Part 2:
TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports fairly traded, naturally dyed, handcrafted textiles directly from the artisan groups that create them. TAMMACHAT, which mean ‘natural’ in Thai, was established in 2007 by Alleson Kase and Ellen Agger. Alleson and Ellen love textiles and had been involved with both fiber and empowering women for decades. Last week’s post on TAMMACHAT told of the inspiration for and founding of this fair trade enterprise. This week, in Part II, Alleson and Ellen tells us about the women who create these beautiful, natural textiles.

The Artisans behind TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles

By Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase
Photos © Ellen Agger 2009

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles works with rural communities in Thailand and Laos where women have long been recognized as valuable and equal members of their families and communities. These artisans:

•    transform barks, berries, leaves, seeds and silk cocoons into gorgeous weavings
•    create traditional and contemporary designs using traditional floor looms
•    develop and use natural dyeing techniques that support their health and the environment

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles is building trading relationships – based on fair trade principles – with a growing number of weaving groups and non-governmental organizations in Thailand and Laos that work with village groups. We want to introduce you to a few of these groups.

Panmai Group has 250 members living in 3 provinces in Northeast Thailand in both Khmer and Laotian villages, who draw on these traditions in their designs. These women are very skilled in sericulture (the entire cycle of silk production) and are proud to weave only organic, village-reeled and naturally dyed silk yarns.
They are expert and widely respected for their dyeing skills using natural materials, protecting both their own health and that of their environment.

Prae Pan Group has 200 members in 7 villages in Khon Kaen province in Northeast Thailand. They are highly skilled at supplementary weft weaving and the natural dyeing of cotton, although they weave silk as well. Prae Pan, like Panmai, has been operating for 20 years and is proud to be entirely villager-run and self-sufficient.
During a recent visit, women from both groups told us that this work allows them to stay in their villages where they can live with their families, grow rice and practice their foremothers’ art – while preserving it for their heirs.

Pattanarak Foundation works to balance development and conservation among disadvantaged communities and stateless peoples along Thailand’s borders. Their products are handmade with an indigenous species of cotton organically grown along the Thai-Lao border on the banks of the Mekong River. After spinning, dyeing and weaving, some products are sewn by projects in the west of Thailand along the Burmese border. This helps forge links and exchange ideas between communities that are experiencing similar challenges. One village group working with Pattanarak specializes in indigo dyeing, always popular for its lively colour – “nature’s true blue.”

Saoban is a Vientiane-based marketing outlet for over a dozen village groups that work with the Participatory Development Training Center (PADETC) in rural Laos. At Saoban’s shop, young entrepreneurs develop business skills while providing much-needed markets for village products that range from bamboo-silk handbags to naturally dyed silk scarves. This is part of PADETC’s vision for Laos: education for sustainable development.

Mulberries is the market brand of the Lao Sericulture Co., a not-for-profit organization that is accredited by the World Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association). Its goal is to strengthen the position of women in Laos by providing them with dependable incomes and to preserve their sophisticated weaving and natural dyeing techniques. Women are further trained to bring diverse skills and environmental sustainable to the complex cycle of silk production with extraordinary results. Founder Kommaly Chantavong was a nominee for 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 for her work on this important project that is recognized for its poverty alleviation, cultural preservation and peace building.

Green Net Coop helps Thai organic farmers market their products. One Green Net project brings together grandmothers who grow, spin and weave organic cotton in Ban Kokkabok in Loei province with sewers in Panmai Group in Northeast Thailand, who transform the cloth into children’s sunhats and baby products. Read the story of the Kokkabok Women’s Cotton Group.

Fai Gaem Mai is based in Chiang Mai University and helps community-based production groups in Northern Thailand develop handwoven Eri silk products, one of the textile products that TAMMACHAT carries. The Eri silkworm feeds on the leaves of cassava, rather than mulberry, providing additional income for villagers already growing this high-volume, low-value commodity.

Suan Nguen Mee Ma Company (Garden of Fruition) was founded by Sulak Sivaraksa, who was honoured with the Right Livelihood Award (the “Alternative Nobel Prize”), to explore new markets for indigenous crafts, to publish educational materials and to act as a small-scale, practice-based “think tank.” Among their projects, they support small groups of farmers in Nan, Thailand to revitalize organic cotton growing, spinning and weaving, and to preserve heritage varieties of naturally coloured cotton.

These products are available at TAMMACHAT Natural Textile’s Fair Trade Textile Events. Select products are also available in TAMMACHAT’s Online Shop. Visit www.tammachat.com to learn more.

