Traditional Lokta Paper

Lokta paper and its traditional production methods have always been something that we admire and have until now only really used it for tags and business cards. New for 2013 are two products which see further use of this beautiful paper.

Lokta is the local Nepalese name of traditional paper made from the tree bark of 'Daphne Cannabina'. The bark is found at an altitude of between 2000m and 3500m. This indigenous handmade paper is renowned for its durability and is steeped in history. The oldest available buddhist manuscripts and royal documents have been recorded on lokta paper. It is still made in the same way today.

Our new A5 plain 40 page notebook comes with four different styles of cover to choose from. The photo above shows an undyed nettle cover on the top of the pile and working your way down are an undyed hemp, brown hemp (dyed with acacia catechu) and finally a green hemp (dyed with pomegranate peel). 

Our final new lokta related products are these hemp covered gift boxes. Each box has been constructed with card and then covered with a finer paper on the inside and sides and Wild Himalayan Hemp as a decorative covering to the top and base. Available in two sizes, each with a depth of 30mm, the larger of the two measuring 75mm square and the smaller box 45mm square. A coconut button has been used for the closure.

The Wild Himalayan Hemp and Giant Himalayan Nettle used for both the boxes and notebooks are harvested from the wild remote Himalayan foothills and then retted, spun and woven by hand in the same way that it has been done for centuries. The combination of these fabrics and the traditional lokta paper make for a truely organic product with a timeless charm.

For more information about these products, please follow the link below to our online product pages:
www.sorazora.com/shop/interior.html

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Natural Buttons for 2013

This year's production brings us three new button designs crafted from coconut shell. Shown below are our mushroom button, acorn button and a simple drop design that have all been hand carved from the tough shell of coconuts.

 Each of these new buttons are now available online in strips of four. These simply cute organic buttons would feel very much at home on almost any natural fibre garment.

 Also new for 2013 are these three styles of chunky wooden buttons carved from a hardwood called 'saz', a large sub-tropical tree found upto altitudes of 1200m in the Nepalese foothills of the Himalayas. These large strong buttons are ideal for jacket toggles, bag closures and pretty much any heavy duty use.

Back by popular demand are our original natural button collection. Simple coconut shell buttons of 13mm and 18mm diameter, bamboo buttons of 23mm and buttons crafted from peach stone halves.

To view any of these buttons or our selection of beads and craft parts, simply follow the link below.

www.sorazora.com/shop/sub_category/beads_buttons_parts.html

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Dreamcatcher Kit

Make your own dreamcatcher with Sorazora's new dreamcatcher kit.

To stay in tune with our products' ethos, we have created an organic 6 inch dreamcatcher kit. The photo below shows the kit's components. Natural dyed hempwool in three 10g balls provide you with enough of each colour to produce a single coloured dreamcatcher or alternatively, you could use all three colours. 

The instructions are broken down in to simple steps. Winding hempwool in colours of your choice around the 6 inch cane ring is the first step.

5m of 2 ply Giant Himalayan Nettle twine is provided, although roughly half this length is required to complete the dreamcatcher's web. A simple hand carved wooden needle is included along with 5 lotus seed beads, 1 soapnut seed bead and 5 vine beads. The lotus seed beads are to be randomly added into the weaving of the web and finally tied off at the centre with the single soapnut seed.

Once the winding of hempwool around the cane ring and weaving the nettle twine into the web are completed, all that is left to do is produce three tassels (or as many as you like) and a loop from which to hang your new dreamcatcher.

This dreamcatcher kit will be made available online very soon (within two weeks) and although all components are included, please feel free to personalise the dreamcatcher with any beads or feathers that you may wish to add.

If you have any question regarding this or any of our products, please don't hesitate to contact us via email.

Our 2013 material and product collection should be with us during next week and new items will be slowly uploaded in batches in the weeks that follow.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Production Period 2013

It's that time of year again when we have to hold the processing and dispatch of all online orders while sourcing and producing our range of products for 2013.

From January 30th until 5th April we will be unable to deal with online orders. Naturally, we will contact anyone placing orders during this time via email to let them know that their orders will be dispatched on our return.

We are still working on our pre-production planning and designing and are excited about our new fabric designs and the garments that will be cut from them. We will be stocking up on yarns and twines all dyed with our favourite natural dye colours as well as including a few new craft materials and tools.

