Tag: Maiwa Foundation

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April 19, 2022 newsletter

Maiwa Foundation

New “Pay What you Want” Tea Towel Pattern

Just Monk’ing Around

Most of you know how passionate I am about supporting the Maiwa Foundation in any way I can. You’ve helped me raise money for the Foundation as they work hard to help some incredibly skilled textile artisans in India. I asked Charllotte Kwon (the founder and fearless leader) of Maiwa for an update that we could share with you…and this is what she wrote.

“We are still supporting the Jiwaja weavers. Maiwa has finally been able to place a large order with the leatherworkers that will keep them working from February to December 2022. Like everywhere, the supply and delivery infrastructure in India (and therefore for Jawaja) is slow but they are innovative and things are getting done – just a bit slower. There are very few craft fairs opening up and retailers in India are not yet placing orders as tourists have yet to return. But that is slowly happening, however – the tourist season is mainly over now until September. 

Maiwa has not yet placed an order for the handwoven carpets but we are working on that and should be able to place one by July. In the meantime we continue to support monthly. The entire village and the Jawaja cooperative are incredibly grateful for the assistance the Maiwa Foundation has been able to give – and 90% of that has come from your fundraisers. We all truly believe, that had we not stood up immediately, the craftspeople of Jawaja would have really suffered.  

The Maiwa team will (finally) be returning to India in September of this year – for two months – and we will have several meetings at Jawaja. We will visit all the artisans in India who we work with. It will be good to be able to sit, in person together, and hear all the stories and see the situation first hand.”

We are adding a new “Pay What you Want” tea towel pattern to our list of Maiwa Fundraising towels. Our Dream Team member – Arlene Kohut took one of this year’s featured structures – Monk’s Belt – and created a new, fun, set of tea towels for you to play with, Just Monk’ing Around! The Maiwa Foundation receives 100% of the money raised on these PDF downloadable pattern sales. Please…help me, help them!

Purchase the downloadable pattern here!

Monk’ing Around Kits Available!

You can also purchase Just Monk’ing Around in kit form including the pattern and all the yarn you need. You have 3 colourways to choose from!

Surf’s Up Towels

Kiwi Towels

Berry Bowl Towels

Monk’ing Around Tea Towel Kit available here!

More ‘Pay What You Want’ From Our Maiwa Fundraiser

At a price that anyone can afford…you choose how much!

I also want to take a minute to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the support you have already given. In 2021, JST was able to give over $20,000.00 to the Maiwa Foundation. This was all raised by the continuous sale of these patterns and, in particular, the weavers on my Dream Team who so generously designed and donated their patterns to help the Maiwa Foundation.

Thank you so much…..Sharon Broadley, Barbara Mitchell and Arlene Kohut.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone you think might be interested in helping us to raise funds for Maiwa in 2022, let’s see if we can beat what we raised in 2021 🙂

xoxo Jane

All proceeds from the “Pay What You Want” PDF downloadable patterns will be donated directly to

the Maiwa Foundation.

Check out all the patterns here!

Abalone and Ebony

Inspiration From a Sari

Mai-what-ta Lovely Towels & Scarf

Tea Towel Time With Jane

Stash Crackle Pop!

Take me to the patterns!

Here to help

You can always find us on the Jane Stafford Online Guild Forum or on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.

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December 21st, 2021 newsletter

Thank you – we couldn’t do it without you!

Wishing you all a peaceful, safe and joyous Holiday Season

As I reflect on this past year I am struck by how wonderful it is to be surrounded by folks that weave goodness and kindness into their lives and those around them. It has been another year of challenges for people all over the world, yet so many of you have helped us help others. 

