Hemp-Cotton Kurta

Today's new product upload is this cool summer kurta, for more information on this product, click here!

Totally relaxing... a classic kurta!.

This classic kurta design has been made from a simple weave of 55% hemp and 45% cotton. The buffalo leather patch on the back has been heat branded with the Sorazora three leaf logo and the use of a single coconut button make this a truly natural choice. Available with long sleeves and also in a three-quarter sleeve version.

A kurta is a traditional loose shirt worn commonly in a few central asian countries for both casual and formal wear. Our natural fibre kurta is perfect for those hot summer days out and about or just relaxing at home.

A simply natural top to enjoy...

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

Coconut Buttons

Today's product upload are these cool coconut buttons, a great way to add a natural touch to any garment. To view more information about this product, click here.

These natural undyed buttons have been hand crafted from coconut shells. They are an ideal choice for natural fibre clothing. With two sizes to choose from, the 13mm buttons come in a set of 6 and the 18mm buttons are in a set of 5.

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

Kakishibu

Kakishibu is the fermented juice of unripe astringent persimmons. Its brown colour comes from its tannin molecules. Apart from its beautiful colour, it is known for its strengthening, antibacterial & waterproofing qualities.

Kakishibu has been widely used in Asia (Japan, China & Korea) through history. In a more eco-aware society, kakishibu should be enjoying a revival as it is a completely natural colouring for anything from textiles to wood or paper. It can be used in immersion dyeing on fabrics or equally well being applied to a fabric's surface by brush.

I have experimented with kakishibu and discovered its beautiful effect on a hemp-cotton t-shirt that had been dyed with woad (indigo). The depth of the brown depends on the number of layers applied by brush. This slow build up of dark brown allows it to be used for working with different tones. For the lizard design, I chose to stay with the same depth of colour for the entire design.

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

Tokyo Craft

Sorazora are pleased to announce the Tokyo Craft area within our online store. The primary intention of this craft section is to introduce selected artists from Japan to the UK market. Some of you may be familiar with Green Glass Tokyo's unique glass pendants from either our stall or previous craft pages. To celebrate the addition of a new selection of gemstone pendants from Stone Dance, we have updated our Tokyo Craft area for ease of use and added pages concerning the artist's information.

GREEN GLASS TOKYO offers a selection of truly unique pendants crafted from coloured glass using various techniques.

STONE DANCE creates beautiful pieces using precious and semi-precious stones knotted into pendants.

ATSLAN carves buffalo bone into tribal inspired pieces attached to ornate macrame cords.

At Sorazora we are pleased to have these three artists on board and through our trips to Japan will keep an eye open for further artists to add to our craft section. 

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

Brighton West Pier Market

Sunday the 13th of June saw our first appearance at the beach market opposite the remains of Brighton's West Pier. We were blessed with the weather as the sun was out almost continuously and the sea breeze was fairly calm. Being totally at the mercy of the elements would make this a difficult place to set up stall should the weather turn nasty.

We really enjoyed the setting and meeting the folk of Brighton. This is a market that we would love to visit again, perhaps for the whole weekend. We will keep you posted in case we take a weekend off from Greenwich to join the West Pier Market.

An interesting sideshow for last Sunday was a convoy of naked cyclists working their way along the front, the previous day they had cycled through London. The main aim of this naked bike ride was to promote the use of pedal power in place of internal combustion engines. I am sure their campaign was a great success as they would have received a great deal of press coverage (not to mention the undivided attention of passers-by).

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

South Of England Show 2010

From Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th of June, the South Of England Show was held in Ardingly, West Sussex. This large three day event was organised by the Agricultural Society and contained a wide range of arena displays, show jumping, livestock judging and plenty of entertainment.

EcoVillage was an area within the event that focused strongly on environmental issues covering the three basic areas of building, transport and food. It was through EcoVillage that we had the pleasure of joining this event.

The weather for the first two days was what could be described as miserable, but the wind died down and sun came out for Saturday, which was by far the busiest day.

Our neighbour was Dru who was promoting electric bikes. It was interesting to see how far electric motorcycles have come and I was given the honour of a small test ride at the end of the event. The fact that these bikes are almost silent is what I hadn't expected. For more information about the bikes Dru is promoting, please visit the website of Solstis Bikes Ltd.

We would like to thank EcoVillage for allowing us to join in and also to all of the people who visited our stall. We look forward to doing it all again at the Kent County Show next month from the 16th to the 18th.

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

South Of England Show

Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th June will see us at the South Of England Show in Sussex. For information about this event please visit their website www.seas.org.uk 

This is our first appearance at a county show and we have the honour of joining EcoVillage where a large selection of like-minded organisations can exhibit together in an area with a strong environmental theme. Having an EcoVillage within such an event is an excellent way to expand and reach out to new people who are perhaps less aware of how to support environmental issues.

We look forward to exhibiting at South Of England Show and meeting the EcoVillage team. We also hope the weather will be kind as a little bit of sunshine goes a long way to putting smiles on faces

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

Camden Green Fair

Sunday 6th of June saw our first appearance at Camden Green Fair. This annual one day event in Regent's Park brought together many exhibitors and stalls with a common green theme. We thoroughly enjoyed the day and meeting many new people with common interests was a pleasure. The weather is always a worry during UK's festival season, but we were pleased that the rain stayed away for the most part and that the grey cloud cover offered plenty of gaps to remind us that it is indeed June.

This festival is definitely one that we would like to join again in the future as it was a great start to Sorazora's festival season. We apologise to any customers who looked for us at Greenwich Craft Market over the weekend, our website has our schedule on the home page and will let you all know where we will be if not at Greenwich. Friday 18th of June will see our return to Greenwich.

We would like to thank all of the organisers and customers of Camden Green Fair for allowing us to be part of their celebrations and look forward to next year's fair. For more information regarding this event, please click here!

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

Natural Dyed Hemp Belts

Today we have two new product uploads. Both of these wild organic hemp belts have been dyed using natural dyes. For more detail and photographs of these products, please click here!

Simply natural... Hand spun & natural dyed Wild hemp belt!!

These belts have been handwoven by Nepalese artisans with Himalayan wild hemp which was dyed using medicinal plants in Nepal. Most of the dyestuffs that Sorazora use have been used for natural medicine by Nepalese for generations. 

Belt fastening is with two D-rings.

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