Skins

Even with all of the attention that Morocco is receiving in the design world, especially with the recent publication of Maryam Montague's fab book, Marrakesh by Design, I never dreamed I'd be fascinated by a tannery located in Fez, Morocco.

Meet the Chouara Tannery, in use since medieval times:

Using the ancient leather tanning techniques, the skins of goats, sheep, and less often cows and camels, are first cleaned and sheered. 

They then receive a soaking in a mixture of acidic pigeon droppings, cow urine and lime, which cleans away the animal fat and remaining hairs, as well as softens the leather and prepares it for dying. (Whew!)

The clean skins then soak in the dried-earth pits holding natural vegetable & colorful dyes. The colors are changed every two weeks. Mint produces green, indigo>  blue and saffron yields yellow.The odors are (obviously) dreadful, but- this works.

 

Poppy flowers were used to create this red dye.

 

After the skins have dried in the sun for days, they are cut into pieces and made into beautiful leather accessories.

For a wonderful review of Marrakesh by Design, 

visit Regina's Fauxology post of June 12, 2012.  

Wouldn't you love to go on Melanie Royals' (Royal Design Studio)  

next Moroccan stencil trip to Peacock Pavilions?

[1,2,3,4,5,6]

Ikat on Walls +

With the increasing Moroccan influence in the design world, we've seen lots of Ikat and Suzani accessories and even painted floors. What we haven't often seen is Ikat on the walls... until now. The latest issue of Veranda offers several charming examples.

The Ikat pattern on the walls here were actually hand-painted by the uber talented artist, Nicola Vigini, to resemble Ikat fabric. What a great idea! For those of us who are not quite that talented, consider stenciling instead. With the added bonus of choosing your own colors, not to mention being able to paint right over it down the road instead of removing the wallpaper (ugh... not a fun experience), the possibilities are endless. Check out these great Ikat/Suzani/Moroccan stencils at Royal Design Studio, Modello Designs, Cutting Edge Stencils and the Etsy shop, Olive Leaf Stencils.

(OK- I love that chandelier!)

For this wall below, here with fabric providing the Ikat design, it could easily be done with a stencil.

Melanie Royals, at Royal Design Studio and Modello Designs, has been doing the Moroccan/Suzani style for more than a few years now and offers some fabulous inspirations at her blog, Design Amour. Here she showcases her stencil line in a tent pavilion entirely covered with the various patterns. 

Melanie has made four trips with students to Peacock Pavilions to hand stencil the floors and ceilings of this amazing inn in Morocco, run by Maryam and Chris. Some of the projects follow...

Design stenciled on canvas which then gets hung on the wall.

What say you? Are you a lover of Moroccan design?

[1-3,4-6]