In particular, I want to thank all of you who supported us as we did our bit to assist the Artist Alliance of Jawaja in India. We are grateful to everyone who purchased a pattern which reinforced our commitment to the Maiwa Foundation as they provide support to these amazing, creative artisans during COVID. Our help is so important. JST has recently been able to purchase another large batch of heddles for the weavers of Sabahar in Ethiopia. Kathy is committed to getting more weavers working from home during these troubling times and texsolv heddles are so beneficial to the weavers and make their production more proficient. All of these talented artisans are currently facing challenges that go far beyond “just” COVID. I only have to think of these groups for a second to be reminded of how truly blessed I am. 

So thank you, thank you again and again for all the support you give to JST, every customer, every student, every friend 🙂 It is so appreciated.

Sending you all hope, love and best wishes for a Happy New Year.
Love Jane

We will be closed for the holidays from December 25th to January 2nd.
Last orders for shipping before the holidays is December 24th.
Orders placed during our closed days will be processed on January 4th, 2022.

Here to help

You can always find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum or on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.

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November 9th, 2021 newsletter

JST’s Shetland Blankie Recipe

I thought I would share Grant’s favourite Harrisville Shetland Blankie pattern with you – for free!  Harrisville Shetland is such a wonderful blankie yarn. Available from JST in 46 lovely, heathered colours, it weaves up quickly and blooms beautifully when wet finished.
 
These blankets started as a 2 stripe overall division of space and then the borders and centre stripe were designed using the Fibonacci Numerical Series and overlaid on top. A pretty easy design process.

Grant couldn’t decide which green to pick for the centre … he kept going between Loden and Evergreen so … I decided he could have both. I used all the colours in the stripe for the weft in the second blanket, playing with the graphic. The other colours used were chosen to match different elements in our living room.

Enjoy weaving and cuddling under this blankie for many years to come 😉

Jane

Click Here to Download Your FREE PDF Copy of Grant’s Shetland Blankies

Harrisville Shetland Yarns

100% wool available in 1/2 lb cones – 900 yds/cone (1800 yds per lb) Harrisville Shetland is spun more tightly (higher number of turns per inch) so it is very durable and will wear better and better every year. Washing makes the yarn even softer. The fibres blossom and have the ability to full and felt. Even if you knit with our yarn, it’s still a good idea to wash and block your finished project.
For more info on working with Shetland yarn, check out our Warping and Weaving with Harrisville Shetland as well as Fulling Instructions in the JST Knowledge Base for all the tips! For those that have a subscription to School of Weaving, don’t forget to check out/review Season 1 Episode 1.10.3 Fulling in the Washing Machine for more great tips on fulling fabrics. Jane fulls a mohair blanket in this episode but you can adapt the technique to make a Harrisville Shetland blanket.

Shop Harrisville Shetland Yarns

Autumn Orchard Shetland Wraps

Do you feel like wrapping yourself – or someone on your gift list – in a layer of cozy warmth? This wrap is the one you didn’t know you wanted 😉 The colours will remind you of the apple orchards that were so colourful not so long ago. Imagine sitting at your loom mixing and blending all the wonderful Harrisville Shetland colours in this kit. You could use one of the included colourways for one wrap and with the other – just have the fun of creating your own design. 

Level of Difficulty:  Beginner
Weave structure: Plain Weave
Material: Harrisville Shetland
Each kit makes: 2 wraps (25.5″ X 74″ plus fringes)

Loom requirements:
Shafts: 4
Reed: 8 dent
Weaving width: 32″

Each kit includes:
Weaving instructions (including draft)
1 cone of Harrisville Shetland – Chianti
1 cone of Harrisville Shetland – Topaz
1 cone of Harrisville Shetland – Tundra
cone of Harrisville Shetland – Blackcherry

Shop Autumn Orchard Shetland Wraps

The gift that keeps on giving… share our Maiwa

download patterns with a friend

As we have shared with you in the past, the situation with COVID-19 in India and its affect on the Artisans Alliance of Jiwaja, continues to be challenging for the artisans. The Maiwa Foundation is working hard as they continue to support them through this period. Have you thought of giving a gift that keeps on giving??? You could give one of these fabulous patterns to a fellow weaver in your life. They would learn that the gift they are receiving is also supporting a group of talented artisans who happen to be in a very difficult situation. And, as it is that time of year and … you could also buy one for yourself and have the fun of weaving up a set of towels that you can give as gifts.

