Knotting Joy: The Olive Tree's 2019 Christmas Collection

This Christmas, we collaborated with the talented artisans from Nysakapas and sew X dignity to make our versatile and reusable furoshiki gift wrap and travel pouches.

We were simply mesmerised by how Nysakapas artisans breathe new life to the traditional art of batik block printing ("batik terap") by infusing contemporary designs.

Originally from the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur, Nysa was intrigued by batik when she first moved to the village of Kg Serada, Terengganu where it was widely worn by the villagers. It sparked her relentless pursuit to learn in depth about traditional batik block printing.

The design of the brass mould is our olive leaves inspired design which was sketched by hand by Nysa, exclusively for us at The Olive Tree. The design is then briefed to the brass mould craftsman. We learnt that it is through years of experience and determination of this highly skilled and specialised craft which enables this elderly craftsman to create a mould that still retains its unique hand sketch design. 

After the brass mould is ready, the artisans will then heat up the wax and once it reaches the optimal level, they will then dip the brass mould into the hot wax and apply it onto the cotton fabric. Lots of patience and focus is required to ensure that the amount of hot wax on the mould is precise to avoid blotches. Applying just the right amount of wax onto the cotton is an art in itself. 

Nysa's batik terap is a labour intensive and time consuming work of art which beautifully combines the elements of nature (i.e. wind, sun and rain) to create exquisite and unique batik.

After receiving the batik fabric from Nysa, we then sent the finished fabric to sew X dignity where we enlisted their help to turn the lovely batik fabric into reusable furoshiki wraps and travel pouches.

At sew X dignity, underprivileged refugee youths are taught the fundamentals of sewing, designing and entrepreneurial skills which will be very handy for them in future to achieve financial independence.

We worked with them because equipping the youths with essential trade skills and entrepreneur skills is something that resonated with us and we ensured that they were fairly paid for their fine workmanship.

Each piece of batik furoshiki and travel pouch seamlessly embodies the labour of love by the artisans from both Nysakapas and sew X dignity.

This Christmas, most of our gift sets include the versatile and reusable batik furoshiki in an assortment of colours.

With just one piece of batik furoshiki, you can use it for so many occasions.

Here are 5 ways to use the batik furoshiki:-

1. Gift wrapping.
2. As a scaft, bandana, handkerchief or belt.
3. As a household decor (e.g. table napkin).
4. Wrapping clothes when travelling.
5. As a shopping bag.

The video below shows you how to gift wrap a present into a shape of a bag.

We truly hope you will love our Christmas Collection as much as we do.