Morocco - Dyeing and Leather in the Fez Medina

The tourist brochures talk of being in the Fez medina as stepping back into the Middle Ages. Many traditional skills are still practiced and old-world services still offered. This likely to be one of the reasons why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you want a worn article of clothing freshened up, visit the street dyer, drop off your faded garment and  pick it up once it has been over-dyed.

The Fes medina has a dyers' district where dyeing skills have been handed down through many generations. Hand-woven woolen and cotton cloth, tanned hides of camels, goats, cattle and sheep are tanned and dyed at a number of different tanneries.

Earthen vats are filled with dye materials - ochre, poppy, pomegranate and henna for reds, date stones for light brown.

Fullers stomp on the hides in the vats then lift them out. It is back-breaking work for only the strongest. And the smell... but you probably don't notice it when you work there every day. Visiting tourists are handed a fresh sprig of mint to help the delicate ones cope with the smell. I found the smell to be not too bad, but I did remind myself we were there in winter. In the summer heat, I may have gagged.

The small yellow hides are saffron-dyed lamb skins to make the softest of leather.

From our high vantage point in a leather goods store's verandah, we stood for a long time watching all of the different activities going on.

Morocco - More Things Textiley

Morocco has a number of different official uniforms but this was my favourite - red serge wool. 

The horse is decked out in various embellishments similar to the ones I showed here

Those trousers warrant a closer look.

They are finely gathered, as prep for smocking, the full length of the inside panels, allowing for great ease of movement when riding a horse or running after bad guys. It is a different solution to the other famous red serge uniform belonging to the Canadian Mountie, who opted for flared hip pants, originating from the Indian jodhpurs, for ease when riding.

The bunched up fabric makes many layers that trap air making them very much warmer than just a single layer of fabric. It is such an interesting variation on thermal insulation for a garment, compared with quilted layers of fabric.

When traveling I notice how women carry their children, particularly the traditional methods as opposed to encasing a child in a plastic carrier - don't get me started...

This woman is carrying a child on her back, leaving her hands free to do tasks and to carry things.

She has folded a large, square cloth diagonally and tied it across her shoulders. The child is safely off the ground and protected by the womans' body. The child has close contact with the woman while enjoying a stimulating view of her passing world.

We noticed Tahar's face light up whenever he saw a child and he often reached out to touch them affectionately. We decided he liked children and was maybe missing his own who were back at home.

While cruising a medina's labyrinth of streets, we met up with one of Tahar's cousins. Tahar and his cousin are Tuareg Berbers. His cousin was wearing their traditional dress and looked magnificent.

The white over-garment and shoulder scarf was a dramatic foil for the deep purple head gear and fringed scarf. His goat-hair, slipper-styled shoes are designed to be ideal for walking in the Saharan sand of the Tuareg's tribal lands.

The simple embellishment of the white garments contrasted with the elaborately patterned leather bag and silver jewellery.

Tahar has transitioned into a modern-day nomad, travelling repeatedly around his country with groups of tourists. His clothes reflect his new urban life and are in contrast with his cousin's traditional garments.

Morocco - Things Textiley I Saw

Our annual family holiday was spent in Morocco this year. As you can imagine I have many pics of this fascinating country. I want to show you a few of the textiley things we saw.

Above is a display in a pastmentarie shop of handmade braided belts ready for the discerning bride to select from. Many of these pastmentarie shops could be found together in every medina. They are filled to the ceilings with braids, tassels, cords, cloth covered with sequins.... Every one an Aladdin's Cave.

Here is our wonderful guide, Tahar, explaining how the door into a house/riad works and what all of the symbolic embellishments mean.

But look at what he is wearing over his clothes. It is the traditional Berber unisex onesie, called a djellaba. Everyone was wearing one because it was cold.

Tahar's djellaba had beautiful braiding along the front opening and all of the seams were embellished.

A braider at work in his shop making and attaching braid to a djellaba. I don't know if you can see all of those threads he is manipulating while he sews. It is one of the many, many traditional, specialised skilled jobs still being practiced in Morocco. This is a man's job. 

Our driver, Mohammed, had my favourite djellaba. He comes from the High Atlas mountains where his mother spun and wove (women's work) sheep's wool, maybe goat as well, cloth for his djellaba and his uncle made the braids. It is a rich brown colour, letting people know that Mohammed is an eligible bachelor. I was so engrossed listening to Mohammed talk about his beautiful djellaba I didn't think to take a picture.

While walking the dim, narrow streets of a medina one has to take care not to trip or be garrotted by the braid maker's tool at work. When he needs to make cord he puts his twisting machine out on the street because there is not enough room in his shop to stretch out the thread to make the meters of cord needed to make a braid.

This is the only woman I ever saw making cord. I thought she was very clever to use the holes left by the construction of the ancient city wall to hold the sticks she wrapped the thread around. She walked back and forth along the wall warping up the sticks before taking one out of the hole and twisting it to make the cord.