Abalone and Ebony Tea Towel & Scarf PDF Pattern Download

Inspiration From A Sari Tea Towel PDF Pattern Download

Mai-wha-ta Lovely Towel PDF Pattern Download

Stash Crackle Pop PDF Pattern Download

Maiwa Foundation logo

Tea Towel Time with Jane PDF Pattern Download

Shop all Maiwa Patterns

Shop Maiwa PDF Pattern Downloads

JST Gift Certificates

Since we’ve mentioned Christmas gifts – and I know Christmas is still quite a way off, but ….. have you been dreaming about that particular tool, some fabulous yarn – or dreaming really big, maybe about a new loom? Set up a Wish List on the JST Shop Store and just in passing mention that your list can be found there. You can manage your list under your account which gives you different options on how you might want to share it 😉 Your close circle can get a chance to look at your list and possibly give you a JST Gift Certificate towards something that you are really wishing for.
Purchase a Gift Certificate

School of Weaving ~ Give the Gift of Learning!

Featured in this photo are placemats from Season 5 Episode 9 Huck & Twills

Give the gift of learning, an all-access subscription to
Jane Stafford School of Weaving.
 Over 45 weaving lessons with a new episode every 5 weeks
Choose between 1 to 12 months!

Buy a Gift Subscription

Here to help

You can always find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum

or on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.

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July 20, 2021 newsletter Maiwa

Maiwa Fundraiser

Abalone & Ebony Tea Towels & Scarf

Treat yourself to a project that will have you mentally wandering a west coast beach. Something catches your eye; you pick it up, turn it over see the beautiful colours of abalone sparkling up at you hidden inside a clamshell. Look closer and you will see that it’s framed by the ebony black of the outside of the shell. As you know, I love anything that is nicely framed   🙂

We are delighted to once again bring you a beautiful “Pay What You Want” pattern to benefit the Maiwa Foundation and this one, Abalone & Ebony Tea Towels & Scarf has been created by Barbara Mitchell. If there is one thing that Barbara and I have in common it is the urge to just play at our looms to see what will happen. Barbara started off with the plan to “play” with Bronson Spot but, before she even got to the point of winding her warp, she thought … what if I layer it with Log Cabin – and the magic began! She has created a canvas for you, so you can wonder “what if?”

Barbara has generously shared this amazing draft to give us another opportunity to work towards our goal of helping the Maiwa Foundation.  The Foundation is supporting many artisan groups across India who are currently suffering due to the pandemic.  A special group that Jane knows and loves is the Artisan’s Alliance of Jawaja (handweavers and leatherworkers) who are being particularly challenged during COVlD, and we’d really like to continue supporting them during this difficult time.

All proceeds from this pattern will be donated to the Maiwa Foundation.

Buy this pattern & choose how much to pay!

Abalone & Ebony Tea Towels & Scarf Patterning

With this towel each square has 4 quadrants, each different depending on float colour, background colour and direction of Log Cabin.

Lace Unit profile with Colour & Weave effect! This third towel is woven alternating two colours over and over creating that beautiful Abalone effect 🙂

This towel is uniquely layered with Log Cabin squares. Each woven in a different colour and framed with the black and white dividers.

The Bronson Spot Log Cabin Scarf woven exclusively in JST’s hand-dyed 2/20 silks in Ariel’s Voice, Starfish & Lime light.

Buy Abalone & Ebony Pattern Now!

We’ve Put The Kit Together!

This kit is now available on our website to purchase. Your kit will weave 3 towels and 1 scarf when you add a skein of 20/2 silk or, if you prefer to just weave towels, you have enough to weave 5. This is a 4-shaft Bronson Spot pattern with a weaving width of 19.5″.

