Balinese Beauty

I've recently been adding some stunning ikat bags to my store. Most of those have used fabrics that I bought in the bazaars of Istanbul, but the most recent addition is an ikat fabric I bought in Bali a few years ago. I was lucky to spend a week on the beautiful island and was intrigued by the amount of local crafts that were produced there. Being a fabric lover, I was most intrigued by the textiles produced and I came home with some stunning pieces.

Ikat fabric has a characteristic blurred effect and this is created by dying the design onto the threads before they are woven.

 The beautiful turquoise colour caught my eye and I decided to use a contrasting mustard fabric for the lining to add a flash of colour when the bag is opened. The lining is made from a vintage Japanese kimono fabric. I love the idea of mixing the fabrics of two different cultures in one bag.

This bag has a short detachable chain handle that can be held in the hand, worn over the wrist or worn over the shoulder. You can find it in my store here.

Indonesian inspiration

A few weeks ago I wrote about the luscious fabrics I picked up on my trip to Bali, which you can see here. 

Since then I have been a busy bee, playing with different combinations of fabrics and trims. In my stash of kimono fabrics I found some gorgeous, vibrant turquoise and pink kimonos and realised how beautifully they matched with the ikat fabrics I'd bought in Bali. This is the outcome and I'm really happy with them! With each one, I chose a vibrant complimentary lining, and also added a pretty ribbon trim as an accent. The ribbons are from France, the silk is from Japan and the ikat fabric is from Indonesia, so a truly global mix.

You can see these, and other clutch bags here.

Bali buys

Well, needless to say, we had a fab time in Bali - a wonderful combination of relaxing in our lovely villa/hotel, as well as getting out and seeing the beautiful island of Bali. You can read more about our travels here.

As a lover of textiles, I was in heaven and the choice of ikat weavings, batik fabrics as well as the rather brash gold printed pieces that are often used to 'wrap' figures in the temples, was overwhelming. I could have gone crazy with the shopping, but hubby kept me at bay and I only came back with a 'small' number of fabric pieces as well as a wood carving.....

I'm really looking forward to making some clutch bags out of these gorgeous finds and am even wondering how they will combine with the kimono fabrics I already have. Watch this space....

Ikat weaving is a process where the design of the weave is dyed onto the threads before they are woven. I can't even begin to imagine how they work that out, but the effect is gorgeous.

Batik is a process where the design is 'drawn' out using wax that creates a resist. The design is then coloured in and the wax is removed using boiling water. There are many more complicated ways of doing this, where layers of colour and pattern are added over time.

A gold design is printed onto bright coloured cottons. It is quite brash, but I love its vibrancy.