FairlyWorn

30/04/2026

Thank you so much for designing, producing and installing my store and house sign. The longer I look at it, the more I like it!

Patricia has very cleverly taken the resist-dye idea from my African indigo textiles and reproduced them on ceramic tiles! The outcome is really beautiful 💙

30/01/2026

So here's a textile I have not worked with much before, especially not the animal motif version: the Bogolafini or Mali mud cloth!

These textiles are made from hand-woven narrow panels, hand-stitched together to form larger blankets, like so many other African textiles. What's unique about them is the traditional dyeing process:

Fermented mud reacts with a leaf-based mordant, giving the textiles their distinctive, earthy tones. Rather than drawing a pattern, the artist works with negative space — leaving the design untouched while dyeing the surrounding fabric with repeated application of mud.

Some pieces feature geometric patterns, others animal motifs — each one a small work of art. My favourite is definitely going on a frame and straight onto the wall.

A few textiles came with imperfections; we took it as a challenge and either mended them or transformed them into cushion covers, combined with other beautiful textiles. One is starring in a reversible beach bag!

26/01/2026

I found this lovely Banjara Gala from India, traditionally attached to the rings used by women to carry pots on their head. It seemed to have been re-decorated, after the originial mirrors had fallen out. Part of the cowrie shells were still attached to the edges, but sewn on with a newer, black thread (the original points of attachment were still visible), and some of them were attached across the gala. I removed all the cowrie shells and stitched them onto the edges again, this time with a less obtrusive thread. Then I proceeded to replace the lost mirror pieces, which turned out quite the feat. It's actually really difficult to cut out small round pieces of glass, and I ended up with heaps of glass shards. Last, I placed them in their spots and tightened the stitching that holds them in place. Hopefully, it will now last a couple more decades 😅 I can't say that it's completely true to the original version and that my stitching is perfect, but overall, I'm quite happy with the result!

Will shortly be available on my website.

21/01/2026

Two very photogenic, handwoven textiles from Niger, crafted by weavers of the Djerma or Zarma people. Known locally as “tera tera” or "souban", these traditional textiles are created for weddings and carry a lot of cultural meaning.

The cloths consist of numerous, long, hand-woven panels that feature sections of different colours and geometric patterns over a yellow / salmon ground tone. The yellow textile panels are loosely hand-stitched together, leaving lots of open gaps (which we had to fix in many places). The salmon textile's panels are zigzag-stitched together, so I assume this is a slightly more modern version!

Both are available for sale in my shop, link in bio.

21/01/2026

Over the past couple of years, we have been renovating, furnishing and styling our rental in town. It has been a very long and slow process, spiked with mishaps, incidents and setbacks, but I guess it was worth the effort. It's turned out so nice that I'd love to live there myself :)

I'm happy to say that most pieces of furniture are either second-hand and restored by .mina93 and me, or made from scratch (if possible with local materials such as acacia and "canas") by .ptl. Textile items such as throw cushions, curtains and wall tapestries were largely handmade by us. Most home accessories were also sourced second-hand, which goes to show that you can equip an entire house without buying much new and thereby make a small contribution to protecting the planet!

10/01/2026

This interesting textile, I was told, is a Banjara Odhana Shawl, from the 1960s to 1980s, from the Karnataka region in India. It's quite a large cotton textile, relatively light-weight, in burgundy red with the middle section decorated with mirrors, appliqué work and embroidery. I love how the mirrors reflect the light when the textiles moves in the wind!

07/01/2026

A little colour inspiration for the new year: I found this lovely shade of greenish blue on a few objects and tried to figure out the name for it - dark cyan is the best I found.

I have a lovely Miao baby carrier featuring nuances of the same shade. I also found it on an old, hand-dyed Japanese textile that we turned into a scarf. Last, I have an old wooden shutter from Switzerland that presents in the same paint colour (partly worn thin) and that we have turned into a shelf displaying these beautiful alebrijes from Mexico.

Dark cyan contrasts really nicely with bright colours!

05/12/2025

These stunning vintage indigo cloths from Mali are more than just textiles - they combine several crafts into one unique and perfect piece of art: the craft of weaving hand-spun thread on a narrow loom, the craft of joining those narrow panels by means of small, manual stitches, the craft of folding, stitching and tying the cloth in such a way as to produce a beautiful resist-dye pattern, the craft of preparing an indigo vat and creating those gorgeous shades of blue. 💙🧵

22/06/2025

It’s no secret that African textiles are my current favourites. Not the elaborate, high-end ones—I’d feel guilty cutting them up to make bags or cushion covers. But even a simple cotton cloth, once worn as a wrapper, feels like a luxury these days. Especially when it’s hand-woven, plant-dyed, and sewn by hand.

In an age of fast fashion and disposable fabrics, these pieces remind me of the time, skill, and care once poured into every garment and household textile. They also highlight how easily we’ve come to equate “more”(clothes, but really everything else, too) with better, rather than appreciating the value of quality and craftsmanship, even in the simplest of things.

So here's to all the "simple" (but really elaborate), imperfect (but actually perfect!), gorgeous textiles I work with!

22/06/2025

The colours of summer 🌞 But if you ask me, indigo goes with all seasons!

A pile of pretty Baoulé and indigo cloths from Ivory Coast and Mali, all hand-woven in narrow panels that are sewn together to form larger textiles, usually worn as wrappers. Each is one-of-a-kind!

Use them as throw blankets, wall hangings or beach towels. Made of cotton and machine-washable.

Available in my etsy shop!

09/03/2025