Each Abalone & Ebony Kit includes:

  • Weaving instructions (including draft) plus:
    • 6 cones of 8/2 cotton, 1 cone each of:  Bleached; Black; Medium Blue; Magenta; Pale Limette and Limette

You will need to purchase 1 skein of silk for the scarf (not included in the kit). The colours used in the scarf were: 

You can choose 1, 2 or all 3 for your scarf 😉

More Pay What You Want Pattern Downloads!

At a price that anyone can afford…you choose how much!

All proceeds of each downloaded Pay What You Want pattern to benefit
the Maiwa Foundation

Check out all the patterns!

Inspiration From a Sari

Mai-what-ta Lovely Towels & Scarf

Tea Towel Time with Jane

Stash Crackle Pop

Shop all the fundraising patterns!

Here to help

You can always find us on the Jane Stafford School of Weaving Forum or

on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.

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February 2021 Newsletter – Maiwa Fundraiser

Mai-wha-ta Lovely Towel

Maiwa Fundraiser for the Artisan Alliance of Jawaja

Pay What You Want Pattern Download

Hey….remember that marvellous Stash Crackle Pop pattern from Sharon Broadley…..well…..we’ve got another one 🙂 Sharon is an ardent weaver, lover and supporter of Maiwa, and that girl can take any towel warp and turn it into a luxurious shawl with a mere change of sett and weft yarn. We are so thrilled to present the Mai-Wha-ta Lovely Towel Pattern. And…..you can thank her daughter Lee for the name.


“I began very literally. I typed “helpmaiwa” into the Name Draft tool in Fiberworks and then played around with various options until I came up with a design I liked. Wanting to mimic the intricate Jacquard head borders on traditional Indian textiles, I threaded the design into 3 areas and left the remainder of the warp in plainweave. The colours come from the saturated colour palette that reminds me of India.” Sharon Broadley  

This pattern is written for 8 towels and 1 shawl. The 8 towels are woven at 20 EPI and then, after the towels have been woven, the warp is cut and re-sleyed at 16 EPI for the plain weave and 24 EPI for the twill, making the twill section more warp predominant.  The pattern could have been woven on 6 shafts but Sharon used 8 so she didn’t run out of heddles on her first 2 shafts…..that’s thinking ahead 🙂 The plain weave sections are threaded on 1-4 and the twill section is on 5-8.


So…..imagine a mostly plain weave towel with 3 bands of twill running vertically from top to bottom. The entire warp is made of 8/2 cotton. 


In this project we have 2 different weave structures threaded side by side. The plain weave section will have greater take-up in the warp than the twill sections. There is an interlacement between every single warp thread in the plain weave areas while, in the twill areas, the interlacement is between every 2 threads. This causes tension differences between the 2 areas. The twill section may feel loose or grow in length a little bit due to the take-up differential. If you raise shafts 5 to 8 with your hand you will be able to separate the twill sections of your warp. Standing at the back of the loom insert a 1/4” rod or dowel under those raised warp threads and then slide it down to the bottom of your warp beam – see the picture below. This is a simple way of dealing with tension differentials in warps. You may need to add additional weight to the rod if you find the twill sections becoming too long. Add your weights to both ends of your rod.


You will also notice that as the cloth winds onto the cloth beam, there is a differential in the buildup. Don’t worry about it.

Yarns & Colours Used for the Warp:
1 cone each of 8/2 cotton in Purple, Royal, Fuchsia, Cherry, & Turmeric

Towel Wefts:
All warp colours were used plus Orange, Apricot & Pale Limette. Remember…this is a great stash busting pattern as you only need approximately 3 full bobbins to weave a towel.

Shawl Weft:
One skein of JST Hand-dyed 20/2 Silk, some suggested colours are Coral Flame, Shameless, Starfish, Buddha Berry, Dragon Fruit or any colour that grabs your heart and reminds you of India.

