wad to window…

The story behind a specially commissioned set of handwoven

curtains - crafted from plant dyed hand spun Siroua wool.

join us as we tell the story of the creation of the cloth for the project - we visit the Wad (River) in the High Atlas, where the wool is washed and hand spun by local Amazigh women, meet the dyer who uses his skills to create subtle shades using this ancient dye, the weaver of the cloth and finally the making up of the curtains for our discerning client.

Our client wanted us to create a special pair of bespoke curtains for her beautiful home here in the Essaouira countryside. She selected a simple plain weave design of two shades of henna dyed wool.

The Wool
The wool is sourced from the Siroua region in the south of Morocco. There is a lustre to this wool that comes from the long staple, which when hand spun into yarn develops a character that sets it apart from the ‘usine’ factory spun wool used by so many local weavers. Siroua sheep are a rare breed who have only recently been officially recognised and remain at risk of extinction - another valid reason to bring this fibre to the attention of the world! We love the silky quality of this wool and the way it takes the natural dyes so beautifully.

Siroua sheep at shearing time (photo Atelier Talasin)

We buy the hand spun wool directly from a women’s co-operative in the High Atlas. We visited them earlier this year and enjoyed spending time with them, learning how to wash the wool in the river, enjoying their warm hospitality and having a go at drop spinning too. It really made us appreciate the amount of skill handed down through the generations to produce this beautiful wool that we are privileged to be able to work with.

The wool is washed by hand in the running water of the river, The wool is beaten with a wooden stick on a rock, the natural lanolin in the fleece acts as a soap and cleans away impurities. The wool is then rinsed and laid to dry on the rocks in the sunshine.

The hillside village where the women spin the wool (local sheep, not Siroua, on their way up the hill)

After washing , the wool is carefully carded and hand spun into yarn which is then made into skeins ready for us to dye.

generations of skills are handed down to produce the wool for us to work with (photo Atelier Talasin)

fibre to skein.. with the touch of the hand

Next … mordanting and dyeing the yarn