Textile Techniques - Handmade textiles from around the World

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Hello and welcome to our Home Page.

We are Diane and Jim Gaffney and together we run Textile Techniques.  We have been in business since 1984 buying, selling and putting on exhibitions  of hand made textiles from across Asia. We have built up our family business at the same time as many of our suppliers - several of whom have become good friends over the years. Our sons, Seamus and Sean have grown up in the business and still occasionally help out on buying or selling trips.

In 1997, we moved here to Bishop's Castle in beautiful south Shropshire and opened our shop Textile Traders - which is open from 10am to 5pm from Monday to Saturday.

Fair Trade has always been an important part of our business and we do our best to keep things fair by buying directly from the maker wherever possible. That way we know everyone is happy with the deal, and the money is going to those who continue to make high quality textiles in the teeth of considerable economic pressures.

Asian Textile Journey Jim and Diane often write a blog based on the textiles they collect on their travels from Central Asia and China to South East Asia. You can read more on their blog - it's all at... asiatextilejourney.wordpress.com

Some of the things you may find in our shop and on our website include: silks, brocade and ikat weavings from Laos, Thailand and Indonesia, batik fabrics from Java, China and Thailand, kilims, carpets and flat weaves from Turkey and Central Asia, tribal costume and textiles from the minority hill tribe people of south west China and the Golden Triangle. We also sell batik making equipment from Indonesia and wooden printing blocks from India. Going to see the people who supply us with textiles and tools is the best part of our job and we visit at least once a year. 

We also give talks about the talented and dedicated people who make our textiles and the many different techniques they use. We are happy to visit any group in the UK (and beyond) with an interest in the places and people we visit and the wonderful textiles they make. Have a look at our Talks Page.

If you can get to our shop, then we'd love to see you. If not, then many of our special one off items are available by mail and can be ordered online. Take a look at the Special Items page - many of the things there are unique, and all of them have been personally chosen by us!

I hope you enjoy our website.  Oh, and if you would like to receive an emailed update every 6 weeks or so, then do subscribe to our newsletter.