Fanø costume and parallels to Shonai traditional costume

The unique style of women's headscarf (Fanø tørklæder) and face mask worn as part of Fanø's traditional costume was very interesting, as it is so similar to Shonai traditional work wear, although not related in any obvious way. The statue above is at the ferry terminal in Esbjerg. The two places have similar weather problems for anyone engaged in farm work outdoors, particularly the wind blowing in off the sea. Women didn't want to get suntanned and weather-beaten, so in both places they wore face masks to protect their skin (hanko-tanna in Shonai - click here for a Google translated blog link with a picture) and different kinds of head-coverings. Another feature of the costume on Fanø is a strap tied around at hip level, so the skirt and apron can be tucked up for work, functioning very much like the ohashori horizontal fold on kimono.

Your can see some photos of the Fanø costume at the museum's website. There are many more on display at the museum itself, which we visited on Saturday afternoon (it isn't open on Sunday)

The scarves weren't made on the island but were brought back by men for the women in their families. I think the modern cotton ones on sale at the museum may be made in Bangladesh? (I'll check that). Cotton were used for everyday and silk for best. The large scarves worn the traditional way by adult women are 110cm square and are worn as matching pairs. The pink edged ones in the photo are silk, but I can't remember which of the others are silk and which are cotton.


The face protector mask - this one looks like it is partly lined with a recycled scarf -


If you want to know how to tie it, here is a step by step process, as shown by the quilters -


The cap makes the shape of the finished scarf -











There are two different styles for the centre back pleats -









Women would recognise one another by the slightly different ways their scarves were tied! The lower half of the face protector should cover the chin, so this old one is a bit small.


Elsebet, one of the quilt group, later showed me a traditional dress she was making for herself and another for her granddaughter. The petticoat has to be set into pleats, so the skirt is tied in a pleated bundle. The pleats would have been set by the heat from the stove over about a week, but she mentioned that nowadays the easiest method is to use the underfloor heating in the bathroom!

Around Fanø and the knitting festival

There was a knitting festival on the island this weekend, which had well over a thousand visitors. Apparently it is a popular place for festivals - there have been quilt festivals there and already Bente is planning a possible "Fanø Blue and White" textile festival perhaps for 2012... it is all in the very early stages (we had the idea on Saturday night!) It would be the perfect place for it.

The knitting festival included several exhibitions at places like the local library in Nordby and on the south of the island at Sønderho, the old school and other buildings had been turned into trader's halls.

It was interesting to see how Danish knitting trends compare with the UK. The emphasis is on natural fibres and finer yarns, rather than the thick yarns and novelty fibre effects (fluffy, stringy or ribbon-like yarns knitted on big needles) that have been popular here for the last few years. There was a lot of hand dyed, space dyed and natural colour effects. There was plenty of sock knitting (we have that here too), mostly with German yarns. Popular styles included big, colourful shawls, but also smaller accessories with an emphasis on keeping warm stylishly. The higher VAT rate makes Danish shopping a bit more expensive than in the UK, but I bought a few sock yarns in unusual colours.

The large craft shop near Nordby, Kunstladen (Art Barn), on Sunday morning. People can fly the Danish flag during the daytime, and there are lots of them out. As it is almost the reverse of the St George's flag, the two might work together for an easy quilt in red and white prints.

Sønderho has beautiful old houses, which retain their traditional exteriors, and many are thatched. While it looks idyllic, Bente told me that the weather can be very wild and cold in the winter, and parts of the island have been flooded by the North Sea several times. A lot of the houses have square-on-point windows in their front doors - you can just about see this in the first photo below.

There is a tile museum there - in a pub! We had a delicious meal there on Saturday night. Bente and tiles -
Elsbet and me -
More tiles - although this pattern is very plain, it would make a good quilt block.


The islands men were traditionally sailors and merchant seamen and the tiles were brought back from the Netherlands as ballast in the ships, so there are a lot of them in the older houses, some designs rarer than others.

Geologically, Fanø is a huge sandbank, and the sea currents continue to pile up sand on its western shore, so the island keeps growing westwards! It is possible to drive on compacted sand between the dunes, to travel from one end of the island to the other. Just inland, there are dozens of newer summerhouses, and the islands population can increase x 10 during the summer months.


The centre of Nordby, where the ferry docks, also has a lot of interesting old houses and other buildings. The houses are long and low, aligned so the strong winter winds don't blow through them. This is the B & B where I stayed -

The house next door -

Karen, one of the quilters, lives in the house in the middle of the photo below with the pink gable end and her husband's pottery gallery is the smaller building in front. This is the centre of town, from the steps of the museum.

I had lunch with her when I arrived on Friday and got to see the inside of a traditional Fanø house, with antique tiles in the kitchen -

Karen's sewing room also had beautiful antique furniture. Like old Swedish furniture, the local taste seems to have been for painted furniture, including that special Scandinavian blue. Her home felt like a real artists' house (the pottery studio is straight through the kitchen door).

The camera's flash bounced off the back of the bicycles in the hall - it seems everyone cycles on the island, as it is so flat and it is obviously a great way to get around.

One of her husband's ceramic innovations is a kind of heat raditator distributor to go on top of a woodburning stove, giving out extra warmth - and looking very sculptural too!

Finally, delicious Danish food - our lunches at the sashiko workshop -

- and yesterday's lunch at the knitting festival - all very tasty and a visual feast too!

Sashiko on Fanø, Denmark

On Friday, I flew from Manchester to Billund, Denmark, and crossed over to the island of Fanø on the passenger ferry from Esbjerg -

to Fanø -
Bente Eiler, the Danish quilt guild's International Rep, invited me to give a sashiko talk and workshop on the island (there is also going to be a Danish translation of my "Plum and Moon" and "Tai" bags in their guild magazine soon).

As my check-in baggage was full of sashiko old and new, and workshop materials, I packed all my personal stuff in my backpack from "FabulousFat Quarter Bags" and it had its toughest "road test" yet. I also used the little ticket pocket for my boarding pass and passport, which kept it handy. When I designed the ticket pocket, I thought that making it free from any metal parts would mean I could wear it through airline X-ray security - after all, it is a pocket! - but I still had to put it in the tray with my other stuff. The other bag in the photo is the satchel from "21 Terrific Patchwork Bags", which I took as my handbag. When I boarded the plane at Manchester, a tiny Dornier 328 - 100 (twin propellers!), my backpack went in with the valet luggage and was fine.

The workshop and talk were in the sewing room at the local school, so we had plenty of space to spread out. The quilters have promised me photos of their finished furoshiki and other stitching, so I'm looking forward to seeing those soon!

They are already keen on sashiko. Here are some coasters from patterns in my "Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook" made by Karen.

I took so many photos, I'll have to make several blog posts to do them justice! Fanø is a unique place with a fascinating history, which continues to influence island life - I'll make separate posts on the architecture, the island and their traditional costumes in the next few days. It is a place which as attracted artists and craftspeople and today has many galleries and craft shops among the old houses.