Accompanied EH to Oʻahu for 24 hours and was able to visit my favorite muʻumuʻu place DeStash Hawaii. Aunty Lei had some beautiful pāpale in stock.
I always learn so much while browsing at DeStash Hawaii. Her friends stop by and hang out and the conversations are truly educational. One learns things like Hilo Hattie of Hilo Hatties was an entertainer before/besides being a clothing designer. [Update: I'm right now watching a 1980 PBS tribute to Hilo Hattie replayed/recorded on our DVR on PBS on Dec. 20 and she was a teacher! She danced hula and performed in a women's group to put herself through college before going full-time entertaining.]
And how one can estimate the time period that a Princess Kaiulani Fashions muʻumuʻu was made based on the type of 100% cotton and fabric covered buttons used.
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There are so many muʻu I see there and wish was my size! Then there are ones that mostly fit and could work with some alteration. This circa 1980s blue paisley PK Fashions being one. Aunty Lei's friend, whose name I now can't recall but she's a Polynesian Craft Supply-master lei maker-seamstress-wealth of textile knowledge-renaissance woman, gave me a brief lesson in how to make the necessary alteration with an armpit gusset to make this lovely muʻu work for me. And most importantly, where to source the matching fabric! Hint: Pockets are not just convenient, but a welcome necessity! It's now on my to-do list and hopefully will be ready for Muʻumuʻu Month!
Then a morning of mālama pū hala with Lisa at Māʻona Community Garden. She's a little camera shy, but a BEAST when clearing vines!
Then lauhala weaving and hulu ornament making at Kalahuipua‘a, the Eva Parker Woods Cottage.
A while back Bob had gifted me some of his hand twisted olonā cordage. This was a good opportunity to make a hat band. I practiced with cotton string to remember how to tie the knots. It has been several years since I had Marques Hanalei Marzan's cordage workshop, at the last ʻAha Puhala o Puna weaving conference, in Hilo. It took a while, and the pūpū are a little uneven, but it works for my purpose.
As a result of being very much in the moment, enjoying the shared time and space, I didn't take many pictures. Fortunately, we took a group picture. I'm sitting down in front in a vintage red and white Bete Muʻu that I found on Etsy.
I actually haven't been weaving much lately. After being elected to the Executive Board of Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona, I realized it would be my kuleana to set up their website so that next year's conference attendees may register online. So now kaululauhalaokona.org is active. The Registration and Payment pages are still under construction though. It's been quite an educational experience learning to integrate Google Workspace. I've used Google Drive and Docs professionally before, but not as the account administrator. The Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona website has "more moving parts" than lauhalahats.com because of the Registration component and Google Workspace for the Executive Board. Learning new things can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but I do love the feeling of neurons in my brain firing on all cylinders making new synapses. lol
Although this pic is actually from last year, this is my favorite Christmas outfit, pāpale being variable. It's a Bete Muʻu x Reyn Spooner collaboration first mentioned here. It's festive, comfy, and has pockets!
It's amazing that 2023 is quickly coming to a close. Thank you for reading this far, and the kind and encouraging words when we meet IRL. I wish you much Love and Grace in the coming year. Happy Hala-days!