Indigo calico cloth in the Jiangsu area

[Meng Lelan]

I was looking at pictures of Hangzhou in a textbook and saw photos of women wearing apparel made of indigo calico cloth. They are blue and white only, no other colors, and often have floral patterns. Where would one buy this cloth, would there be online sellers because I want to buy several meters for a friend who sews clothes and toys. Thanks.

[skylee]

Not sure if this is what you want (this shop is quite famous). This link might also be useful.

[Meng Lelan]

That has got to be about right. Also when I was in Shanghai two years ago I went to a teahouse and the waitresses were all wearing this kind of cloth. I guess this is where they get the material? I found this site and scrolled down two thirds of the way and there's a photo showing bolts of cloth for sale. How I wish I could be there to buy all that. Is this the only shop in Shanghai, seems to be in the old town area called Yuyuan? I will have to see if this can be ordered online or do I have to make a trip to Shanghai soon.

http://www.shanghainavi.com/shop/74/

[abcdefg]

The bold hand-tied, hand-dyed indigo cloth from in and around Dali, Yunnan, is also quite nice, though it is more often used for tablecloths and such instead of for clothing. Usually referred to in English as "Dali Cloth" -- but Yunnan locals usually call it 扎染布 or 大理扎染布。

http://image.baidu.c...tf-8&word=大理扎染布

[Meng Lelan]

Some years ago I read a news article about someone who bought and collected hand dyed indigo cloth from the Yunnan and Guizhou area. Now, I did do some more searching and you can see a photo of the shop exterior on this website and the address in Shanghai seems to be 黄浦区方浜中路438号. But I am not familiar with Shanghai so I am guessing maybe this is in the old town area of the city?

http://www.china8818...CookieSupport=1

[skylee]

Re #4, yes I bought a very large indigo table cloth in Dali years ago. My friend was extremely surprised when I gave it to her. It was quite pretty as far as I can remember.

Re #5, yes it is in the Yu Yuan area. I wonder if it is the only place that sells it. Probably it is not. There must be other shops/brands. But that is the most famous.

[Meng Lelan]

It is really nice to give a gift of something handcrafted with so much tradition behind the craft especially in this time of iphones computers and so forth.

[abcdefg]

#7 -- I agree. Yunnan is rich in traditional handcrafted goods.

Meng Lelan -- I'm already on my way back to the States or I would offer to bring you some. (Left Kunming a couple days ago and am now in Zhuhai.)

Here's a pretty good article about the process of making the cloth, where the vegetable dyes come from, and so on.

http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2745/traditional_tiedyeing_outside_of_dali

[Meng Lelan]

Re #5, yes it is in the Yu Yuan area. I wonder if it is the only place that sells it. Probably it is not. There must be other shops/brands. But that is the most famous.

I was wondering the same thing, if that is the only place selling it. That shop front looked like that had to be in the Yu Yuan area. Well, that is something to plan for if I ever get back to Shanghai. Also the google searches showed up a small town called Wuzhen that has a good amount of indigo cloth dying going on there.

Meng Lelan -- I'm already on my way back to the States or I would offer to bring you some.

Oh, but you keep coming back and coming back and coming back to China....as soon as you get to Texas I'll hand you a shopping list!