More posts on Morocco to come.

Studio - Construction - Foundation Wall Pour

A big day on the construction site.

 First the slinger arrived.

Then the concrete truck.

They connected... 

...and wet cement was pumped between the foam blocks in one long continuous pour. Well, a 2nd concrete truck arrived halfway through.

The guy in the orange has a remote controller to control the amount of concrete being pumped. The other guy, in black, directs the tube pouring concrete into the gap between the foam walls.

These 2 guys, Dave and Jeff, are operating a compactor/vibrator type machine to get rid of air bubbles in the concrete.

Jeff levels of the top of the wall.

And voila - basement foundation walls.

With its 8" thick walls, this is the 1st stage of our well-designed building. We are not calling it a 'green building' because it is a term that is often not fully understood and has become a misleading label. We are calling it a 'high performance, healthy building'. More about the building's design as construction progresses.

Here am I in my studio, on a cold winter's afternoon, very pleased with the progress.

Studio - Construction - Foundation Wall

Well you might ask - 'What has this to do with the construction of a shed? 

Is it big Lego?

Kinda. 

It is 2 corner units of rigid foam insulation, wrapped together.

The studio's foundation is made from these rigid foam blocks filled with concrete to make an 8 inch thick wall with a high insulation value.

The blocks act as formwork for the concrete so there is very little construction timber needed to make the foundation. 

We had a big storm and some of the blocks that were loose got blown around. But they didn't go far and weren't damaged. 

Studio - Construction - Footings

An important delivery to the construction site.

Framing for the footings is progressing well.

I think it looks ready for the pour.

Yes, the footings are complete. 

With the footings framework up it was the first time I got an idea of the size of the studio. I could visualise where my sewing machine is going to go.

I have to get used to all sorts of activity going on outside my present studio window and not be too distracted by it all, though at times it does feel as though there is a busy road running alongside the back of the house. This evening a strange car drove up the temporary construction track from the road and did a U-turn outside our back door. I guess they were playing 'Let's Explore Unmarked Country Roads.'

Studio - Construction - Leveling the Ground

One morning, not long after it was light, a large truck arrived and backed up to the studio excavation site.

There were consultations and discussions and lots of looking at the plans.

The truck unfolded a conveyor belt from it's back and dumped a wet, gravelly mix in a pile.

Then the carpenters got to work using the gravel to level the ground so they could build the form work for the footings. This stage seemed to take a long time but I understand how it is important to get it exactly right at this early stage.

I am posting about each stage of construction I observe, though my commentary will not be very enlightening because I have no knowledge of construction. However, I do find it all most interesting.

I have been inspired to document the construction of my studio after reading Wayne's The Searsville Project,click here, blog. He has posted for 2 years showing how he and his wife, ReBecca have restored their over 100 year old farm house. I have so enjoyed reading about the process and looking at the many images Wayne has posted. Thanks for sharing, Wayne.

Etsy Ravenmade Works: Hill Tribe Embroidered Pillows

SE Asian Hill Tribe embroidered pillows are the latest addition to my Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works 

I bought a worn western-styled jacket from a thrift store - that I forgot to take a picture of before I started unpicking it.

 It was made from a collection of worn Hill Tribe embroideries pieced together to make the jacket for the tourist market.

I serged all of the raw edges to stabilise them.

Then gave them all a good soak in Oxyclean. No dye came out, I was relieved to see. 

Next they were washed.

Then 'polished' to a damp-dry stage with a heavy, super-steam generating iron.

Then the pieces were put in the boiler room to dry quickly.

A short drying time prevents any would-be fugitive dyes from causing any trouble.

The ground fabric, with it's appliqued strips, originally had a stitched resist before being dipped repeatedly into an indigo vat to achieve the deep blue colour.

Before I ironed the pieces it was easy to see how the fabric had been folded and stitched.

The top part of the image shows how a solidly cross-stitched band has been attached to the appliqued indigo fabric.

These pieces of fabric were from different traditional garments made and worn by possibly the Akha Hill Tribe. 

Akha Hill Tribe

I have reworked this beautiful hand embroidery yet again.

The one jacket is now 7 pillows of various sizes.

All are listed in my Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works . Click here to drop by and see them.

Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works: Pillow Covers

I have a delicious collection of ethnic and traditional textiles all washed, steamed and waiting to be made into pillow covers.

I must admit one of the most fun parts of the process is working out how to turn the textile into a pillow cover to take advantage of its special qualities.

If there are any identifying marks they get included in the cover. Google searches find information about the textile that I add to the description of the pillow cover.

I pass on as much of the provenance and techniques as I know, detailing it in the description of the item in my Etsy shop. Knowing the stories contained in a textile make it more interesting, more authentic and brings one closer to the maker. I like knowing this sort of info and hope there are others out there who do also.