River Valley Bali Shop

Bamboo Basket with beads and shell

2010-03-16T20:57:00.000+08:00

These days we have been kept busy by working on some bamboo basket with a bit of beads and sea shell. We create the products for a client in the Netherlands, Moga Moga. Everyone has been so excited to work on the new design baskets where we all hope that they are going to get some good market as it would help the local basket weaver to keep having the work. It is completely different than our beaded baskets but it is wonderful to keep our beaders busy with some works during this slow time for our beaded baskets.

The bamboo baskets are woven at a small village around the region of Bangli by mostly women and it has been the side job for the local people for generation. The bamboo itself are nicely growing in this region with its tropical climate. We love to share with everyone of what we have been working on the last few weeks

Beaded Bags

2006-05-27T21:53:00.000+08:00

Here are some of our exclusive beaded hand bags.

Our Exclusive Beaded Sandals

2006-05-26T22:39:00.000+08:00

Our Beautiful leather sandals are hand beaded with glass beads and sea shell which create such a special touch into the designs. It is definitely great quality of workmanship. We proud to offer our various designs and colors that fit into your special taste.

Travel About Bali Tours

2005-12-18T11:32:00.000+08:00

Travel About Bali tours give you the chance to discover yourself and the natural wonders of Bali.
We take you into local villages to see real day to day Balinese life and show you places that are off the usual tourist trail.

At Travel About Bali we can custom tours to suit your time constraints and fitness level. Cycling, walking or comfortable transport in our air conditioned four wheel drive vehicles.

Tours may be booked on line at our web site www.travelaboutbali.com or book and pay at our new River Valley shop in Monkey Forrest road Ubud. Phone : (0361) 7474142

River Valley Products

2005-12-13T18:30:00.000+08:00

Beaded Singlets

Our singlets are made locally in Seminyak of high quality pure cotton fabric; they are available in three sizes small, medium and large. Our singlets are all hand beaded by the ladies from Taman village, we have a variety of colours and beading designs available. As the singlets are made locally we can also make to your specific design and size should the standard sizes not be suitable.

Ribbon Singlets

These soft, lightweight V neck singlets are so comfortable yet so stylish, they feature exquisite ribbon embroidery and are locally sewn in Ubud. Sizes small, medium and large are available with a good choice of colour options.

Handbags

We have an extensive range of handbags made in many designs and materials. Some of our handbags are made from local Balinese leather while others are made from imitation leather and cloth fabric. Two of our evening purses feature traditional Ikat weaving, while other designs include beading and embroidery work. If you are looking for a specific design of handbag we will be happy to arrange a quotation for you to have the bag made by our local leather craftsman.

Belts

Local Balinese leather and imported leather is used for our belts depending on the design. Hand woven plated leather belts for both men and women, also designs featuring studs and decorative buckles. A wide choice of colours and designs to suit all age groups are available for you to select from.
Pashmina’s

Pashmina’s are the ideal gift for you to take back home, they are light weight, available in a range of colours to suit all tastes and most importantly are very useful. To compliment our range of Pashmina’s we have designed and had made locally silver Pashmina clips. Pashmina clips do not pull threads in the finely woven fabric as do brooches; the clips hold your Pashminas, scarves and wraps in place in place and allow you to drape the fabric in a variety of designs.

Winter weight wraps

Our winter weight wraps are once again an ideal gift for you to take home to family and friends. The wraps are made from light weight acrylic knit and give maximum warmth with minimum weight. The wraps are made in Seminyak and come in a vast choice of colours.

Skirts and Tops

We have selected a very simple design for these very versatile two piece outfits; they are available in small, medium or large and as our tailor is local can also be custom designed to your size requirements. They are lightweight and ideal for warm days or evenings, the outfits can be interchangeable with a combination of black and white tops and skirts. The design is very classic and will not date, the cut is elegant and price very affordable.

Satin bound T shirts

Satin bound T shirts are made from high quality cotton and feature satin binding on the neckline and sleeve. The sleeves are slightly longer than a cap sleeve and the cut is to western sizing. They are ideal to wear with your casual outfits or look great under suit jackets or with jeans in the evening.

Mens wear

We have a range of men’s shirts and casual tops available are sizes small, medium, large and extra large. Cool cottons or warm acrylics also men’s belts and slippers. Belts and clothing for men can also be made to order from your own design.

Jewelry

We select Jewelry for our shop when and where ever we find unique and very different designs. Our range of jewelry features shells, beads, metal, silver and Egyptian crystal.

