brand. Now she has a team that manufactures handbags, pillows, fabric journals as well as paper craft products, Soak and Sweet Life Bags. The lines are produced in limited quantites and do go quite quickly.
I love the concept that you can either buy the completed product or the DIY complete kit that comes with instructions, the pattern and the fabric like what Lisa has done with her Velma bag.
One of my favourite things about her bags is that they are shipped inside a resusable drawstring tote that can be used for storing the bag or a multitude of other things. I think this is a brilliant idea.
This magical blue fabric has a fascinating history. The story begins in Europe where the fabric was imported from Asia, mainly India. The cloth was originally made using natural indigo dye but a synthetic substitute as well as two additional colours (a rich chocolate brown and a vibrant red) is now used.The original German Print, ‘Ujamani’ or ‘Shweshwe’ fabric was introduced to South Africa with the German settlers in 1858/9. Xhosa women took a particular liking to this stiff blue fabric and gradually replaced their animal skin garments for these newly available cotton ones. Over the years Shweshwe fabric has become an intricate part of traditional ceremonies in the rural areas.
Slowly the production of Shweshwe fabric has disappeared from Europe and today the only known producers of the Indigo Dyed Discharge Printed Fabric are in South Africa. This factory is 45% owned by the workers, creating a sustainable future for them in the Eastern Cape. Authentic Shweshwe fabrics can be identified by a trademark back-stamp on the fabric: the Three
Leopards, the South African version of the original and traditional Three Cats trademark or Toto 6. The stiff touch, smell and taste of the fabric are also unique ways to ensure the fabric is genuine. The reason for these characteristics lies in the fabric’s history:- During the long sea voyage from the UK to South Africa, starch was used to preserve the fabric from the elements and gave a characteristic stiffness and smell. Today the fabric is starched for traditional reasons. After washing, the stiffness and smell slowly disappear to leave behind a beautiful soft cotton fabric.
(Note: When washing Shweswhe for the first time the excess indigo comes out and therefore, it is advisable to wash items separately).
Wren bags are very special. Each one is unique, a one-of-a-kind, and with its own personality – just like you! A lot of time is spent making sure the colours and patterns of each bag work together. All the bags are made perfectly so that they last you a long time and meet the highest quality standards (as I am an admitted perfectionist).
Every bag is personally made either by me, or when the work load gets too much I ask for the help of two very special seamstresses from the local community.
Bag Description
