RŪPA x Sisa Studio is our first range that isn't clothing: tea towels, kitchen mitts and wine bags, plus bibs and playmats for babies. Every piece is cut from RŪPAHAUS offcuts, and Sisa Studio designed it. It's also why the journal went quiet for a while. In October we moved house, and the range came together in the boxes in between. You'll be able to hold it for the first time at the Fremantle Arts Centre Christmas Bazaar, 4–6 December, at Stall 26.
Why it went quiet
When the business lives in your home, moving house means moving the business. Every folded length of batik, every bolt of striped cloth from Mbak Ratmi's collective, every Klipoh cup and every box of beeswax candles had to be packed, carried and found again on the other side.
The move was hectic. But for the first time, we have a space that's properly our own, and it already feels like the right place to make things. Half of it is still in boxes, and we're fitting it out slowly, one shelf at a time. Orders kept shipping all through October. Only the filming, the emails and the journal stopped.
What sisa means
Sisa is the Bahasa Indonesia word for what's left behind. In a workroom, sisa kain is the cloth left over after a garment is cut: the end of a roll, the curve between two pattern pieces, a strip too narrow for a sleeve.
We've been keeping ours for years. Our cloth is made in small, finite amounts. A Lorek stripe comes off a roll of 200 metres at most. Kanekes cloth is woven one three-metre panel at a time. Ibu Sukinah's plant dyes never come out of the bath the same way twice. So none of it felt like something to throw away.
Who Sisa Studio are
Sisa Studio is a small-batch label known for hand-tufted rugs, made in Bandung, West Java, from surplus wool yarn that a carpet factory would otherwise have discarded. Their whole practice is built around giving remnants a second life. That made them the right people to bring in on our first homewares.
They designed the range around our offcuts: what each scrap could become, and how to make the most of a stripe or a dye colour that only exists in a few metres. A tea towel can come from the same lurik as a dress, and a bib from the end of a batik run. The cloth carries on, in a different shape.
What's in the range
For the kitchen: tea towels, kitchen mitts and wine bags. For babies: bibs and playmats.
Because every piece starts as an offcut, no two are alike, and the colours follow whatever cloth was left. That variation is how the range works, not a flaw in it. If you've owned a RŪPAHAUS piece, there's a fair chance you'll recognise its cloth in something here.
What happened while we were quiet
One thing didn't wait for us to unpack. On 21 October, the Clean + Conscious Awards named RŪPAHAUS the winner of their 2026 Ethical Production Award. We didn't expect it, and it was a happy surprise in the middle of the boxes. It's one thing for us to tell you how our cloth is made. It's another to have an expert panel look closely at the work and come to the same conclusion.
It sits alongside the two category wins we shared in September: Best Womenswear for the Mosie Dress, and Best Artisan Product for the Koja bag, hand-twined and hand-knitted by the Kanekes weavers.
Where to see it first
We're taking part in the Fremantle Arts Centre Christmas Bazaar this year, and RŪPA x Sisa Studio debuts there.
Stall 26, front garden · Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre, 1 Finnerty Street, Fremantle Friday 4 December, 5–9pm · Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December, 9am–5pm
After the weekend, the range comes online.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is RŪPA x Sisa Studio? RŪPA x Sisa Studio is a range of tea towels, kitchen mitts, wine bags, baby bibs and baby playmats, cut from RŪPAHAUS fabric offcuts and designed by Sisa Studio. It launches in person at the Fremantle Arts Centre Christmas Bazaar on 4–6 December 2026.
Who are Sisa Studio? Sisa Studio is a small-batch label known for hand-tufted rugs made in Bandung, West Java, from surplus wool yarn. Their name comes from sisa, the Bahasa Indonesia word for what's left behind.
What does "sisa kain" mean? Sisa kain is Bahasa Indonesia for leftover fabric: the cloth that remains after garments are cut. Every RŪPA x Sisa Studio piece is made from RŪPAHAUS sisa kain.
Where can I buy RŪPA x Sisa Studio? In person first, at RŪPAHAUS Stall 26 in the front garden of the Fremantle Arts Centre Christmas Bazaar, 4–6 December 2026. The range comes online after the Bazaar.
Why did RŪPAHAUS go quiet in October? We moved house, and the business runs from our home studio in Perth. Orders kept shipping as normal; only content paused.
If you'd like to see the cloth these pieces come from, the plant dyes and natural fibres page is a good place to start. Otherwise, we'll see you under the plane trees in December.
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