Fishermen Pants

PA - DA Cotton Textile Museum
Mrs. Saeng - da Bansiddhi was born on Tuesday, 14 April, 1919, at Mu 8, Sop Tiea sub - district, Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province. She was the only daughter of Mrs. Kammoon and Mr.Moak. Although she never had any formal schooling, she studied with her uncle until she was able to read and write. In 1938, she married Mr. Malai Bansiddhi, an Army Officer.

Mrs. Saeng - Da spent her childhood days close to her grandmother, Mrs. Liam, who was skilled in the tradition of dyeing and weaving. From her she inherited the traditional art. She also gained some knowledge and experience from the hilltribe peoples who lived in the area. As she grows older, Mrs. Saeng - Da began to weave fabric on handlooms for her own family use. During the World War II period, there was a shortage of textiles so Mrs. Saeng Da wove the khaki textiles needed for her husbands uniforms.

After the war, she began collecting weaving equipment and started growing native cotton plants. She also encouraged local women, formed as the Housewives' Union, to engage in weaving cotton fabrics. In the initial period, their weaving time was limited to the period outside the harvest season. With a firm intention and strong determination she developed her project with the main goals of

1) increasing income and employment opportunities for her neighbors
2) preserving traditional dyeing and weaving techniques and
3) propagating handicraft production.

The native cotton yarn, which is naturally gray in colour, is traditionally product from native cotton plants. The yarn is spunusing simple folk equipment and dyed with vegetable pigments. Only natural products such as tree bark, roots, leaves and berries are used to obtain the dyes. The colours green and yellow are a product of diospyros and alkaline. All designs and colours, developed by Mrs. Saeng - Da herself, are uniquely individual to each piece of fabric and are never repeated. The entire process, from cotton production to dyeing, spinning and weaving, is done by the women at the Centre and only human labor is used. It can thus be said that all the products are genuine hand Emade
Traditional handlooms, wooden frames, steel frame, earthenware pots and stoves for dyeing, spinning wheels and other equipment are all to be found at Ban Rai Pai Ngarm where the production of cotton textile production is begin preserved as a cultural heritage for future generations.

Activities are equally profitable and the current return is satisfying. There are altogether 40 daily - wage weaver at Ban Rai Pai Ngarm, Mrs. Saeng - Da's family compound. Almost all of the weavers are classified as skilled workers capable of working without supervision.
Mrs.Saeng - Da Bansiddhi was a leader in the true sense who sincerely established an organization and worked contentedly at her craft. Her efforts to preserve this traditional work of art are indeed praiseworthy. It is fitting that she is declared a Folkcraft Artist specializing in handicrafts.

We made Six limited edition fisherman's pants
natural dying hand woven cotton  top of the line .