So there you have it….another amazing pattern…..more great learning…..and a giant huge THANK YOU to Sharon. Ya gotta love it…..”helpmaiwa”

Jane

You can follow Sharon on Instagram @colour.woven

Take me to the Pattern Download
Take me to the Pattern Downloads

Recently I was on Soufilled Sisterhood Podcast with host Nicole Burguess speaking about my favourite topic weaving! No, her podcast is not a weaving or fiber arts podcast, but I shared with her listeners how I got interested in weaving, giving myself permission to play more with my weaving, and my goal of reaching more people with my teaching. This inspired Nicole to incorporate some of those mindsets and beliefs into her business. So whether you are a creator, entrepreneur, lover of yarn, or curious about my path in textiles click here to listen and read the show notes.

Season 5 Kits are Back in Stock!


We’ve restocked our shelves with Season 5 Kits all ready for your looms!

Episode 2 airing February 25th – Canvas Weave

Episode 3 – Huck

Episode 4 – Huck Colour & Weave

Episode 5 – Swedish Lace

Episode 1 is live! – Tunred Twill

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Maiwa Foundation

Maiwa Foundation logo

An Update on Maiwa

To all our Wonderful Maiwa Supporters

I have a report for you :). Please read to the bottom because there’s a letter from India addressed to all of you ‘many Mam weaver mams’.

And, because this need is ongoing we have relaunched the ‘pay what you want’ towel patterns on our website. Stash Crackle Pop & Tea Towel Time with Jane are back. Just look for that Maiwa Foundation square on the shop drop menu. I’ll be adding new patterns this year so there will be more ways to participate. 

It is so important that you know how much you’ve helped. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 
Love and stay safe,

Jane

Message from Charllotte Kwon
The Maiwa Foundation

To Jane and her wonderful community of weavers – a huge thank you for your incredibly generous donation.  The story of Jawaja is a long one .  .  . and now you are all part of that story.  

The whole process of making this donation from Jane and her community through the Maiwa Foundation during these extraordinary times has been amazing for us – not to mention coming with it’s own learning curve.   

We realized by September, that because all the artisans had been effected by covid we needed to be very transparent with whatever money we donated since the issues were not isolated issues of – for example – earthquake, or drought, or flood etc.  All artisans had issues and it was important that we let all those that we work with know about what money was available for donation.  

I decided to put together a small team to help wth the decision making – that comprised of a mentor of mine Ashoke Chatterjee (retired head of National Institute of Design and President of Craft Council of India) along with 4 artisans who head up groups we work with – from various areas in India.  

This took some time and what was surprising to us all was that the artisans who had ongoing orders from Maiwa told us that they did not think it was right for them to take any of the money.  They were fine as long as there were ongoing orders.  They explained that most, if not all, of their local work had stopped but if they had Maiwa work they were fine.    

So we then had to look at areas where Maiwa would not place large enough orders to various artisans for them to have income throughout the year – going forward.  I had always known that the artisans would be alright for the first 8-10 months but that their local work would end once the Indian economy felt the impact of no tourism, very little exports and an unemployed middle class.   

Maiwa has done well online with most products.  But two areas are slow – leatherwork and woven carpets.  Normally our orders would be fine because they are augmented by our annual India Tour (that is cancelled for February 2021). Jawaja sell three months worth of leather bags and carpets in that single day we visit.  Jawaja does sell at craft fairs in India – which are all cancelled now.   

Things slipped south for Jawaja Leatherworkers and Weavers quite quickly in early December  – they are 25 artisan families (a total of about 250 people as these are joint families) and they had run out of money to live.  There is no safety net in India – particularly for remote villages and low caste – both of which these artisans are.  We made the decision to send $16,000 to them and we have reserved $9000 as we continue to see what groups may be falling through the cracks.  

I, personally, am deeply grateful to all of you .  .  .    