Pashmina

2005-12-09T08:04:00.000+08:00

Pashmina Story

Made from the fur of pashmina, a mountain goat that scales the snow-capped mountains of Nepal, India and Tibet, these shawls for centuries have been cherished as an investment, tradition, and even art form in South Asia.
The true pashmina is made of wool from the neck and underbelly of the capra hircus, a goat that thrives only in arid Himalayan plateaus at 12,000 to 14,000 feet. The high altitude, combined with the goat's Spartan diet and special genetic makeup, enable it to grow a coat of wool among the finest and warmest on earth.
Americans are only just starting to get hooked - but they're catching the craze fast. In December, Vogue magazine deemed the pashmina shawl "fashion's cult accessory of the moment."
For centuries, silk has often been woven with pashmina to give shawls a harder finish, strength and greater body. With the advent of the 1990s silk/pashmina shawl, however, new treatment processes have been added to obtain the objectives of extraordinary softness and fluffiness. These are achieved largely by brushing the freshly loomed shawls both before and after dyeing. The result is a luxurious and light feeling fabric, which still manages to achieve the ancient pashmina standard of providing amazing warmth to its wearer.
Pashmina and Silk/Pashmina shawls are hand woven by men as only they have the strength to throw the shuttle back and forth continuously. Prior to weaving, the pashmina wool is carded and spun by women. As the entire process is almost entirely done by hand, there are small flaws and slubs that make their way into virtually every shawl. This is normal and should be seen as a sign that the fabric has been hand loomed. Dyeing is also done by hand. The undyed shawls are stirred, again by men, into large pots of simmering dye liquid. Periodically they are lifted out to be inspected. When the desired color is achieved, the shawls are rinsed, dried and treated. Because the entire dyeing process is, again, done by hand, some slight striations can be expected. Finishes can also differ because dyes have different effects on the /Silk/Pashmina fabric. This explains why some light colored shawls feel softer than other dark colored ones. If they are from the same weaver, the only difference is from the effects of the dye.
Pashmina shawls can be delicately hand-washed in cold water with a light detergent such as Woolite. They should be rolled in towels to remove excess water and laid to dry. To remove wrinkles, pashmina shawls should be either steam pressed or lightly ironed under a pressing cloth. Silk/Pashmina shawls should be dry-cleaned. Although the contents are natural products, the silk and raised pap of the fabric cause Silk/Pashmina shawls to wrinkle more easily. Because home pressing can flatten the nap, it is best to have Silk/Pashmina professionally dry cleaned.

River Valley Shop, Ubud - Bali

2005-12-03T10:21:00.000+08:00

River Valley is named after the many stunning river valleys in Ubud and surrounding villages that give this area such a unique and tranquil feel.

River Valley is a new shop soon to open in Ubud, our shop will be a Bali based booking office for Travel About Bali tours and also sell high quality men’s and ladies clothing and accessories.

Our new store is a joint venture between Wayan Sueta from Taman Village,west of Ubud and Julie and Mark Church from Perth in Western Australia. The three of us have been working together since 2003 with Travel About Bali tours and now have expanded our business to include a retail outlet.

Bali did an amazing job of recovering from the October 2002 bombings, tourism slumped following this terrible tragedy and many families who replied on tourists for their income suffered very hard times. By September 2005 the tourists were back in force and inbound numbers were at their highest peak ever. These good times were not destined to continue; on the 1st of October 2005 another series of tragic bombings rocked the island. Once again sadness descended over Bali .We mourned for the families who had lost their loved ones and also mourned for our lively hoods that once again were taken away from us. To add to the blow on the same day as the bombings the fuel subsidies were abolished and the price of fuel doubled overnight.

We know it will be sometime before tourism is back to its peak and many local people will find it difficult to look after their families until then .Rather than let these new challenges defeat us we decided to increase rather than downsize our investment in Bali.

After much discussion and research the decision was made to open a shop in Ubud and use as much local labour and craftsmen as possible to make stock for the shop. All of our furniture was made in Taman village by Wayan’s uncle and Gusti using timber from the area. Our clothing is made by a tailor in Ubud and our T shirts made locally in Seminyak. The beading for our T shirts is done by the ladies from Taman village from beads purchased locally in Denpasar and Ubud. The woolen shawls, pashmina clips and some jewelry is also made in Bali as are our environmentally friendly paper bags to take home your purchases in.

Were possible we use local Balinese leather and labour to make our belts and handbags, other items in the range are brought in from Java and Jakarta.
Our shop is staffed by two ladies from Ubud and the building leased from a Balinese businessman based in Ubud. We offer wall space to local artists to display their work on a commission basis and will also hire out mountain bikes from the shop for people to enjoy to beauty of Ubud at their own pace.

With tourist numbers down so low ourselves and many others like us can not rely entirely on our specialized tours for income. By opening our shop we hope the whole community will benefit. We have carefully selected clothing and shoes to accommodate western sizing with small, medium and large available for both men and women. As Ayu our tailor lives in Ubud clothes can be altered or made to order should you require a non standard size. In the future we will also offer an on line ordering service so as you can make your selection from our range and we will send the items to you. River Valley is an exciting new venture for us and we welcome you to visit us at our shop.

The shop is located in the centre of Monkey Forrest road opposite Ulluwattu lace. Come in and see us soon.