We hear that scheduled power cuts (load shedding) has already reached 14 hours a day in Kathmandu, so hopefully not too much drama regarding tailoring. Good old traditional dyeing and weaving on handlooms do not rely on electricity, which is a blessing.

We look forward to slowly uploading our 2013 collection after our return and wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused by delay to all online order processing during the dates mentioned above. We greatly appreciate your understanding.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Hand Carved Craft Tools

As much as I love working with bone and horn, I have enjoyed carving various hardwoods into craft tools.

Below is a selection of tools used for needle binding, braiding or weaving. All have been carved from either boxwood, ironwood, ash or bamboo.

 The image below shows four slightly different styles of weaving shuttle. The weft thread is wound onto the shuttle to be passed through the shed in the warp threads. These styles are based on shuttle designs that have been in existence for many centuries. Unlike other shuttles that I have made, these are slightly more user friendly as the shuttle doesn't unwind so much if dropped (and I tend to drop things regularly!). Two of the shuttles have a flat bladed edge along one side, this is so the shuttle can also act as a simple beating stick to tighten as you weave.

 The selection of needles below have been carved from either ironwood, ash or bamboo. They can be used for many different applications involving a thick yarn or twine. This style of needle is commonly used in needle binding.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Crafting With Uxi Seeds

I was recently introduced to Uxi seeds as a craft material and found very little information about them, other than the seeds offer a beautiful texture for miniature carving and the seed pods are commonly used in dry flower arranging. After a fair bit of research and translating texts from the Galician and Portuguese languages, I slowly managed to piece some background information together.

Uxi (Endopleura uchi) is a large evergreen tree indigenous to a couple of states in Brazil and well distributed within the forests. It is considered a hardwood and its straight cylindrical trunks are often used as a local building material.

 The fruit of uxi was commonly known as "fruit of the poor" as it was very inexpensive. Today it has gained popularity and the green egg-sized fruit fetches a good price in the local markets.
Shown in the image above is a seed that has been cut from the pod. These pods are covered with a thin oily pulp which can be eaten raw when ripe. This thin layer of woody flavoured flesh is most loved in icecream and also makes a good quality oil for both cooking and medicine. The bark of the tree is commonly used as a natural medicine when made in to tea.

 The seed is very hard (harder than betel nut and similar to tagua) and lends itself well to carving and polishing. Most of the items crafted from uxi that I have researched tend to be delicate items turned on a lathe. I hand carved the mushroom pendant above and crafted the ivory white stem from tagua. The cord is a 3ply linen that I coated with beeswax prior to twisting.

 Buttons are a fairly obvious and easy item to cut from the long seeds and hard enough to slice quite thinly. I have yet to experiment with how these buttons will fair if put through many washes, but imagine they should be fine. The image below shows a wallet that I made using buffalo leather sourced from Nepal with a single uxi button providing the closure.

The use of uxi in amulets is believed to bring the wearer good luck and protect them from ill health. The savoury fruit is extremely popular with a variety of mammals as it is an excellent source of calories, high in fibre and rich in minerals and vitamins. As this fruit plays an important role in the diet of wildlife, it is common for hunters to set traps near and around uxi trees.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/

Colchester Grand Christmas Fair

From Tuesday 11th December through to Sun 23rd December we'll be opening a stall in Colchester, Essex. It is the first year for the Grand Christmas Fair to take place which will be open everyday from 11am until 8pm.

Naturally, there will be a selection of stalls offering a wide range of stocking fillers, but also plenty of food and drink and a 1930's fairground Waltzer.

The location is the former Colchester Bus Station just off the main high street and easy walking distance from two main car parks and the town's rail station. There will be a buss at the fair, but sadly it will not get you anywhere as it will be the bar.

Entry is absolutely free and well worth a visit if you are in the area for either lunch or an evening bit combined with that all important Christmas shopping.

UPDATE 17th December
Sadly, due to poor footfall, this Christmas Market closed on Sunday 16th December and will not continue until the 23rd as originally planned. It is a shame for all involved and for everyone who planned to visit during the coming week.

Natural fibres, Natural dyes and Original designs http://www.sorazora.com/