Unique & Eco Friendly Handcrafted Techniques

Environmentally friendly workshop techniques

Design That Has A Story To Tell

handcrafted from our small workshop in zambia

Our handcrafted process means that each of our products are unique.

Every artist, whether involved in the batik process or hand painting, brings their own distinctive creative touch to balancing colors and creating designs.

GMO-Free Cotton

STAGE 01 • RAW MATERIALS • cut & sew

We use 100% GMO-free, natural cotton fabric grown, spun, and woven in Zimbabwe.

As much as we would love to work with organic cotton, we have so far not been able to find an organic cotton farm in southern Africa that can provide us with fabric in large enough quantities.

Until then, we prefer to support our neighbouring country rather than increasing our carbon footprint by sourcing organic cotton from a distant part of the world.

Starching The Design

STAGE 02 • DRAWING OUR DESIGNS

We use a traditional African batik method, we do not use hot wax ... our batik is made up of water and flour! 100% natural environmentally friendly ingredients.

Our artists use the batik paste to hand-draw our african-inspired patterns onto the fabric ... a highly skilled technique which takes years to perfect!

Paint Mixing & Colour Matching By Eye

STAGE 03 • Environmentally Friendly Paint & 0 Waste

Whilst the batik textile piece is hung up to dry under the hot African sun, Richard - our Master Paint Mixer – mixes the colours by hand, using primary pigments and a base emulsion to matching the colours by eye.

We use water-based, non-hazardous and non-toxic paints that are safe for both people and the environment.

Any leftover colours are remixed into new colours and by the end of the season we are left with a pot of a shade of grey - Which usually paints a sign or two, maybe some furniture!

Hand-Painted

stage 04 • hand-painted textile design

Our skilled artists bring the textile pieces to life by carefully hand painting and balancing colours on the designs. It looks easy, but to get that flat smooth colour takes a lot of practise! And at this stage there is NO room for error, once the paint is on... it's on! There's no removing any mistakes.

Colour Fixing Our Home Goods

STAGE 05 * COLOUR FIXING

All of our painted pieces are baked in an industrial oven at over 150℃. This ensures the textiles fully washable and prevents fading of the vibrant colours in the future.

The Most Satisying Process

STAGE 06 • BATIK REMOVAL & WASHING

The batik paste is removed from the textile piece, revealing the intricate design beneath. The textile is then washed and hung up to dry under the sun.

As part of our zero-waste policy, the starch that is removed is collected, dried and given to a local banana paper factory - One Planet, who make the greeting cards we then sell in our shop.

Although sometimes the monkeys intercept, it is after all colourful cake mixture!