Barkcloth 2013
INTRODUCTION
Barkcloth is a kind of material used for cloth the as well as the most elegant material for producing cloth in the ancient world. At the time before cotton was discovered, bark and fur are the only material for people to produce their cloth. Barkcloth, as the literal meaning, originates from bark. After undergoing several procedures, it will transfer into cloth. The procedure of creating Barkcloth is described in later section.
CONCEPT
For the reason that people in current era put lots of decoration on their body, I choose to design this Barkcloth project as an accessory. The Barkcloth is a traditional craft, while earrings is a sign of modernization. By putting these two factors together, I blend the tradition into fashion. I think this is the best way for me to propagate the importance of traditional craft.
CONTEXT
In the ancient world, hunting was extremely dangerous. Hunters in that time did not have advanced weapons like sword or arrow. The only weapon they have was stick and their naked hand. Consequently, hunting animals for their fur was difficult and only a few people would risk their life for fur to create cloth.
Barkcloth was another solution for ancient people to keep their warm. Barkcloth is made from tree’ bark, which does not require people to fight with wild animals. The only thing ancient people have to do to produce the cloth is to transfer “Barks” into “Cloth”.
RESEARCH
Not every kind of tree can be transferred into barkcloth. The Barkcloth are usually made from Moraceae, Breadfruit, Birch, and Ficus. These four kinds of tree are originated from Eastern Asia, including China, Taiwan, and Thailand. The below description is a brief summary of these trees.
Moraceae
In the early age, Moraceae was usually raised for economic purposes. Barkcloth is not the only thing that Moraceae could transform into. The leave of Moraceae is the main food resource for sheep and cows. The fiber of it is also strong enough to resist the attack from insects. Furthermore, it is the very material that was used in the first paper-production factory in the early age.
Breadfruit
The bark of Breadfruit is soft but durable. Different from Moraceae, Breadfruit would be cut down only after it mature. For the aboriginal in my country, they usually weave the fiber into baskets and create bowls, in a rather raw form.
Birch
Birch has a high tolerant rate of humid. While Birch is light, it is strong enough that ancient people would like to use Birch-made cookers to fill their meal. Also, Birch has a great population in our country, which makes it the most popular material for making barkcloth.
Ficus
Ficus is also a popular material for those how to create wooden decoration. However, one of our aboriginal tribe—Beinan—utilize Ficus as traps to capture animals.
DESIGN
Sketch
Element
1. In order to match the style of nature, barkcloth required the producer to add dry flower into the cloth to compensate the steadiness of cloth. Initially, the barks are hard to fit with each other. After using white glue to stick them together and keep slamming those bark, the barkcloth is complete. Owing to the texture and the smell of the dry flower inside, the barkcloth would radiate fragrance of rose and lavender spontaneously.
2. Sewing those pattern on the barkcloth using middle and linen thread. If the width of the linen thread is too wide, it will break the barkcloth. Also, if the I did not use the optimal sewing space, the product of this barkcloth earring might be fragile.
3.After completing the barkcloth,
I combine it with linen and cotton.
4.Combine the metal frame, barkcloth and bead together.
5.Color the product using Acrylic paint then finalize whole product by processed the barkcloth like an origami, and combine everything using iron wire.
Final Product
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |
Package Design
