Our Story

TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles

Alleson Kase and Ellen Agger launched TAMMACHAT in 2007. We love textiles and have been involved with threads, craft and empowering women in one way or another for decades.

We want to live in a world where:

• women have choices about and control over their lives within their families and communities;
• people are fairly and adequately paid for their work; and
• everyone uses resources wisely and according to their needs, so that communities and the planet are preserved for future generations.

What TAMMACHAT does

• We import high quality, fairly traded, environmentally friendly, handcrafted textiles from women artisans in Thailand and Laos.
• We educate consumers about the benefits of purchasing fairly traded textiles and about sustainable environmental practices used in the production of this work.

TAMMACHAT is committed to environmental responsibility

We choose our artisan partners carefully. Their commitment to sustainable production methods is important to us. We work only with groups that colour their yarns with environmentally safe natural dye materials.

All of our office paper and most of our posters, handbills, brochures, business cards, hangtags and tent cards are printed on 100% recycled stock. We ship our web orders and wholesale orders in re-purposed packaging, whenever possible. Unusable packaging and twice-used office papers are recycled through the award-winning Nova Scotian Solid Waste Management Program, which has achieved and maintains a goal of 50% waste diversion. At our sales events, we provide handmade mulberry paper for wrapping. We also offer our customers used plastic carrier bags or encourge them to reuse new ones offered.

Telling the story in pictures

The photographs on this website were taken by TAMMACHAT co-founder Ellen Agger during visits to rural Thailand and Laos, copyright Ellen Agger 2013, all rights reserved, unless otherwise credited. For permission to reproduce any of these photos, please contact Ellen.

For more photos, videos and photo books:

• Blog stories and photos
• YouTube slideshows
• TAMMACHAT's 5 books about weavers and the making of silk
• Weaving Sustainable Communities and Social Fabric photo essays

Memberships

• Community Sustainability Network
• Fashion Takes Action
• Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council
• Oikocredit
• TAFA (The Textile and Fiber Art) List
• The Thai Textile Society