Thursday, 29 April 2010

Natural Rainbow Salopette

Today's upload are these hemp/cotton dungarees with a cute rainbow crochet design on the derriere. 

Rainbow on the bum... What cute dungarees!! Making anyone behind you smile!!


The main body is the hemp and cotton blended fabric that we produced from yarn dying this year, 2010. Our fabulous fabric is manufactured by handloom in Nepal. All colours are natural dyes.

Adjustable shoulder straps are crocheted from hemp and cotton blended yarn and linen. The decorated crochet on the front pockets are 100% linen. A slightly wider cut at the bottom shows the bodyline nice and straight. 

Have a perfect dayout with our lovely dungarees!

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Himeppy Kuruta (silk & Himalayan nettle blouse)

Today's final upload from our 2010 collection is this truly organic blouse. 

Fabulously smooth to the touch... Gorgeous blouse of raw silk and Himalayan nettle!!

The main body is textured raw silk (untreated silk) .
A blend of Himalayan nettle and cotton make up the wide fringed bell sleeves and edging to the kaftan style neckline. Adjustable drawstrings through the hem have been crocheted from linen.

These fabrics allow your body to breathe through Spring and Summer!!

Natural Dango Strap

Just to keep you all in touch with our 2010 collection's gradual upload. 
Today's upload are these cute straps. 
Named after Japanese rice flour dumplings, these beautifully coloured straps are made up of three felted woolen balls that have been naturally dyed. Because the felting process uses an alkaline soap, we dyed pre-felted wool. The cord has been braided using Himalayan nettle twine and finished off with a single bodhi seed. These seeds are steeped in tradition and represent spiritual promise and possibility.

The overall length of each strap averages 15cm with an average loop length of 5cm.
With five different colour combinations to choose from, these straps can be used to decorate anything from key chains to mobile phones.


Seseragi Long Dress layered from Hemp & Himalayan Nettle

Our lastest garment to be uploaded from our 2010 collection is this beautiful dress crafted from nettle, hemp, linen and cotton.


Seseragi means "a small stream" and this graceful dress is made of two layers. The inside lining is fine cotton with good strength. The outside comprises of two different fabrics, a hemp and cotton blended fabric (that we produced through yarn dying this year, 2010) and the other is a Himalayan nettle and cotton blended beautifully patterned fabric handwoven on a Jacquard loom.


The upper torso is made of linen crochet and a stretch fabric lining that gives a comfortable fit.

Suitable for a British cool summer...!!!

Monday, 26 April 2010

Sorazora does Twitter

Sorazora has joined the masses in becoming a twitter user. If you are a fellow user feel free to follow our "tweets" where you will find updates to our activities. Naturally you will find the same information here if you are not a twitter user. As the username sorazora is already taken, you can find us under the username sorazora_uk


Friday, 16 April 2010

Greenwich Arts & Crafts Market

  Today was another enjoyable day in Greenwich where we were able to meet our customers face to face. Having a regular presence in such a creative atmosphere is ideal for us as we believe in the importance of getting to know our customers and also our giving lots of extra information about our products and production methods.
  We are pleased to announce that we will be displaying our range of garments and accessories three days a week at Greenwich (Friday, Saturday & Sunday).
  Once again, I would like to thank the market management team for welcoming us. Another added bonus is that I no longer have to miss 'Katsu Curry' as there is a Japanese food stall. Not particularly known as a common Japanese dish outside of Japan, (westerners generally think of only sushi and noodles!), Katsu Curry is THE dish I regularly ate when at motorway service stations during my eight year stay in Japan.


  With this new craft market schedule, there may be a slight delay in the completion of uploading this year's new collection. I apologise in advance for this delay and ask for just a little more patience as we need to finish off just a few more photographs for some garments before uploading new pages. During the course of the next two weeks you may also notice a slight renewal in our webstore layout, this is to increase the ease at which you can navigate the various aspects of our store and also to view slightly larger and clearer images of our products. We are sure you will appreciate the changes.


  The images above show our stall's appearance should you wish to find us and also proof that Katsu Curry really does exist in Greenwich. I strongly recommend it to those of you who have yet to try this dish and I also recommend it to those who know and love this dish and would like to remind themselves of their zeal for it!

Thursday, 15 April 2010

Sorazora At Greenwich Craft Market

  Yesterday saw our first day at Greenwich Craft Market. The first arts and crafts market opened there on 14th May 1985, although it had been selling meat, fruit & vegetables and dairy products since the 1830's.
  It is quite a small cobble stoned market area surrounded by small craft related shops. At the weekends you will find many types of stalls and an interesting selection of food at the North end.
  We are very grateful to the Market Management for welcoming us into their market place and look forward to attending tomorrow. We have yet to confirm a regular trading schedule, but will hopefully be able to provide you some details by the end of the weekend.
  If you would like to learn more about Greenwich Market, its history or location, please visit www.greenwichmarket.net




Thursday, 8 April 2010

WOMAD 2010


This July from the 23rd to the 25th will be the dates for WOMAD 2010. Meaning World Of Music, Arts & Dance, WOMAD is again to be set in the beautiful grounds of Charlton Park in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. Sorazora has been confirmed as one of the exhibitors, so we will look forward to meeting you all in the settings of a truly international music festival.
The Artist list is looking good with a broad range of musicians from six of the seven commonly recognised continents. I was taught five continents at school, but this may have been taught to include just the inhabited continents - as depicted in the Olympic logo.
Let's hope a band from Antarctica joins the lineup at WOMAD!
For more information about WOMAD 2010 click here.


Monday, 5 April 2010

2010 SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION

Just to let you all know that our Spring/Summer collection for 2010 will arrive in the UK this week and we will upload a few products on a daily basis starting very soon. We have some new garments that we are very pleased with and are sure you will be too!
Not wanting to spoil the surprise, I have a sneak preview for you of some great new bags made from wild Nepalese hemp and wild Himalayan nettle. Another sneak preview is that of our colour range in hempwool for all you knitters out there. We look forward to uploading our new products as this year's collection will include a couple of familiar natural fibres used in a new way for us.




Thursday, 1 April 2010

FUNDOSHI COME TO SORAZORA


Ecchu Fundoshi is a traditional form of underwear for Japanese males. Of the many types of Fundoshi, Ecchu is a length of cloth with a strip of material at the waist to form a fastening. The dimensions are 100cm in length and 30cm in width. The strings are tied around the waist with the cloth at the small of the back, the cloth is then pulled between the legs and through the belt, letting the remainder hang as an apron.

Ecchu Fundoshi were issued to Japanese troops in World War II, and often the sole garb of Allied POWs in tropical areas. This form of loincloth has been used by Japanese males for centuries, but lost a lot of it's popularity after the war with the introduction of briefs into the Japanese market. Fundoshi are currently enjoying a rise in popularity in Japan and are now also being marketed to woman.







Sorazora are pleased to introduce fundoshi into our products. Traditionally made from linen or cotton, our fundoshi are a soft blend of silk and hemp cotton. The warp (vertical threads) are 100% silk and weft (horizontal threads) are 55% hemp, 45% cotton. Pictured below is a sample of undyed fundoshi.