Welsh woolies

 Just having a lovely time in Wales this weekend and came across some beautiful Welsh blankets from the Welsh Blanket company..lovely for Autumn!

Make do and mend..

Of course there is nothing we like better than finding an old handkerchief or a treasured shirt at a flea market, faded with age and repaired in all corners with intricate stitches..precious things that were worth the time spent to repair them.. in days where it is more normal to discard ripped blouses or broken plates it is a delight to see such beautifully repaired items especially when it comes beloved household items. So we thought we would share some images from one of our favourite blogs, Past Imperfect, that is dedicated to all things that that have been inventively and lovingly repaired, from stapled plates and cups, patchwork teapots and wire weaving a pearl-ware ladle back to life, and don't they look all the more beautiful for it!

From Antiquesandboutiques tailor made tours and personal shopping Barcelona

Globe shopping..Sri Textiles, Brooklyn

hand stitched cotton textile Rajasthan India

 A roll of Kurume cotton warp yarns, vintage

 A large and fine patched cotton furoshiki, sashiko kanji

 Bengali Kantha, millions of stitches

 An antique Indian drawing, Yantra in red ink

An intricately resist dyed Indian turban, Mothara from Rajasthan

Layered patched and stitched Boro panel

'Sri is a textile gallery in Brooklyn, New York, USA, specializing in antique Japanese folk textiles, highlighting the indigo-dyed cotton utilitarian fabrics and boro--or patched and mended--textiles of old Japan.'

Where to get it 18 Eckford Street, #8

Brooklyn, NY 11222

t. 718-599-2559

From Antiques and Boutiques, tailor made tours and personal shopping Barcelona

Accessory inspiration..

 We love a good, hand made quality accessory, especially one with a beautiful story behin it...20 years ago Ale Sly left her home town, London in search of Adventure in South America. With her Argentine husband and 2 small children they started a new life on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
After traveling and exploring the country extensively with in no time Ale Sly became fascinated by all the indigenous cultures rich in tradition and colour. Discovering beautiful textiles and leathers along the way in markets stalls high up in the Andes and Rodeos where proud Gauchos would parade their horses dressed in Rawhide and Silvery finery, it was enough to set the ball rolling and with in no time the ALE SLY range was born. For the last 15 years she has designed and sold her accessories in many countries around the world mainly concentrating in England. It is of huge importance that each product is made by hand using noble materials that Argentina represents i.e. Leather, Alpaca wool and Horn. Beautiful patterned cowhides, leathers and textiles are used with traditional gaucho rawhide braiding to stitch together Bags, belts cushions and old fashioned looms are used for the weaving of rugs and carpets.
The strong Vibrant colours and the carefree spirit of each article is a reflection of the influence that living in South America has had on her over these last 20 years.
Each product is unique, special and tell its own story.

Where to get it.. http://alesly.com/

This is  an Ale Sly exclusive bag for Opening Ceremony...take a look here for more styles and an interview with Ale Sly herself.

A Peace Treaty..

Being lovers of all things handy craft, and promoting it as much as we can in Barcelona, we thought we would do a blog on one of our favourite accessory designers A Peace treaty, whose collections of scarves and jewellery are inspired by hand crafting cultures from the middle east, Asia, South America and Africa and aim at creating ethically produced artisan level accessories for the luxury fashion market..here is a little more of their story..

'Born in 2008, as a personal pact between Farah Malik, a Pakistani Muslim, and Dana Arbib, a Libyan Jew, A PEACE TREATY creates employment for skilled artisans working in places of socio-political strife, effectively supporting their technique and craft while elevating their products to the level of high design for an exclusive and international fashion audience.

Inspired by the hand-crafting cultures of the Middle East, Asia, South America and Africa, A PEACE TREATY was conceived when Arbib and Malik met while living in Rome. The two discovered that they shared both a love of high fashion and a desire to increase awareness of ancient, disappearing crafting traditions. Intermingling Arbib’s strong background in graphic, textile and product design with Malik’s history of developing multimedia marketing campaigns for social justice and human rights, they set about connecting discerning fashion connoisseurs with cache, boutique level artifacts from places typically seen only negatively through the media lens.

Each season, A PEACE TREATY travels to a particular region and seeks out local village artisans to re-define an accessory, designing limited edition pieces in style unique colorways. Each jewelry or scarf collection resuscitates ancient handmade textile and metalsmithing techniques that are at risk of extinction. Working with craftspeople in eight countries and injecting life and trade back into local economies, A PEACE TREATY employs artisans with above fair trade wages and invests in creating income generation opportunities for out-of-work artisans, disabled and widowed women.'

From http://apeacetreaty.com/pages/story