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Artisans, places, and makers that offer us their art..and more.
De Selva is a company created in 2014 by three entrepreneur women, in love with Colombian art and design. They are dedicated to the design and manufacture of leather pieces painted 100% by hand or with other artisan interventions. They work with artists, craftsmen, and leather experts from their country, which allows them to create unique, exclusive accessories, full of art and love.
Each of their pieces has inscribed a piece of their hearts. They create unique pieces filled with art, making them exclusive and personalized. They use special paints for leather. Their main inspiration is the fauna, flora, and Colombian traditions. Find them at Loli’s Suitcase.
These clutches are made with “Caña Flecha” and Mola. The artisans from the Zenú community weave the “caña flecha” to create accessories representatives of their region.
From the “Caña Flecha” or "Gynenum Sagithatum", the vegetal fiber is extracted with which the Zenú elaborate different products under the trade of the weaving. This raw material, typical of its region (departments of Córdoba and Sucre in Colombia), grows in humid and swampy areas.
In addition to creating handicrafts with her, this community also uses the “Caña Flecha” to build their houses and make fishing rods.
Preparing the Fiber
This process begins by collecting the crop and cutting with a machete the leaves of “caña flecha” then removing the green and soft part of the leaf, leaving only the vein or "nepa" (part of the fiber that is used in the preparation of the braid).
Then they continue with the "scraping", which consists of putting the nepa on the leg, to scrape it with a special knife, until smooth part of the vein. When the fiber is scraped, the craftsman dries it in the sun for approximately four days, so that it takes on a white or natural color. Once the nepas are dry, they are selected by separating the lighter fibers from the stained fibers and "shred" or divide each vein with a knife into seven or eight strips.
Colors such as black and white or natural color of the fiber, are characteristics of the products woven in caña flecha, and to reinforce them or achieve them, the craftsmen must dye it.
To strengthen the color white or natural, the artisans cook the caña flecha for one hour in a pot with water, lemon juice, and cane brava or baking soda. And to achieve the black color, it is cooked in a pot for two hours with water and leaves of plants like the bija and then submerged in mud and leaves of dividivi, catorrea, jagua, green palm shell, apple leaf or flower totumo, among others **.
Weaving the braid
When the raw material is ready, the fiber is braided to give life to different products of a functional nature that, like the sombrero vueltiao.
The Mola, or Molas, is a hand-made textile that forms part of the traditional women's clothing of the Kuna people from Panamá.The full costume includes a patterned wrapped skirt (saburet), a red and yellow headscarf (musue), arm and leg beads (wini), a gold nose ring (olasu) and earrings in addition to the mola blouse (dulemor).
In Dulegaya, the Guna's native language, "mola" means "shirt" or "clothing". The mola originated with the tradition of Guna women painting their bodies with geometric designs, using available natural colors; in later years these same designs were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth bought from the European settlers of Panamá.
Molas are hand-made using a reverse appliqué technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-coloured cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread the same color as the layer being sewn, sewing blind stitches, and sewing tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles.
This closeup of a mola by Venancio Restrepo shows the layering of the different colours of cloth, and the fine stitching involved.
The largest pattern is typically cut from the top layer, and progressively smaller patterns from each subsequent layer, thus revealing the colors beneath in successive layers. This basic scheme can be varied by cutting through multiple layers at once, hence varying the sequence of colors; some molas also incorporate patches of contrasting colors, included in the design at certain points to introduce additional variations of color.
Molas vary greatly in quality, and the pricing to buyers varies accordingly. A greater number of layers is generally a sign of higher quality; two-layer molas are common, but examples with four or more layers will demand a better price. The quality of stitching is also a factor, with the stitching on the best molas being close to invisible. Although some molas rely on embroidery to some degree to enhance the design, those which are made using only the pure reverse-appliqué technique (or nearly so) are considered better.
Molas will often be found for sale with signs of use, such as stitch marks around the edges; such imperfections indicate that the mola was made for use, and not simply for sale to tourists. A mola can take from two weeks to six months to make, depending on the complexity of the design.
Get a beautiful Colombian clutch with the combination of “Caña Flecha” and Mola at Loli’s Suitcase….
Buy products from Caña Flecha & Molas
For over sixty years TESSITURA PARDI SRL has been the synonym of Italian style in home linen and interior decoration, thanks to the masterly harmony among quality, nature, tradition, culture, and art.
The weaving mill was established by the three brothers Tito, Mario and Pietro Pardi in 1949. Now the second and the third generation, that is Agostino, Alberto and Francesco Pardi run the business.
The weaving mill is located in the green Umbria and aims at handing down and developing the traditions of the handicraft and of the art of weaving that, since the past centuries, have found one of their best expressions in this area.
The products of TESSITURA PARDI SRL are characterized by a sober and harmonious elegance and by a constant and aesthetic pursuit, typical of the creativity of a Renaissance “workshop”.
The fabrics are made by using the natural fibers of linen and cotton and are the result of the skillful activity of competent craftsmen, absorbed in the typical processing “jacquard”, by shuttle power looms.
A trained selection of designs infused with cultural ambit and different artistic movements joins the quality of materials and the accuracy of workmanship from the geometrical patterns of Umbrian folk tradition to the ornaments of the figurative arts of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, from the sober forms of Giotto’s school to the harmonious and serene stylistic features of the Renaissance, from the graceful themes of the Romantic art to the sinuous lines and the floral patterns of Liberty.
Innovation always matches tradition and aims at combining culture with the tastes and the trends of the third millennium.
Get yours at Loli’s Suitcase…..
Buy products from Tessitura Pardi
Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile originally from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian countries. The word Suzani comes from the Persian سوزن Suzan which means needle. The art of making such textiles in Iran is called Suzandozi(needlework).
Suzani usually has a cotton (sometimes silk) fabric base, which is embroidered in silk or cotton thread. Chain, satin, and buttonhole stitches are the primary stitches used. There is also extensive use of couching, in which decorative thread laid on the fabric as a raised line is stitched in place with a second thread. Suzanis are often made in two or more pieces, that are then stitched together.
Popular design motifs include sun and moon disks, flowers (especially tulips, carnations, and irises), leaves and vines, fruits (especially pomegranates), and occasional fish and birds.
The oldest surviving suzanis are from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but it seems likely that they were in use long before that. In the early 15th century.
Suzanis were traditionally made by Central Asian brides as part of their dowry and were presented to the groom on the wedding day. These hand-embroidered vintage suzanis are infused with the character that only comes from everyday use. Perhaps created by a bride-to-be to show her devotion to her betrothed and then in lean times bartered away to a traveling merchant for money or household necessities pulled from the depths of his donkey cart. The story of each of these suzanis is as rich as their colors and as intricate as the designs that cover their surfaces.
This technique was later adopted by many other countries.
You can get your Suzani Bag at Loli’s Suitcase…..
