Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

A bilum is a string bag made by hand in Papua New Guinea, using a string looping technique. Traditionally, the string used was hand-made, from plant material – the bark of a plant called “lepa”. Now, however, most bilums are made from store bought brightly coloured yarn and many contemporary patterns have become popular, even those generated by computer. Bilums are used to carry a wide range of items, from shopping goods in large bilums to personal items in purse-sized varieties. Mothers often carry their babies in bilums, and the bilum is said to be “womb-like” and associated with security and reassurance for a baby. In the past, bilums were used to carry food home after gardening or hunting. Bilums were also used to decorate an area where a dead person would be laid for viewing. Another really important and significant use of bilums was as contributions to the payment of the bride price. Bilums remain as a prized gift to exchange with friends or visitors. As I have recently retu...

We have just returned from working as volunteers in Mando, a small village in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. This is the third year in a row that we have been to Mando. It is a magical place, about 2000 metres above sea level, so sometimes it seems we are living in the clouds. The people are friendly, open and keen to learn new skills. In the next few blog posts, I hope to share with you stories from Mando, but for the moment, here are some of the beautiful  faces of Mando. A white face is a mysterious to this little one. Moka Moka boys, preparing to welcome an AusAid delegation Year 4 treacher and students Village women learning to crochet. Babysitter Veronica and baby. Waiting to welcome more Rotary volunteers. Mudman from Asaro. Jeremy made a bag - his first attempt at sewing with a machine. Still waiting for the volunteers to arrive. Year 7 girls learning to sew - great tablecloths! This little boy thought Jim was his Australian uncle and then was disappointed...

Why bilums , buttons and broken bones? They were certainly contributors to a very hectic week for me last week. I finally got around to doing the washing from our trip to Papua New Guinea, and the biggest job of all was soaking the many bilums we received and washing and drying them . Bilums are beautiful traditional PNG needle woven /string looped bags used for carrying all sorts of things from babies to kau kau ( sweet potatoes). Thank goodness for modern products like Napisan - it makes the job easier, but not less time consuming. But the result is worth it - I love these bilums . Next, the buttons.... Earlier in the year, I had agreed to running a felted accessories workshop at my friend's studio LamboArt on 27 June. I thought ... no problem ... a week between getting home from PNG and the workshop ... plenty of time to get organised. All the felt project samples were made well in advance, but one of the workshop projects is what I call a felt button brooch - a beaut...