Monday 31 January 2011

PRODUCTION PROGRESS

Two weeks into our three month production period and we are slowly starting to bring materials together. Good quality hempwool blends have been hard to find this year (mostly due to the sharp increase in wool prices), but we are now blending the yarn ourselves to make sure what we sell is pure Himalayan hemp and pure New Zealand wool. The picture below shows (from left to right) Wild Nepalese Hemp raw material, Pure New Zealand Wool and finally the blended hempwool yarn. Our blend is a straight 50/50 mix.

The supply of Himalayan hemp is quite regular and can easily be found since rug and carpet manufacturers have switched from using hemp to wild Himalayan Giant Nettle. The large quantities that these manufacturers require has reduced the levels of nettle fabric in the marketplace and also pushed up prices. (current prices around 25% higher than the same time last year!)
Below is a photo of Wild Himalayan Hemp that has been harvested, retted and handspun in the remote parts of Nepal and collected from the villages by our supplier.

During the week we plan to visit the carding facility and see our hemp and wool blend being created. Naturally we will report our findings in the very near future.





Thursday 13 January 2011

2011 COLLECTION & PRODUCTION PERIOD

We regret to announce that we will be unable to process any orders from 14th January until 14th April. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

It is that time of year again when we will be heading to the relative warmth of the Kathmandu valley to source all our materials and see through the production of our designs.

We are excited about our forthcoming collection and are sure that there is something for everyone. We never like to simply repeat our designs and have made some nice alterations to a few garments that were popular in 2010. On the whole, this will be a new collection with great use of naturally dyed natural fibres. You can be sure to see the use of Nettle, Hemp, Cotton, Wool, Silk and several blends.

We look forward to resuming business as usual from 15th April and also look forward to sending out our next newsletter from Nepal. Please do keep checking our blog as I will be uploading our progress on 2011's collection and any events in Nepal that relate to our work.

We would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year!