Sunday, March 28, 2010

Chunky Romanian Hemp


Chunky, thickly spun hand woven hemp from Romania.

The striped comes from Moldavia, an area in East Romania. It was woven to make bags- typically worn by the csango, a minority group living on this area who speak an ancient form of Hungarian and have a very strong tradition of folk culture including music , dance and textiles.

Moldavia is one of the most beautiful areas of Romania, dramatic mountainous landscape and small villages, lots of traditional wood houses, many with ornately carved wooden tiles.

The plain hemp is a very unusual, decorative weave, it may also have been woven for bags but more likely for use in the home.