Handmade Love : Ergani

Handmade Love : Ergani ! A beloved friend, mother of 5, who adores weaving and everything handmade!

Handmade is a passion! Is a huge love! Is a way to express your feelings! Is the way to relax… at least my way! Every creator even for the smallest creation, uses all of his love for making it. And when the creation is finished, then always there is this amazing smile on hir face! One of my favorite creator is a lady who lives in  one of my favorite Greek islands, has an amazing family full of crafters, has amazing imagination ,  adores weaving and felting (among others of course) and adores fairytales…. yes, you guess correct… this is a dream comes true! Her creations? simply transfers you to an imaginary world full of heroes and mermaids and fairies and… pillows and bags and soft toys and many more, for young and oldest kids… including myself of course (I already own two small soft toys, the princess and the frog!). Please allow me to introduce you Helen from Ergani Weaving Workshop!

**********************************

Since I was a little girl I occupied myself with many things: a lot of knitting, a bit of embroidery, sewing and other hand crafts. I was surrounded by buttons, yarn, fabrics and threads.  During my studies in the University of Athens (School of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology), among the other seminars I participated, I discovered weaving and instantly I knew that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. And so the journey began. I was very lucky because I had the chance to be tutored by two amazing teachers, Eri Avgoustidou and Sofia Tsourinaki, and from them I received a lot of knowledge and encouragement to make the big step. So, when my husband Vangelis and I returned to Poros and decided to live here, we bought, with the support from our families, our first loom and opened the workshop ERGANI.

It has been 20 years since then, our 5 children were born and grew up, we own now two big looms and several small ones, spinning, felting, crochet and embroidery added to our repertoire, very interesting collaborations were born, we moved to bigger space, plenty new patterns and products are made and the journey is continuing …

We have chosen the name ERGANI  from goddess Athena’s nickname, who taught weaving to people. I have always been fascinated by the idea that weaving was one of the first things the man discovered in order to cover basic needs and the way that we weave nowadays hasn’t changed , despite the progress of technology.

Weaving is an art that connects us to the past.  So, for our creations, we are inspired by the rich Greek tradition and other countries’ traditions, from nature, as we’re living in a place next to the sea with a lot of trees and by  modern aesthetics.  But the main sources of inspiration are children, which teach us to be brave with colors and designs, drawn from their own imagination.

It is really important for me to know that I can make by my hands everything that I will  use in my daily life. My clothes and the accessories that I wear, rugs and other stuff in our house, personalized gifts for friends, everything has our own signature and is reflecting  the attention, the effort, and the love  with which they were made. That’s why we are more than happy to make something special and unique custom ordered. The whole creative process, from concept, design, manufacture or selection of yarn, weaving and sewing, offers great satisfaction and motivation to continue.

********************

I have met Helen a few years ago in a weaving workshop and I was really impressed by her kidness and her peacefullness! And then I saw her creations, most of them with felt and weaving, and I loved them. Every time I see my two soft toys, I feel like travelling in the fairytale… because fairytales are still exist! If you are lucky to live in Poros island or to visit it, just do not forget to visit also her shop. You will be impressed from the colors and the creations and the little houses and… you will see!

site: Ergani

etsy shop: Ergani

facebook : Ergani Weaving Workshop

Helen, it was really a pleasure having you in my little blog! I am honored!

mats mouts