10. By a Thread

The woman sits on the floor of a traditional dying and weaving workshop.  She takes white thread and wraps it around a spinning wheel, which is connected to another spinning wheel.  The thread is then fed onto a large spool in front of her.  I can tell that she has been working hard because she’s already created multiple spools in several colors.  “Did you make those today?” I ask.  She answers with a nod but barely glances up from her work.  She’s so focused, so I stay silent as I watch her and occasionally glance around the room.  The colors and wood tones in the shop are warm and inviting, and I know that the thread she is organizing will soon be put onto a nearby loom and woven into fabric of various patterns, color combinations and sizes.  I’ve seen women selling the finished product in outdoor marketplaces here in Myanmar, and they’ve explained to me how it’s made.  This gives me a new perspective on the first stage of creating the fabric — thread by thread through the hands of a woman like the one sitting in front of me.  I can imagine another woman at the vacant machine to her left and the two of them chatting as they work.  A slight breeze comes in through the windows behind her.  It’s refreshing.  I’m sure it helps to keep the room at a pleasant temperature.  Along with the open doors on the opposite wall, it creates nice circulation.  It’s obviously more comfortable and peaceful to work in this shop than in the heat and congestion of the busy marketplace where a large array of fabrics are sold.  I like the idea of her job — tranquilly sitting here, isolated from the chaos and noise outside.  However, the type of work she does typically goes unnoticed.  The finished garment gets all of the attention, not the people who created or sold the fabric.  Just yesterday, my guide explained how a longyi (sarong) is wrapped around the body and knotted so it stays on all day.  Seeing her makes me think about the amount of work that multiple people did to make that piece of traditional Burmese clothing.  I wonder what the thread she is spinning will be crafted into?