Lao Textile Museum

Laos is known for its beautiful textiles. There is a long tradition of weaving in many of Laos' ethnic groups. Most of the ethnic groups have their own style of loom, design, and prefer either silk or cotton. A few weeks ago I finally had time to go to the Lao Textile Museum outside of Vientiane. I have been meaning to go for months, the museum is in an old Lao style wooden house with a pitcuresque garden and pond.

The Museum is much more than just a few textiles and looms on display. The museum is a haven for Laos' traditional arts. The school teaches traditional music and dance, textile making and dyeing, and cooking classes.

As many of you know I'm not musically inclined so I decided to stick with textile dyeing for my first trip to the museum.

These are plants used in natural dyes. The red colored seed pod created the dye I used.

This is my friend's daughter dyeing her scarf in the indigo 'cold' dye

This is my scarf in the red 'hot' dye
The finished products, mine is the bright red one on the left