Oshima Textiles

Revisit Twice Woven Trip with Me

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This is a Follow-up to My Previous Post of September 29, 2024: Making Ikat that’s Woven Twice

Introduction:

I used to tell myself that travel was something that could last forever in memories. The last post got me to thinking about when we were in Japan and saw the weavers actually weaving the mats and the final “twice woven” fabrics. Looking back at my posts about visiting the island of Amami Oshima, I looked up my posts. I’m so glad my tech guy had me tell categories for all my posts. Now I can search that long list of them on the first page of the blog as well as search for words in the Search Box. To see what all I posted when we were there, click on the category “Japan 2019 Fall Tour. The photos below are taken from the posts on Days 3, 4, and 5. Click the titles to see these posts.  

Japan 2019 Fall Tour – Day 3
Japan 2019 Fall Tour – Day 4
Japan 2019 Fall Tour – Day 5

Here is a mat woven to resist threads for ikat weaving on Amami Oshima Island, Japan. From day 3.

A woman is weaving a mat which will make the resist when dyed. There are several hanging off the loom that she has previously woven. From day 4.

At a museum a woman showed us mats woven for the weft threads for one repeat. From day 4.

Here are the starched threads which will be woven into the binding mats. 16 silk threads are wound as one and stick together when starched. The result will be white dots or dashes remaining after the binding [mats] and the dyeing and finally the woven silk fabric which is called Amami Oshima Tsumugi. From day 4.

This short video shows how the mats are “unwoven”. From day 4.

Finally all the dyed threads come together on the loom to be woven a second time into the finished silk cloth! From day 5.

Finally Announcing the Big Sale! …and a little one the week before

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Whew!! Finally I feel like we are close! I could count the days, but I’m afraid to because I know I would have a panic attack. The big sale as you can see above is November 19 and 20. But I am going to have a nice booth at the Textile Arts Council Bazaar the week before on November 12. More info on that at the end of the post. Saturday, November 12, 10 AM — 4 PM, St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough St. (at Geary), San Francisco.

I’ve had so much help with this enormous project. I think if I realized what I was getting into, I would never have attempted it. I’ve hired a person who has textile sales professionally and she helps with pricing, setting up, everything else including psychotherapy when I go berzerk.

Before that I had an appraiser of Asian Art to help me understand what I have accumulated in my textile collection. Now, when I look at a treasured piece, I remember all about how I bought it and in what country. Of course Japan (many trips) but also India (3), China (3), Uzbekestan, Philippines, Mororrco, and Bhutan.

Besides downsizing my collection (no heirs), I want to part with my work. I’ve had a couple small shows, but haven’t sold the majority of my work. I wonder if people ever sell much at shows! I have lots of weavings but also a lot of dye work that I did during the pandemic.

My tech guy, handsome Bob, has designed so much, as well as offered good advice along the way. We made hang tags, 2 flyers so far, and a large banner. The photo above is of the hang tag. At the sale he will show images of a large obi I have that is made of precious linden bark with sumi ink drawing. It is one of my most precious pieces. It hangs in my apartment and measures about 14″ by 24′.

Another very special piece is an under kimono. Jaspanese ladies liked to wear red underneath their subtle outer kimonos. The red was dyed with safflowers and is fugitive so it has faded over time. That’s how we know the kimono was dyed with safflower–because of the way the lining has faded.

My friend, Cathy arranged a trip for us to go to Amami Island in Japan to see a very special textile being woven. Kimonos would be woven of the cloth and the textiles are known as Oshima Textiles. We went to a special Oshima shop in Tokyo once and all the kimonos were very unattractive to our eye. However the mud dye and the weaving is extraordinary. We went to Amami Island and saw them weaving what I’d heard about: TWICE WOVEN cloth. That means, at first the threads would be woven for the RESIST when the threads were dyed. AFTER THAT the threads would be put back on a loom and WOVEN again.

I brought home quite a few pieces of beautiful cloth; each one is amazing! And to imagine and realize that each and every thread had been woven twice! In future posts I can show diagrams and pictures and you can see my pieces in my collection for the sale at my new website in the Oshima section: PeggyOsterkampCollection. Click Here

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Bazaar and at Building C (Room C 205) at Fort Mason.