Cloves for your clothes

July 19, 2013

I don’t normally blog about smells, but something so delighted my nose when I went swimming the other day I had to share it with you. No, I haven’t suddenly developed a love of chlorine or locker rooms, the fragrance I refer to came from my swimming cap. It smelled of cloves, the reason being that I took it with me on my recent trip to Indonesia, where it shared baggage space with the small woven textile cushion on the left in this photo.

The cushion, which I bought at Threads of Life in Ubud, is full of cloves and is similar to a pomander ball (which I have kindly placed next to the cushion so you know to what I refer). I returned from Indonesia nearly a month ago and unpacked straight away, so it’s pretty remarkable that the cap still has such a strong fragrance. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised though, because my mum and I made the pomander ball in the photo about 30 years ago and it still has a clovey scent that possibly keeps insects at bay in my wardrobe along with leaving behind a faint fragrance.

If you like the smell of cloves, which I obviously do, why not have a go at making either of these projects? If you can sew and you can buy cloves, the little cushion would be simple. If sticking spices into spherical citrus fruit is more your thing, try the pomander ball instead. Great gift ideas too, don’t you think?

この間水泳しに行ったら、「何か、いい匂いする」と思っていたけど、それはプールじゃなくて、自分の水泳帽でした。それはなぜかというと、先月インドネシアに行った時、ウーブッドのThreads of Lifeでクローブの入った匂い袋を買って、荷物の中に水泳帽も匂い袋も入ったからです。帰って来て荷物を片付けてからもう、数週間過ぎているのに、クローブの香りがまだ残っていたのです。実は、子供の時にもクローブを使ったポマンダーボールをお母さんと一緒に作ったけど、30年以上前のことなのに未だに少しでも匂いがします。かなり長持ちでしょう？クローブの香りが好きなら、匂い袋またはポマンダーボールを作ってみたらどうですか？自分の部屋やタンスにおいてもいいし、お友達のプレゼントとしてもいいと思いますよ。