Sharing a photo essay on the story behind Gifts and Graces' premium Retazo Collection. These special bags are made by disadvantaged women sewers in Pandacan, Manila, and Boni, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. Special thanks to George Moya who conceptualized the photo essay with us, took the beautiful photos, and helped us with the copy. Hope you enjoy it and support this beautiful collection that changes lives.

Retazo collection photo essay from Love Gregorie

Gifts and Graces in Philippine Crafts Section Robinson's Department Store Galleria

G&G handcrafted products are now available at the Philippine Crafts section on the ground floor of Robinson's Galleria Department Store. 

Whether buying a gift for yourself or someone you care about, make an impression with any of our products made by marginalized craftsmen and artisans from all over the country. 



 
We have reusable canvas bags, pillows made from scrap upholstery fabric, our best-selling brass bells and bell harms, and our unique newspaper bags.

Shown here are the mini bahay kubos made from directory pages by the women in CIW.

The original green house, the bahay kubo is a traditional Philippine house constructed with natural materials like banded nipa, cogon and bamboo. It is designed to adapt to the tropical climate of the country and is a triumph of human ingenuity and resourcefulness over the elements. Its name originated from the Filipino word, bahay and the Spanish word, cubo due to its cubic shape. It can still be found in rural and coastal areas. This replica made out of phonebook pages was made by women of CIW

 We also have small impulse items that make great tokens - coin purses and shoe key chains made from T'nalak, agate charms made by special needs individuals, bags made from junk food wrappers, lizard key chains, and coin purses made from woven scrap strips of cloth.





Visit our gondola every now and then to see what's new. These products are also available in Robinson's Ermita and Robinson's Magnolia Department Stores. 

For inquiries on bulk orders kindly email us at info@giftsandgraces.com or call +6327592525.

Retazo, coming to you soon...

Let’s start the day with a quick quizz. Are you ready? In your opinion, what amount of textile is simply trashed each year? Any idea? Ok, I will help you; we are talking about millions of tons. Still no clue? Every year, 13.1 million tons of textiles are trashed and only 15% of those are recycled, when the half of it is perfectly reusable. If you did not guess it, don’t worry, you’re part of the 78% of the population, unaware of the issue.

And now you are all wondering where is he going towards? What’s the purpose of talking about textiles trashes? Ok, let’s end a part of the suspense and watch the following video.

Yes, Gifts and Graces is cooking something for you, something old and fresh in the same time, something trendy made out of what could be considered outdated. We receive many different and interesting textiles from a generous partner based in the United States. But what to do with it? Throwing it was out of the question. Marge, our designer, together with our partner communities got an idea. 

And what if those scrap fabrics could become fashionable? So Gifts & Graces decided to offer its design input, together with the skills of our talented partners and this is what you get: a whole new line of bags, actual with a touch of vintage. You want to know more about it? Be patient, more exciting news are coming soon, so keep posted.  

Jeremy