Charllotte Kwon

Director – The Maiwa Foundation  

This is the letter we received today from Babulalji – who is the treasurer of the co-operative:

Respected Mam and Mam Jane mam,

Namskar, 

Thankyou for give work for and help us. At this time our artisan face very bad situation due to Kovid-19. No Work  No income so our artisan require work for income.  We need help for 25 artisan family for maintenance and feeding. Thank you of heart for 8 lakh.  We receive this from Maheshbhai today.  This save us at this time for no money for so long.  We are happy and we thank Mam Jane and many Mam weaver mams

We have deposit for next order.   No supplies is possible now.  

We hope we see you soon.  Are you come to Jawaja? 

Thanks & Regards. 

Babulal

Jawaja Leather & Weaver Alliance

Pay What You Want

Pattern Download

Tea Towel Time With Jane

These towels are a fantastic opportunity to explore some of the ways you can layer graphic and different weave structures onto the same warp. 

These colourful towels were woven during the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year. Over the course of 3 weeks these towels were woven live on Facebook and during that time a fun, creative, caring community was formed.

TAKE ME TO THE PATTERNS!

Stash Crackle Pop!

The “Stash, Crackle, Pop!” pattern is a great stash buster … you gain a lesson on Crackle Weave and … end up with some pretty eye-popping towels!
This ‘pay what you want’ pattern was designed by our darling Sharon Broadley, who contributes so much to JST and can be found on Instagram as @colour.woven 🙂

TAKE ME TO THE PATTERNS!

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June Newsletter

Stash Crackle Pop!

We have a treat for you this month…..and I think we could all use a little treat 🙂

The “Stash, Crackle, Pop!” pattern is a great stash buster … you gain a lesson on Crackle Weave and … end up with some pretty eye-popping towels! This ‘pay what you want’ pattern was designed by our darling Sharon Broadley, who contributes so much to JST and can be found on Instagram as @colour.woven 🙂 You may be following her amazing daily tea-towels there, she just hit day 100!

Sharon has also been to India with Maiwa on 2 occasions and I know from travelling with her, just how supportive she is of the Maiwa Foundation’s work with textile artisans in India. So guess what? Whatever you pay for this pattern is going to the Maiwa Foundation. Let’s make what we raised for such a good cause with the Tea Towel Time with Jane fundraiser, go even further to help our fellow artisans in India.

And … our Maiwa Fundraiser is still carrying on for a few more weeks. So, if you didn’t get a chance to get your Tea Towel Time with Jane pattern, you still have time. The final date for the Fundraising Auction is scheduled for July 16th, but we’ll update you before then 😉

Jane

Stash Crackle Pop Warp & Weft Colours

Not sure if you have all the colours for the pattern? We’ve put a list together of all the cotton colours used in the Stash, Crackle Pop pattern, in case you might be missing some of them. You can purchase them right here. 

Note: Stash Crackle Pop is only offered as a PDF pattern, no kits 🙂

Buy the Stash, Crackle, Pop PDF Pattern

Merino & Silk Scarf Kits

These supremely beautiful scarves ticks all the boxes! Since they are woven with silk on merino, they are super soft and warm with silky drape, and has that magic sheen we all love. The design is simple and classic with two stripes on the warp and design options for the weft. They are one of those life-time scarves. They just won’t go out of fashion or favour. Offered in 2 colourways!

Each kit includes merino & silk yarns with the pattern to weave 2 scarves! 

Melting Ice

Pewter and Shale merino with Natural and Rainy Day silk in the weft
C$159.00

Chocolate & Vanilla

Suede and Vanilla merino with Violet Ice and Double Chocolate silk in the weft
C$172.00

Summer Inspired Tea Towel Kits

Our much loved bouclé kits weave up quickly for a Summer project on the loom. Each kit weaves 9 tea towels and make the perfect host/hostess gifts!

