latest blog post / blog handcrafting 

planet commonwealth had a delightful visit yesterday from artist gael lambie and her husband jim who is currently exhibiting in sydney.

while discussing their many interests, gael tried on an uzbeck woman’s mantle. traditionally from central asia and embroidered to represent a woman’s status, these ceremonial garments are traditionally worn as a headdress and have vestigial sleeves held together with an embroidered band.

while we loved gael’s outfit of pink jumpsuit, adorned with jewellery in her hair, she somehow became complete with the mantle

look out for gael at the next gallery opening, standing well out from the crowd... come back to sydney soon gael and jim!... we loved meeting you

in kerala, southern india this january i discovered a tropical paradise. pepper vine and jackfruits became the inspiration for one of our carpet designs that were then crafted in northern india. i always thought that pepper grew on trees till I watched this skilled man harvesting a crop up his nifty bamboo ladder. if you look carefully you can see the dangling clusters of pepper.

a hand sketch was transplanted to a cartoon for the weavers to work from and the colour tufts shown above match our set in sydney, so that we could have a colour match.

local wool was hand-spun and naturally dyed, as has been the tradition for hundreds of years in this part of the world. i was asked to approve the dyes which have beautiful subtle colour variations due to the varying thickness of the yarn.

local weavers have hand knotted carpets for generations. their muscle memory means that their speed is so fast that it is even difficult to follow. in the warmer months the weavers work when it is too hot to be in their fields. one carpet often takes three weavers generally 3 or 4 months of knotting. this is our five shades of grey carpet on the loom. villagers often have a wide direct gaze and always seem shy, curious and not afraid of human connection... all at the same time

weavers work with the pile towards them, prior to trimming, so they can't clearly see what they are doing. off the loom the carpets need some correction. each pattern is "penciled" at the end, so that the pile sits in the correct place. the man working on our blue carpet was untying individual knots and retying them in the correct location. i was amazed.

a collection of our carpets have started arriving at the surry hills showroom. we would love to talk to you about our carpets, custom designs, sizes and colours. 

indigo dye has been used for thousands of years. it has played a major role in many civilisations having been associated with religious paintings dating back to 500 AD and at the time of the crusades, it was considered a highly valued 'spice'.

the dye has been used across the world from asia to europe and this colour is still being used today. originally, the indigo colour comes from a plant which undergoes treatment. one method is to harvest the indigo and then place it in a large pot of water to ferment. after a day it is brought to boil changing the colour to blue. when agitated, the blue sediments fall to the bottom. it is then drawn off in to various tubs and sieved leaving a light, hard and sparkling substance. it is then ready for another process which forms the dye.

the indigo colour has been celebrated by many countries - namely india and japan who have used the indigo extensively to bring colour and beauty to fabrics and wares.

we love the versatility of this deep and rich colour and its unique and handmade quality. we display indigo bed covers, scarves and shawls and indigo packaged soap and heat packs. you will find these at both our potts point and surry hills showrooms.