Endangered Threads
Lately i have been switching my wardrobe to 100% natural fibers. preferably silk, cotton, linen, angora and cashmere. ditching all the old poly and spandex for my naked lady parties.
however i have been making saris and other clothes out of recycled silk and needed to go to my favorite fabric shop Tribal Creations (now changed to textile connection since people seemed to only think she carried native american fabrics)
in order to get some silk ribbon and thread to border my sari and stuff.
i picked up a beautiful silk from vietnam which is actually the last purple one in the picture to the left.
but in the silk room i discovered what may be my new favorite fabric, the now endangered mashru.
This is the color of mashru i got
which is actually the eurapean style of mashru.
mashru is a hand woven fabric from aphganistan which is a silk/cotton blend with a soft smooth and thick texture. it is ver rich and regal in feel. traditional mashru is rasta like in bright colors and patterns as you can see in these photos.
however when the Europeans traveled through aphganistan during the spice trade they had the aphgani women customize the fibers to be solid toned down european colors.
hence the amazing fabric i have been salivating over making my skirt out of.
unfortunately there is a dark side to my story. due to the war in the middle east and the influence of western civilization mashru is hard to come by. most of the fabric that is now woven is synthetic. meaning these rich fibers may be a dying breed.
this shows how wars can be disastrous on cultures and art.
now you may ask why natural fibers?
well first of all by buying anything plastic you are supporting the fuel industry being that plastic is a byproduct of petroleum.
also knowing that it is a byproduct of petroleum also tells you that it releases radical ions. which are also known as "free radicals" these can cause cell degradation which can lead to various diseases including cancer.
and finally it is more fire friendly. if you are into fire dancing, glass blowing or pyrology in general it is a safer suit being that when plastic materials burn they will melt to your skin where as natural ones will just burn and turn into ash.
so next time you pick out a shirt think about the thread and the endangered mashrus in aphganistan.
however i have been making saris and other clothes out of recycled silk and needed to go to my favorite fabric shop Tribal Creations (now changed to textile connection since people seemed to only think she carried native american fabrics)
in order to get some silk ribbon and thread to border my sari and stuff.
i picked up a beautiful silk from vietnam which is actually the last purple one in the picture to the left.
but in the silk room i discovered what may be my new favorite fabric, the now endangered mashru.
This is the color of mashru i got
which is actually the eurapean style of mashru.
mashru is a hand woven fabric from aphganistan which is a silk/cotton blend with a soft smooth and thick texture. it is ver rich and regal in feel. traditional mashru is rasta like in bright colors and patterns as you can see in these photos.
however when the Europeans traveled through aphganistan during the spice trade they had the aphgani women customize the fibers to be solid toned down european colors.
hence the amazing fabric i have been salivating over making my skirt out of.
unfortunately there is a dark side to my story. due to the war in the middle east and the influence of western civilization mashru is hard to come by. most of the fabric that is now woven is synthetic. meaning these rich fibers may be a dying breed.
this shows how wars can be disastrous on cultures and art.
now you may ask why natural fibers?
well first of all by buying anything plastic you are supporting the fuel industry being that plastic is a byproduct of petroleum.
also knowing that it is a byproduct of petroleum also tells you that it releases radical ions. which are also known as "free radicals" these can cause cell degradation which can lead to various diseases including cancer.
and finally it is more fire friendly. if you are into fire dancing, glass blowing or pyrology in general it is a safer suit being that when plastic materials burn they will melt to your skin where as natural ones will just burn and turn into ash.
so next time you pick out a shirt think about the thread and the endangered mashrus in aphganistan.