Voices of the weavers

“You must consider the whole process if you want to support this art. It is difficult to produce by hand. Our work is real women’s group work, handmade art and tradition.”
Mae Samphun Jundaeng
Chairperson, Panmai Group
Northeast Thailand

“I feel in harmony with this work.”
Loek Khonsudee
Member, Panmai Group
Northeast Thailand

“We want to work with natural dyes – it’s better for our health and for the environment. The colours we use in our weavings depend on the plants available around our village. I am told that most people appreciate my work – especially the colours.”
Noi Simpree,
Member, Panmai Group, Northeast Thailand

Part 1:

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles: handwoven beauty • fairly traded

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports fairly traded, naturally dyed, handcrafted textiles directly from the artisan groups that create them. TAMMACHAT, which mean natural in Thai, was established in 2007 by Alleson Kase and Ellen Agger. Alleson and Ellen love textiles and had been involved with both fiber and empowering women for decades. While traveling around Thailand, an opportunity presented itself, but I’ll let Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase tell you about TAMMACHAT….

Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase: Why we started TAMMACHAT

Two reasons: First, the more idealistic one, was to realize the sayings that “another world is possible” and “vote with your wallet.” We believe that people impact human rights, communities and the environment with every purchase we make. So, it’s important that people have access to fairly traded and environmentally friendly products.

Second (and this is more serendipitous and more personal), we were in the right place at the right time. A few years ago we were traveling around Thailand, searching out weaving groups, an interest of Alleson’s since 1980 when she first traveled in Guatemala. The women we met at one weaving co-op told us their sales were down, which meant they had to limit membership in the co-op. Right away, we knew we were going to connect their desire to expand their market with our desires to find new and meaningful careers.

What motivates us:
We want to live in a world where:
•    women have choices about and control over their lives within their families and communities;
•    people are fairly and adequately paid for their work; and
•    everyone uses resources wisely and according to their needs, so that communities and the planet are preserved for future generations.

Fair trade in action
As social entrepreneurs, we want to encourage fair trade and ethical consumption. This means:
•    knowing what goods are made of
•    where they are made
•    how their making impacts the people who make them, their communities and the environment

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles imports fairly traded, naturally dyed, handcrafted textiles directly from the artisan groups that create them.

Handweaving, one of the world’s oldest arts, continues to be practiced with amazing skill and well-deserved pride in many rural villages in Thailand and Laos. The silks and cottons woven by women in these areas reflect cultural traditions that have endured from earlier times, passing from mothers to daughters.

We select each piece of wearable art, each table cloth and wall hanging, and every length of hand-loomed fabric that we purchase. Every textile chosen displays technical expertise, aesthetic beauty, careful finishing and sustainable production.
We travel extensively in rural Thailand and Laos, visiting weaving villages and artisan groups, to learn firsthand about the textiles we buy and how they are made. After 2 years of trading, we will apply for fair trade accreditation with the World Fair Trade Association.

We support the artisans and communities that create these textiles by:
•    paying fair prices set by individual artisans and artisan groups
•    building long-term trade relationships with artisan groups and non-governmental organizations that work with village groups
•    supporting environmentally and socially sustainable practices, and appropriate technologies used by artisan groups in the creation of their products
•    providing international markets for this work to help preserve this women’s art form and encourage the younger generation to continue these traditions

Natural  fibres,  natural  dyes
Whenever possible, we source organically produced natural fibres. Heritage varieties of silkworms are raised without chemicals in artisans’ homes rather than in factories. The cocoons spun there are painstakingly hand-reeled into yarn, yielding extraordinary beauty and value. Traditional varieties of cotton, in 3 natural colours, are grown organically, most often on the banks of the Mekong River. Unique, nubbly textures result from ginning, fluffing and spinning these fibres by hand.

Before weaving, silk and cotton yarns are hand-dyed in small batches with organic materials that are locally raised or sustainably gathered. Emerging from these village dye pots are colours that range from subtle to intense, in all the rich hues that nature can create. Of course, some yarns are woven in their natural shades of white, cream, butter yellow or tan.

Age-old designs for contemporary life
Many of the pieces that we buy use designs and techniques that have been handed down for generations. Others – especially weavings that are sewn into clothing, bags and cushion covers – combine the beauty of naturally dyed, handwoven fabric with contemporary flare. We work with artisan groups to develop new products, such as the 100% SILK. 100% ART. silk squares for quilters and other fibre artists – developed with the expert colour sense of Panmai Group members and advice from internationally known quilters Valerie Hearder and Laurie Swim in Nova Scotia.

We also buy traditional designs, such as khit (supplementary weft) and mudmee (tie-dyed yarns that produce a design when woven), choosing pieces that will be popular with western consumers.

How we sell these textiles
We sell these handwoven textiles at Fair Trade Textile Events that we organize in communities throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond. We also opened an Online Shop to make select pieces available anywhere in the world. Everywhere that we take these textiles we tell the stories behind them, because this showcases the real value of this beautiful work.
For more information, visit http://www.tammachat.com. Also enjoy the TAMMACHAT travel blog written by Alleson and Ellen at http://tammachat-2008-2009.blogspot.com

By Ellen Agger and Alleson Kase
Photos © Ellen Agger 2009

Part II will post next Monday. Learn about the artisans behind TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles