SELVEDGE CHRISTMAS FAIR INTRODUCES TAMAY & ME
Tamay & Me will be joining this year's Selvedge Christmas Fair on Saturday 2 December at St Mary's Church, Marleybone, London, bringing textiles adorned with delicate Mien embroidery.
Born out of a friendship, Tamay taught Hannah how to make Mien embroidery in 2008, just as she taught her daughter and as her mother taught her. Tamay and Hannah sat together for three months working on one tiny piece of embroidery. The two became great friends and ever since have been working to raise awareness of the Mien skills. We want to help women to earn a sustainable living and to maintain their textile heritage, the embroidered jackets were the first step...
Taphin is a small mountain village in the North of Vietnam near to Sapa and the Chinese border. Most of the people who live here are Mien and speak Mien as their first language. They identify themselves through their tiny counted stitch embroidery. Each year a woman will make a whole set of new clothes for herself and her family to celebrate the New Year in February. The more beautiful the embroidery the more respect a woman will have in the village. The symbols within the detailed work represent village life, rice paddies, children, parents, grandparents, trees and plants and fertility.
The future of embroidery in Taphin village is uncertain. In the last ten years, homes in the village have been connected to electricity, people now have rice cookers, lighting and smart phones. Children are now all entitled to free education and vast numbers of tourists visit the region each day. Life in the mountains here is changing fast and the wish of Tamay and the rest of our team of sewers is that the textile traditions can be maintained and past on to future generations. Tamay & Me have created "The Jackets" to provide flexible work that fits within a traditional way of life, the kids, the rice the festivals and of course the embroidery. We hope this will support the traditional way of life and the textiles whilst at the same time bringing choices and a sense of pride.
Images courtesy of Tamay & Me
Find out more and follow Tamay & Me:
tamayandme.com
@tamayandme
Don't miss out on this year's Selvedge Christmas Fair on Saturday 2 December 2023, 12:00 - 18:00 GMT at St Mary's Church, Wyndham Place, York St, London, W1H 1PQ.
Find out more and book your tickets:
www.selvedge.org/products/selvedge-christmas-fair-2023
Born out of a friendship, Tamay taught Hannah how to make Mien embroidery in 2008, just as she taught her daughter and as her mother taught her. Tamay and Hannah sat together for three months working on one tiny piece of embroidery. The two became great friends and ever since have been working to raise awareness of the Mien skills. We want to help women to earn a sustainable living and to maintain their textile heritage, the embroidered jackets were the first step...
Taphin is a small mountain village in the North of Vietnam near to Sapa and the Chinese border. Most of the people who live here are Mien and speak Mien as their first language. They identify themselves through their tiny counted stitch embroidery. Each year a woman will make a whole set of new clothes for herself and her family to celebrate the New Year in February. The more beautiful the embroidery the more respect a woman will have in the village. The symbols within the detailed work represent village life, rice paddies, children, parents, grandparents, trees and plants and fertility.
The future of embroidery in Taphin village is uncertain. In the last ten years, homes in the village have been connected to electricity, people now have rice cookers, lighting and smart phones. Children are now all entitled to free education and vast numbers of tourists visit the region each day. Life in the mountains here is changing fast and the wish of Tamay and the rest of our team of sewers is that the textile traditions can be maintained and past on to future generations. Tamay & Me have created "The Jackets" to provide flexible work that fits within a traditional way of life, the kids, the rice the festivals and of course the embroidery. We hope this will support the traditional way of life and the textiles whilst at the same time bringing choices and a sense of pride.
Images courtesy of Tamay & Me
Find out more and follow Tamay & Me:
tamayandme.com
@tamayandme
Don't miss out on this year's Selvedge Christmas Fair on Saturday 2 December 2023, 12:00 - 18:00 GMT at St Mary's Church, Wyndham Place, York St, London, W1H 1PQ.
Find out more and book your tickets:
www.selvedge.org/products/selvedge-christmas-fair-2023