DETAILS:

The Surya lumbar pillow is a one-of-a-kind pillow celebrating the Hindu sun goddess, Surya, hand embroidered by women in India. The embroidered detail and the beautiful thread color combinations will bring delight to all who see this pillow. The turquoise and gold side borders are backstrap woven fabric made by a Thai weaving group from Vietnam. This accent pillow will bring the sun’s warmth in any room where it is placed.

• 15” x 22”

• Front—cotton

• Back—linen, in beige

• Zipper closure

• Down feather insert

• Fabric origins: India, Vietnam

THE STORY:

The Surya lumbar throw pillow is a one-of-a-kind home accent piece celebrating the Hindu sun goddess Surya. The beautiful and detailed suns are embroidered entirely by had by the ladies at St. Mary's Mahila Shikshan Kendra, located in Ahmedabad, India. St. Mary’s has a very special placed in my heart. It was started in an impoverished part of Ahmedabad by a handful of Dominican nuns from Spain in 1970 with a mission to help the socially marginalized women in the area. They have a birthing hospital, training center, and embroidery workshop, all of which provides over 300 women a source of income. The women work in their homes while caring for their extended families. They are Hindu, Christian and Muslim women, all working together in peace. I have been working with St. Mary’s since 2001. They have been a long time partner of fair trade nonprofit SERRV International. Their embroidery is distinct and expertly done, using the traditional stitches of Gujarat including chain, darning and herringbone stitches. Mirror work, known as shisha—the stitch used to attach the mirror to the fabric—is always incorporated into their embroideries. Many years ago, the mirrors were used to create sparkle as protection from evil spirits and evil eyes but now it is for decoration.

Enhancing the joyful colors of the sun motifs on each side is traditional ethnic fabric woven from hand-spun cotton on a backstrap loom by the Thai Hill Tribe women of Mai Chau in northern Vietnam. During the six visits I have made to Vietnam, not once did I have the opportunity to visit the Hill Tribes in the northern part of Vietnam, but I must admit that the textiles produced by the Hill Tribes are notably some of my favorites.

When visiting Craft Link, a fair trade organization in Hanoi whose mission is to support ethnic minority groups and traditional craft producers to revive and promote traditional culture and skills through handicraft production, I was able to collect many beautiful examples of the textiles made by the Hill Tribe women and products from the Craft Link shop as well.