Thursday, December 13, 2012

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hemp Giving


Get behind the push for American industrial hemp agriculture. Support economic opportunity and a sustainable environment. Countries exporting hemp textiles today reap the benefits of a cash crop that was once grown in the United States--where it flourished for centuries as a chief industrial resource.

Now available at Common Thread: 
55% Hemp/45% Certified Organic Cotton Muslin.  A sturdy, plain weave fabric. $9.95/yd.



5.7oz  56" wide
Natural



Smooth, Even Drape
Cannabis sativa stem & fibers. The word Canvas is thought to be derived from Cannabis.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Sing the Season

As night deepens, we may find our feelings turned inward to love and quiet joy. Moved to share, we resonate and, Sing the Season..

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Blue Origin

Embedded in our everyday lives is the ancient language of textiles..

Chambray derives from cambric, a lightweight plain-weave linen fabric originally produced near the City of Cambrai in France. Beyond it's original meaning, the term chambray has come to refer to a cotton plain-weave fabric with a colored warp and a white or unbleached weft. Typically the warp color is deep blue (traditionally indigo) and the weft color is white. A similar fabric thought to be invented in France, was originally known as serge de Nimes. Eventually shortened to denim, Serge is a double warped twill weave with a blue warp-white weft bi-coloration, similar to chambray.

Common Thread commissioned master weavers of the Maya to produce a sturdy fabric we like to think of as variety of chambray; referring to it's weave and coloration. Comparable in weight to denim, this medium-heavyweight (10 oz) cotton fabric is suitable for many uses. 

Stunning handloomed beauty...from selvage to selvage...


Click to Zoom

100% Cotton / 48" Wide
A Durable Fabric With Many Uses

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Wearable Winter Textiles

Spark up your fall & winter in one of these! Roomy and pliable no-stretch caps crafted in handwoven brushed wool twill. Juicy natural colors..

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Paisley Fever

We've added colorful lightweight merino wool shawls, just in time for autumn in the New Mexico high country. Sheer and abundant, these double duty textiles take the edge off indoor coolness--and perform beautifully as a scarf--on the outside

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Lightweight Felted Silk Scarves from Kathmandu

These just in: Wispy-light hand-felted scarves from vintage saris. The wool felting merges elegantly with printed sari patterns to produce jewel-like colorations. Each is a one-of-a-kind creation. Find many colors and patterns to choose from.





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Very Soft & Lightweight

Brushed NZ wool shawls & blankets, handwoven 
in Nepal. Available in a range of rich iridescent 
colors. Hats coming soon!




Monday, August 6, 2012

Some Colorful Handwoven Cotton Rugs

At Common Thread...

sizes: 2'x3' & 4'x6'
machine washable/colorfast



styles to choose from..


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Prehispanic Women's Basic Dress

huipil

(from the Nahuatl: [h]uipilli "blouse"), a loose sleeveless tunic made of two or three joined webs of cloth sewn together lengthwise and then completed with a cut-out neck opening and sewn-up sides to create either very tiny arm openings or very large ones, depending on the geographical area. From: The Worldwide History of Dress, by Patricia Rieff Anawalt.


Common Thread is finding some beautiful vintage huipils. The symmetrical front-and-back design, embroidery work, and construction of these garments is extraordinary. Each is an original work of art!

Colotenango / Girl's Huipil
Santiago Atitlan

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Novelty is Increasing

Novelty Prints are an ongoing form of period art.  Such screen-printed fabrics often stand at the forefront of graphic arts and textile surface design. They present popular imagery as a narrative for a given time. Their uses are many and varied. They are collected. They come and go. 

On occasion, a printed fabric may be considered a timeless classic. Whether a design's continuing popularity has to do with it's illustration technique, the subject, or both--is in the eye of the beholder.

This contemporary printed fabric (La Vergencita / 2011) presents a motif of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the legendary Vision of a Girl.  In this depiction, the Girl's spangled blue-robed body is emblazoned in a gold aura (embossed), and surrounded by orange, red, blue, and gold flowers. Cherubs, birds, crowns, and cactii complete this ceremonial composition, vibrantly rendered on a fuschia ground, or colorway

This lightweight 100% cotton muslin measures 44 inches wide. The design is scaled to an 8 inch horizontal and 12 inch vertical repeat.

Discover La Vergencita in this and more colorways, at Common Thread!




Black Colorway
Embellished Memorabilia Book Covers by Debra Villalobos 


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Vintage Apronville

A rite of passage from a distant time, there is said to be an apron for every personality archetype. We believe it. Just check out this latest stash of vintage aprons. To demonstrate their uniqueness and individuality, we photographed each apron. Each is an exercise in functional design, materials, economy, and manufacture. Please revisit our previous story from February 2011, Vintage Aprons at Common Thread

Which apron closest fits your personality? 

Would you consider designing and making an apron for yourself? 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Annular eclipse

Silk thread bobbins

Alberti's Window

Sol y Sombra window at common thread

Indian cotton voile
Thai silk openweave

Yellow !

Orange !

Luz n luscious

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Soft Companion

Sun
Showers
New leaves green rustling

Cloud like cotton
Woven voile
Colors of spring

Moments of quiet joy