The use of hemp fiber spans millennia and has been embraced by many cultures across the world. One of its first recorded uses dates back to the Neolithic Age in China. The fiber was also used to make skirts in nineteenth century Japanese Samurai outfits (an example of which is on display now at the LACMA), and it continues to be produced and woven as traditional craft by women of the Hmong ethnic group in Asia. Traders and explorers took the hemp plant to the Middle East, Africa, and subsequently Europe, where hemp was cultivated as far back as the Iron Age. Its cultivation was then spread across the New World by explorers on ships equipped with hemp-made ropes. Indeed, hemp fiber has been used in ample and diverse ways over the past 12,000 years. It is no wonder many believe its positive impact on the environment can transform the fashion industry. And it already is doing just that. Hemp fiber, which is extracted from outside of the plant’s stalk (known as the bast), can vary in color: from white, brown, to grey, black, and even green. The hemp plant has multiple uses. While the fiber is used to make cloth, paper, and rope, its fruit (or “seeds”) is consumed for its high protein value, and also refined to make hemp oil. Advanced technology has allowed for the industrial production of highly sophisticated hemp blend fabrics, revolutionizing the possible uses of hemp. From summer to winter, day to night, hemp blend fabrics are ideal for any and all occasions. Materials in this article
Handwoven Wild Hemp, Handspun
$ 30.00 / Yards
<p>From Nepal</p>