Melanie Brummer of Slipstream Dyeing came to Swaziland last week to run a dyeing course and team building for our staff.  It was successful on all fronts:  we were able to identify some methods which work well with some of our woven product; our staff immersed themselves in the creative process and made some astonishing patterns on t-shirts and we all felt inspired, revved-up and converted to a simple process that delivers unique and special results.

Mel collects children’s t-shirts which are donated to orphans through her schools training programs.  One of our tasks was to dye a child’s t-shirt and each staff member did their own t-shirt and some pieces of fabric that have become colourful headscarves.  The process is so simple that out of our 45 participants there were no flops and smiles and confidence soared as the results were unveiled. 

I like the attention to detail that each piece of fabric gets from the dyeing process: the real appeal for me is the one-off nature and the hint of a printed pattern that is left on the fabric.  I like the squares and stripes and gentle grading of colours.  I like the swirls and bursts of “cobweb” patterns that we create – like a bull’s eye on the middle of a cushion cover.  Circles on a woven piece are never easily achievable, but we have found a way here.  I like the colour mixing you can do when different halves of a piece are dipped in different colours.  The story is in the colour and the process and it adds another level of creativity, attention and design to the resulting piece.

I took so many photographs as the effect of all these bright and swirling pieces was mesmerising, kind of like a Swazi Woodstock but without the music, only a lot of proud and happy purveyors of new dyeing skills.  It was a lot of fun, and we hope to do a Christmas session where we can make some more t-shirts that convey such colour and energy to some deserving souls.

Being the proprieter of a weaving business has the occasional perk.  I like to try out some of our new products first to ensure they do what they should be doing:  a carpet should lie well and not bunch up or curl at the edges.  It should be robust and firm and present itself well for plenty of feet to march over.  It should also be easy to clean (our carpets are not averse to a good scrub with soap and water and sometimes due to their size, under a hosepipe.)

Our rugs add warmth, texture and colour to a room and are durable and hardworking.  This is something I have put on my verandah which is quite a busy thoroughfare of people, dogs, food and drinks.

Design Sponge is a website and book dedicated to interiors which are put together with imagination (using everyday objects in a different way), joy (obvious delight in using vintage, storied, handmade items) and humour.  The result are rooms that are meaningful, comfortable, welcoming and purposeful, and of course, unique.  I know that our fabrics always stand out because there is something different about them and they carry with them a feel and aura that sparks interest, and adds a layer of consideration to the room.   Even if they are neutral background fabrics (like pale, oyster coloured curtains), or a neutral rug.  The moment you walk on that rug, it speaks to your feet; the way the light hits the curtain – it comes to life.

The beauty of hand made fabrics is that they can be one offs, our hand dyed yarns always have a uniqueness to them, there are subtle differences in the shade, in the signature of the weaver, in the way that the pattern is interpreted.  They all come together to tell a story and create a fabric that has “houding” – an Afrikaans word meaning “atmosphere”.  Enjoy looking at some of the interiors and see if you can identify “our” additions….

I am a big fan of placemats…I eat on a wooden table at home which needs some protection from hot plates and food flying around.  I love my Coral Stephens placemats and put them through their paces at mealtimes…

We make a fine raffia one, where the raffia is (usually but not always) dyed, then stripped into a thinner yarn, knotted, and woven in an upholstery style which takes some time.  Goodness weaves a lot of placemats and table runners and manages a very neat and skilled output.  The knots are barely noticeable, the sides are nice and straight and the beating (density) is regular and even.  They are also strong – all hallmarks of a good placemat.

We also weave a slightly thicker one, that is woven on a larger sized warp.  Currently we are doing a range that incorporates different textures like twine and stripped cotton.   I will reveal the results once they are woven.

The raffia we use in our studio originates from a palm tree native to Madagascar, the Raffia palms (Raphia) are known for their remarkably long leaves, the longest in the plant kingdom.  One species, R. regalis has leaves up to 25 meters long.  It is a sustainable crop and easy to work with in that it is soft and non-fibrous (like sisal).

Over the years we have developed many applications in our fabrics, carpets, placemats and lampshades using raffia.   There are many possibilites when working with it:  it responds well to dye, is robust and strong, can be plied up for carpets, can be crocheted easily, it is also washable, makes good upholstery – especially headboards and ottomans.  