Mountain Bouclé Tea Towel Kit
Price C$90.00

Summer Sea Bouclé Tea Towel Kit
Price C$90.00

Here to help

You can always find us on the Jane Stafford Online Guild Forum or on Weave with Jane Stafford at Ravelry.

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Tea Towel Time with Jane in Support of the Maiwa Foundation

Hey kids, I just wanted to share a wee story, some great news and a great pattern. 

I need to thank all of you for your continued support of JST… we feel so blessed each day when we come to work and see your orders.  Most of the staff continue to work from home but Elizabeth, Sharon and I are in the studio Monday to Friday answering questions and providing continued support to our amazing community. AND because of this support we are so pleased to announce that JST will be making a $5000.00 donation to our favourite charity… The Maiwa Foundation… on behalf of all our customers.

As many of you know, the Maiwa Foundation is very near and dear to my heart. I have had the privilege of travelling to India on three occasions with Charllotte Kwon. Those trips have changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe. It was on one of those trips that I met Kathy Marshall from Sabahar… and working with Sabahar has also changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe. I know there are thousands of voices that echo my feelings about Maiwa and Charllotte.

Last week I asked Charllotte for an update and how we can help.

With 1.3 billion people, India is one of the most populous nations on Earth. The government implemented a strict 21 day lockdown, with just a few hours notice. Our artisans had to make their way back to their homes as they could, walking long distances as transit services and car traffic were shut down. Everyone remains inside their homes. People are not permitted outside, so travelling to work is out of the question.

Our business relationship with artisans has always been a long-term one and we are in regular contact with many of them. The primary concern for each of the artisans we know is not the difficulty of remaining at home but the uncertainty of the future.

The Maiwa Foundation is marshalling its resources for the uncertain future of craft. We also don’t know what the future holds, but we know it will not be easy. We want to be prepared to help where we are most needed. We know that it will be possible to keep hands on the loom, to keep the dye bath going, to plant organic cotton, to harvest, weave, dye and sew. We trust that you share our optimism and thank you for your continued support

If you would like to make your own personal donation to the Maiwa Foundation or learn more, click here.

So Now for the Towel Story!

Last month I was feeling a tad down in the dumps and realized I needed a project to bite into. I couldn’t settle on anything, kept procrastinating and finally found a picture on the JST Instagram feed that turned out to be a design by my friend Sharon Broadley (Colourwoven). I loved the colours and graphic, asked her if I could use it and all of a sudden I felt grounded again and ready to roll.

I changed the colour and weave sequence, changed the graphic a bit, did a sketch and hit the warping mill running… and then I thought about everyone else out there that might be feeling like I was and decided to try Facebook Live… like really! Apparently there are folks out there waiting for someone to make a warp live on Facebook.

So that is how this started… the next day I dressed a loom… live on Facebook Live and then I threaded it, sleyed it and wove one towel everyday for the next two weeks live on Facebook Live at 1 pm PST.

By the time I was finished it had developed into Tea Towel Time with Jane and we had created a fun, supportive, caring community with hundreds of weavers watching and asking questions.

After everything was woven and hemmed I decided that I would make the pattern available to everyone in our community at a price that anyone could pay… whatever you want :). All proceeds from the sale of the pattern will go to the Maiwa Foundation. So pay whatever you want and get your pattern here.

What will become of those towels you ask? 🙂 We’re going to have a silent auction sometime during the month of June and will let you know about that once we get it all set up.

We have also made these towels into a kit so if you’re hankering to make your own set of towels click here. Please note that I used bits and pieces from my stash in some of the towels and those colours are not included in the kit. There is enough yarn in the kit for 12 towels.

You can still view all of the Tea Towel Time with Jane episodes on the Jane Stafford Textiles FaceBook page. The quality of our live feed was not great because we live in the boonies and have very slow internet… but the banter is fun and there were some great teaching opportunities 🙂

Hope you are all well, always thinking about you.

Love Jane

Tea Towel Time with Jane Kit $89.00 CAD