The 'romantic' city of BRUGGE in Flanders (N. Belgium) is world famous for its handmade lace and embroidery...like the carillous of the Belfry tower, lace is the pride of Flanders. Lace-making started in Brugge in the city's poverty-stricken 17th century when church-sponsored employment projects discovered a market for the highly desired "Binche 5" or "Point de Fee" (Fairy Queen stitch) and the "Point Claire" (clear stitch) of embroidery. In the late 1890's Flemish Sisters brought the art to South India where rural women - orphans and widows - started making lace to be economically independent and pay for their schooling. Today lace work and embroidery provides a training to many women and an income to approximately 3000 women in south India. In Brugge you can still see an actual lace maker, in south India you can meet many lace makers. The skilled artisan sits at a chair and a large pin-cushion, utterly absorbed, her fingers flying like those of an enraptured pianist, the wooden spools clicking and clacking, the lace taking form before your eyes, a virtual miracle of complex art. The product is a fabulous art work often framed or placed on a table, for elaborated lace tablecloth sets, handkerchiefs, etc. Such lace is a jewelry to be found in castles and palaces, and to be admired and appreciated in your home! RETURN TO TOP MATERIAL CARE ABOUT THE TEXTILES AND CARDS The following information provided by Oasis Benevolent Foundation. "Oasis Benevolent Foundation (OBF) is a Company that has been established to provide employment opportunities to marginalized people of Mumbai   [Bombay, India]   by setting up a manufacturing unit for Hi-fashion clothing, Handicraft, Greeting Cards, and products made out of Papier-mache. The Company is operating as an income generating unit and is marketing products to an overseas as well as domestic market. Our Aim is to provide secure jobs, good working conditions and decent wages, actively supporting the principles of Fair Trade. 85% of our products, over the last five years, were exported to the UK, where we are listed in the suppliers directory of The British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) and incorporated into 'Labor behind the Label Network.' "OBF recruits trained youth from the Oasis India Training Centre who are then employed full time in the manufacturing unit. Besides learning the various trades all OBF employees also benefit from the literacy and life skill programmes, bringing about a holistic change in lifestyle. "Jacobs Well and the Paperworks products are carefully produced using traditional design elements and a variety of Indian Fabrics. We use environmentally sustainable and people centered techniques. People buy these products because of their quality and originality, whilst also wanting to support the work financially. "Jacobs Well is more than just a unit manufacturing clothes and assessories. Set up in 1994, it offers training for women escaping domestic violence, prostitution, poverty ot the lack of formal education. Jacobs Well trains its workers in tailoring and design. On completion of their training the workers can choose to work at home or have an option of a job with OBF. We also resource a workshop at the Oasis Training Centre, where graduates from the courses run their own businesses. "The Paperworks...We offer secure jobs and training to young men from the poorest of backgrounds...They are trained in the production of papier-mache goods as well as screen-printing cards onto hand-made paper." Oasis Benevolent Foundation = Opportunity Hope Dignity   MATERIAL CARE Oasis items, especially cotton items, and prints, especially hand-block prints, should be washed separate in cold water by hand or very gentle machine cycle. Bleach should not be used. Air drying will give the longest life to the color quality. Expect colors to fade over time: it is the nature of the handicraft. In general, please remember that any materials that fade over time should not be given to infants or young children to chew on. Also remember that plastic bags are not a toy: infants and young children should not have access to them.