Handwoven Hemp Fabric Indigo Batik

Gorgeous hemp fabric, traditionally hand woven and indigo dyed by Hmong villagers in Vietnam.

Measuring 33cm wide, sold by the 1/2 metre, this thick woven fabric would be beautiful as a table runner or placements. An inspiring addition to the craft stash, lovely for a special sewing projects.

Inspired by the natural environment, the hand drawn batik design is made using the traditional wax relief method with a natural indigo dye sourced from plants grown on the edges of the village rice terraces.

Hemp is grown by the Hmong tribeswomen, dried, then the fibre stripped from the stem and pounded, boiled, spun and coated with wax before being strung on an old wooden loom and woven into the finished fabric. All year around the tribeswomen can be seen with hemp fibres wound around their hands, using what spare time they have to connect the separate fibres to make one use-able thread.

This unique, labour-intensive textile is sourced directly from a number of elderly Hmong women in a small village in Northern Vietnam to ensure a fair trade price goes directly to the makers and back to their impoverished communities.

Width: 33cm / Price is for 1/2 metre, sold in 1/2 metre increments.

Handmade in Vietnam