Stitch a Day 2017, Day 20

scraps of cotton, dipped in the indigo vat to overdye and then stitched together in the boro manner 

I've started turning up the bottom hem on the back to letting it catch as I stitch. The back is really, really close to being finished. I can't remember if I've already noted this or not, but the woven stripe, second from the right is from a piece of handwoven cotton I picked up in the water village of Zhujiajiao, about an hour outside Shanghai. The shop is owned by a husband and wife who weave all the cloth and sell it from the shop. While I went to Mandarin school and tried my best to learn the language, I didn't have anywhere near enough to get their story, which I would have loved to learn. I really wanted to know how long they'd been there, where they'd learn to weave. Here's a photo of them measuring the very cloth I used on the back of my jacket. I used the bulk of it to cover an upholstered headboard, but of course saved every scrap. I know wish I'd bought much more, and may try to find someone to go back for me and see if they're still there.

Buying handwoven cotton stripe in Zhujiajiao, China