Table Of Content
- Hmong Woman Sapa Vietname Watercolor Painting - Canvas Gallery Wraps
- Native American Pottery with Hmong Designs
- Black Rainbow Hmong Flower Lis Loos Images - DIGITAL IMAGES ONLY
- Digital Download - Hmong pattern paj ntaub paaj ntaub
- Hmong Designs royalty-free images
- Assorted Hmong Motif Decals - Hmong Symbols - Hmong Decals - Hmong Motif - 6 Decals Per Pack
- Hmong Batik Seamless Papers Digital Repeating Patterns

It’s important to note, Yang added, that individual dialects and traditions have evolved, based on where in the Hmong diaspora a family moved for sanctuary. For instance, Yang explained that she is Hmong White, from Laos, and she said she would not be able to understand the dialect of the Hmong Green community, from Thailand. Enjoy a personal guide to the art of paj ntaub in Hmong Museum’s monthly free workshops.
Hmong Woman Sapa Vietname Watercolor Painting - Canvas Gallery Wraps
This practice wasn’t limited to females – even the male members of the village would create story cloths, to convey the story of their people to the outside world, and in some cases, to reveal the extent of their persecution. Indeed, they’re considered so important that girls as young as five are taught to embroider, to prepare them for the task of creating marriage and funerary fabrics in later life. They learn how to perform the more complex processes of indigo dying, garment construction and applique at a later stage. Currently, Mekong Quilts is working with approximately 50 Hmong women from Lào Cai and Sơn La province in Vietnam to produce these timeless quilted artwork pieces. With these efforts, Mekong Quilts hopes to generate enough income in the Hmong community to spark future endeavours such as educational and infrastructure projects.
Native American Pottery with Hmong Designs
They also inspired household and accessory items including cup coasters, aprons, bags, jewelry, and stuffed animals. These items are now often sold at local art festivals and craft shows. The methods and techniques utilized for making Hmong clothes have changed over time.
Black Rainbow Hmong Flower Lis Loos Images - DIGITAL IMAGES ONLY
Even though each group of Hmong have their own unique clothing items, they share common articles in their attire. Formal Hmong clothes are worn at celebrations like the New Year, weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, and other important ritual events. Traditionally, Hmong embroidery was made exclusively by women to provide clothing for themselves, their husbands, and family members. They also embroidered baby carriers and funerary textiles like clothing and pillow casing for the deceased.
Digital Download - Hmong pattern paj ntaub paaj ntaub
In that light, she thinks about melding the Hmong experience with other global historical experiences. Too many Hmong and American fashion designers still offer limited options beyond a size 8, a cutoff that does not include the average American woman (who wears a “mid-size,” from 10 to 14). Yang feels passionate enough about the discriminatory practice that she decided to make her senior project, Utopia, a celebration of size inclusivity. She said she was the only designer in her graduating class at St. Kate’s to do so. The 1970s marked the persecution of her Hmong family in the “Secret War” in Laos, also known as the Laotian Civil War, when tens of thousands of Hmong people were displaced, killed, or disappeared.
According to Shoua V. Xiong (2012), consultant of the Hmong Embroidery project, when a girl gets married, she is responsible for sewing clothes for everyday wear as well as new clothes prior to the Hmong New Year celebration for her family. On New Year’s Day, a Hmong family wears their new clothes to celebrate the festivities. The Hmong’s remarkable talent with textiles has left a powerful legacy, and many choose to wear Hmong-inspired garments in recognition of their visual appeal and cultural importance. If you’d like to explore our range of Hmong-inspired clothing, simply click here.

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To save their written language, Hmong women turned the script into motifs or symbols hidden in the pleated skirts of the Blue/Green Hmong. Over time, the motifs lost their meaning, but they remained important symbols of Hmong identity. In the refugee camps, everyone had more time than they once did in Laos, so story cloths were not exclusively sewn by Hmong women and girls, but men also helped. Some men became artists who drew the stories, while others learned to sew story cloths as well. Folktales are popular embroidered stories including the Hmong creation story, Nou Nplai and Yer; the birth of Jesus Christ; and many others. Hmong fabrics are renowned across the world; thanks to their rich colours and intricate designs.
Pieces of fabrics and clothing acquired from Hmong women are carefully washed three times before being evaluated for destructive colour runs. “The fabrics we use for our Sapa line of quilt products are actual clothes used by the Hmong people for family and festivals” says Bernard. A traditional Indigo dye acquired from the flower of a plant belonging to the buckwheat family, native to Northern Vietnam, gives many Hmong skirts its signature eye-catching dark purplish-blue tone. The resultant designs are often geometric and sporting angular and concentric elements which vary between region, tribe, and household.

Mark E. Pfeifer, PhD served as a grantwriter to find funding for the project and also edited the final narratives. We are grateful to Noah Vang for allowing the Hmong Cultural Center and the Hmong Archives to use numerous photographs he provided for the website. Traditionally, a shaman leads the tribe, and plays a vital role in the complex funeral and marriage rites. During times of illness, he will enter a trance to visit the underworld and relocate the soul of the ill person in question; and at times, he even undertakes a political role within the village. From handmade pieces to vintage treasures ready to be loved again, Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods.
Prior to the 20th century, the Hmong had no form of written language, and instead, communicated ideas and narratives onto beautifully intricate pieces of cloth. Like all art, Hmong paj ntaub (flower cloth) is inspired by their environment. The motifs and symbols represent everything from nature to architecture, and one can only imagine the intimate relationship between the Hmong and the land they lived on when it is featured on elaborate and arduous embroidery. Many of the people in the diaspora may not have the same kind of physical closeness to the land as they once did, but these symbols continue to persist in the form of tattoos and other mediums. In the past, Hmong women embroidered and decorated big pieces of indigo blue cloth to make pleated skirts and blouses. They also embroidered small pieces of cloth to exchange with other Lao people, but they later favored the use of those small pieces to add a pop of color to their clothing.
According to oral history in the Hmong community, it is said the Hmong women hid the ancient Hmong paj ntaub script in the clothing of the Hmong people, especially in the pleated skirts of the Green Hmong. From this time forward, the scripts became motifs or symbols in Hmong embroidery. Knowledge of the scripts was not so relevant in the lives of the Hmong and was eventually lost.
It’s also home to a whole host of one-of-a-kind items made with love and extraordinary care. While many of the items on Etsy are handmade, you’ll also find craft supplies, digital items, and more. Found something you love but want to make it even more uniquely you? We would love that we are reaching toward other people, outside of our community,” Lee said. The fashion industry is so focused on standard sizes and underserves most of us. She demonstrates respect, strength, and compassion,” Pasricha said.
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This new style of embroidery offered Hmong artists a chance to share their creativity and record their desolate reality living in the refugee camps, while expressing their yearning for home and loved ones left behind in Laos. Read this article to learn more about their fascinating history, culture and traditions, and how their fabrics still continue to be worn today. Yang took the assignment as the opportunity to create a kind of alternate fashion collection, which she called Diaspora. Yang chose to design both for a man and a woman—a departure, as she usually creates clothing only for women. She imagined young lovers trapped in a refugee journey, as her parents were during that time. The all-white color scheme is a respectful gesture to the many spirits stripped away from the people who loved them, she said.
Hmong women adapted traditional motifs, and developed new styles of paj ntaub and crafts for commercial purposes, especially targeted to tourists and the Western market. From traditional textile decorations on clothes, they developed tapestries or story cloths. These tapestries first appeared in the 1980s when the Hmong people lived in the refugee camps.
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