Not only is Thai Binh a land of rice paddies but it is also well known for its many traditional craft villages. Let’s pay a visit to some of these villages, where our ancestors have left many great traditional values. Phuong La textile village Also known as Meo Village, this is the only textile village among the 5 villages of Thai Phuong Commune, Hung Ha District. Phuong La people now weave silk, tussah, satin with treadle and motor-driven weaving machines rather than manual looms, making tens of meters of silk a day. It has become one of the billionaire village of […]
Pieced wood
Pieced wood is made mainly of wood from planted forest. Wood strips are processed with advanced technology and machines. Wood is sawn, shaved, milled, joined, pressed, rubbed and finally coated. Pieced panels are used widely in carpentry, interior decoration, flooring manufacture and many other furniture products. There are 4 ways to assemble wood strips: parallel, surface, side and corner. Parallel laminated wood consists of wood strips that are of the same length, while their width can be different. For surface laminated wood, short strips are connected by teeth shaped at their ends to make equally long strips, which are then joined […]
Hinoki wood – Japanese spirit
Japanese traditional wood There are documents indicating that Hinoki wood has been used, along with other types of wood, since the Joumon period and became popular in the Yayoi period. Being nice, durable and easy to work with, Hinoki wood has been widely used in architecture, furniture, Buddhist statues, round objects, etc. One of the most celebrated Hinoki wooden structures is the Horyuji Temple in Nara, built more than 1300 years ago, which has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To name a popular round object of the Japanese, it probably is Wappa, a round lunch box made […]
What’s nonwoven fabric?
Nonwoven fabric is a new fabric-like material that is quite popular. The name comes to be as it is neither knitted or woven, unlike other ordinary fabrics.Nonwoven fabric are composed of synthetic resin particles and some recycled components depending on the purpose. The particles are stretched into long fibers, which are then bonded together using chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment to create light and porous sheets. This method allows using materials of different kinds and sizes. Nonwoven fabrics have many useful features. They are absorbent, soft and smooth, airy, elastic, durable and hypoallergenic. In natural environment, they decompose fast so they are eco-friendly. […]
Vietnamese Rattan and Bamboo woven wares
Materials Main materials for this handicraft of Vietnam include rattan and bamboo species (tre, giang, nua, lo o), hence the name. They all have natural origin, thus are environmentally friendly and safe for users. Nowadays, the sources of material for rattan and bamboo woven wares are mostly distributed in the northern mountainous area such as Hoa Binh, Son La, and Dien Bien. The advantage of being ‘available in nature’ is now becoming rather a disadvantage, as one of the difficulties that craft villages face is the dependence on material sources, which can be unstable. The woven products sell well, but the […]
Hinoki Wood
Japan’s Hinoki wood not only looks nice and lasts for a long time but also has a lot of characteristics that are beneficial for our health. Thus, Hinoki wood is much favored by the Japanese from generations to generations. All the way back to ancient times, Japanese royal families were favoring Hinoki in furnishing the palaces, temples and monuments, for its captivating beauty made the capital city more magnificent. Some of famous historical sites that has buildings or parts of them made of Hinoki wood include Horyuji Temple in Nara, Okuya Mansion and Okuya Kyudokan in Nagano, and Osaka Castle […]