This week we have completed a raffia carpet to be used as a runner in a passage, it uses our Zen design and is simple and lets the natural raffia present itself.  Raffia carpets do not last as well as mohair or cotton, but they are quite irresistable.  

We are also in the midst of creating a selection of very large lampshades for a client using two different colours – a chocolate brown and a mid-khaki.  These are turning out to be quite spectacular, and I cannot wait to see them completed.

In addition, Goodness has been weaving raffia table runners which are generous in size and whizz off our shop shelves.

This week has seen us start several orders and complete others.  Our specialised fabric we prepare for a US window treatment company requries several stages of different processes before it is ready to be dispatched.  In order to settle the fabric and keep it quite stiff we starch it and then make different sized openings in the weave using large needles.  The creates a unique pattern in the fabric which will ultimately be pressed between two sheets of a stiff laminate (fortunately we have nothing do to with that part!)  

It is a group effort.  We area also crocheting raffia around some lampshades, weaving a raffia carpet and Sitakele is working with silk to make silk scarves.  I like the activity and variety of products that we make.

Grace with grandson in 2005

Last week we heard the news that two people closely linked to us at Coral Stephens had died within days of each other.  The first was David Mantanga the son of Sylvia.    He was not an old man, and died of a sudden, undetermined illness.   It is a real shock to the family.  David was well known in the community, he was politically involved in South Africa during the turmoil of 1976 and was smuggled into Swaziland in the boot of a car while on the run from the security police.  He settled down into Swazi life, got married and began farming vegetables.  He had an old bakkie which drove up and down Swaziland filled with whatever he had grown.  He wore an equally old hat, and had a crumpled smile which was normally displayed.

Sylvia Mantanga

He farmed on a patch of land nearby our weaving studio and would generously leave a bag of butternut or a beautiful cauliflower for me.  He left two sons who are also involved in supplying fresh vegetables, he had passed on his work ethic and his green fingers to them.  Driving home on Saturday afternoon I passed his funeral procession as it drove towards his homestead.  I did not notice a hearse, instead there was a bright white refrigerated vegetable truck, belonging to one of his sons and I am sure he was inside it.

Grace Zulu passed away on Tuesday 6th February.  She had been involved with the development of Coral Stephens and was a skilled weaver and dyer in the early days.  Grace supported young weavers, spread her knowledge unstintingly and was a perfectionist in what she did.  A bad knee forced her into retirement and she cared for various grandchildren while at home.   We did not see much of her, but her legacy continues through her family.  One of her daughter’s, Margaret, is the head weaver with Marguerite Stephens’s tapestry studio in Johannesburg.  Another daughter and granddaughter work for me, and her wonderful sister, Zodwa. 

  Coral Stephens, the company, has been around for 63 years and has had input from many hands and in turn has influenced those hands and lives.

As we have been concentrating on orders, mainly carpets, for much of 2011 the production of some of our smaller lines was interrupted.  As we begin this year we are concentrating on building up a decent stock of silk scarves and have been looking at new colours to use.  Our mulberry silk is spun by hand, which is the slow part, and then dyed and woven according to size.  I keep the scarves skinny and long so they can be generously wrapped around your neck, but remain light and manageable.   Nothing worse than drowning in a scarf.

We are starting this work year, as we usually do, towards the end of January.  We believe in rest and relaxation and always take an extended break which raises eyebrows and causes a mild outbreak of jealousy amongst others who got back to work earlier in the year.  The disadvantage of a late start is the feeling that you are slightly left behind and there is a flurry of finding colours, beginning samples and trying to appear that you are directly on top of the situation when in fact it is taking a little time. 

I thought I would begin with some bold stripes for our shop – a teal blue with a caramel, and a predictable but classic grey combination.  We are also weaving some sample carpet colours that hint of grey blues, browny greys but all have a lick of colour in a terracotta and gold.

I find a dull gold works so well in so many different applications and both the teal and gold/camel/caramel have popped up in all sorts of places.  I love it in my own house and put together a few pictures where it works so well.  This sort of colour adds life and energy to a room.