How are they made? a bit more info….

Each ball is handmade in northern Thailand of fabric scraps up-cycled from the garment industry.   A single ball can take up to 4 days to sew, in addition to the time required to prepare, custom dye and air dry all the constituent parts. Providing fair employment to women living in remote areas, our products are made in an environmentally sustainable manner that creates something beautiful from fabric that would otherwise end up in a landfill.  

HOW ARE THEY MADE?

Before the sewing can begin, the up-cycled fabric remnants are prepared for the artisans: they are sorted, cut or sewn into thousands of pieces (each style requires different preparation of the constituent parts), and dyed to order.

 DYEING

Using cold water, each vat colours five separate batches of fabric dyed in succession— the first batch is dyed the darkest colour. This fabric is then removed from the vat, wrung out, and air dried.  The second batch of fabric dyed in the same vat is slightly lighter.  By the fifth batch, the fabric has just very faint pigmentation, and the water remaining in the dying vat is virtually colourless. While this is a lengthy process, it provides two significant benefits:

1)     environmental: virtually no pigmentation remains in the very little waste water produced, and little to no power is required, due to the use of cold water and air drying, and

2)  the beautiful ombre colour gradations that can be seen in any of our ‘shading’ products.

 SEWING

The sewing process begins with pure cotton twill, which is the only non up-cycled fabric used in the process: intact yardage is required to provide a solid base for the cover.  This twill is hand cut, then made into the base onto which the up-cycled elements are sewn to create each unique design.

Once the zipper (which goes more than ¾ of the circumference of the ball to allow easy removal of the cover for washing) is installed, it is ready to go to the artisan who will execute the design.

Execution of the design will take up to 4 days, depending upon the design and the experience of the artisan.  Each ball consists of several hundred - in many cases over a thousand - parts, each of which will be sewn onto the twill base.  It is a demanding and exacting task, for which each of the artisans has been extensively trained. The result is a unique and practical piece of functional art.  They are durable, machine washable, and support a family business in a small community with limited employment opportunities.