Diwali Greetings !

      Wishing You A Very Happy And Prosperous Diwali .

 May Goddess Lakshmi bless you with an abundance of good health , wealth and happiness !

 

motidana

One of my on-going projects ...

A sneak peek at my one of my project to be reveled soon....
embroidered Kasuti motifs

Do drop by to view the completed project.....

motidana

Traditionally Trendy .. another crochet purse

The crochet bug seems to have bitten me really hard for I find myself promptly reaching for my crochet yarns and knitting needles , pushing aside my bead work projects waiting to be finished .
 But I am not complaining , for I quite like the ease and speed with which I am completing these little  purses .

   Indian silk sarees are richly decorated in terms of pattern and the bold use of contrasting colors and so   I have made a fairly simple in terms of the stitches used . The pattern is only created with a play on colors .I have used stiff golden yarn for the base as it holds the shape quite well and firm . the pink border is highlighted with gold . The beautiful shade of blue matches the traditional silk sarees perfectly , giving it a simple yet  bold  look .

 The draw string is made by spool knitting , and I love the effect . It is so much fun that I plan to make more cords in this technique .

Till next time then.....

motidana

A vintage piece .......

A beautiful motif in the mochi embroidery  or Tambour embroidery  ( done with a chain stitch using a hook ) technique from my collection . It was made more than seventy years ago by my husband`s grandmother .

                            Love the shading and the neatness of stitches .

She was an amazing needlewoman and wish I could  have learned from her . Each of the pieces she made are truly beautiful . Her metal thread embroideries are the one`s I covet the most ,  and am really lucky that my mother-in-law preserved some of them and handed them down to me. 


Till next time....

 artfully yours ,

motidana

Unique Textile Finds - Innovative Needle stitched resist dyeing!

     India is synonymous with a variety of textile techniques be it embroidery , printing or dyeing. An age old tradition that runs in families for generation , these art forms have been lovingly and laboriously handed down from father to son and perfected as the heritage passes from generation to generation.
 One such textile art form is the tie-and-dye technique that is practiced in many regions of India. Gujarat and Rajasthan excel in producing bandhani textiles while Tamilnadu excels in the age old Sungadi . Not to leave behind yarn resist-and-dyed textiles or Ikat fabrics from Pochampally in Andhra Pradesh , Sambalpur ikats from Orissa , Patola fabrics from Gujarat, India has a bouquet of fabrics to offer a textile lover. 

    I stumbled upon Mura Collective , when I was gifted a stole from my mom a few months back. I just loved the gift ! and as my nature goes I had to find out more about  it. I was amazed when I realised how this beautiful work of art had been created and wanted to share with you 

   This fabric is created by the technique of resist dyeing ( in simpler words - a method of  preventing dyes from entering certain areas or blocking dyes from penetrating certain areas)  to create a pattern . In this case  the above stole,  has been folded into half lengthwise , the pattern traced and machine stitched  . After which natural dyes have been used to dye the fabric , and here the color indigo has been used . Once the process of dyeing has taken place , the stitches have been painstakingly removed . The area having the machine stitching  is still the background color white , and the tiny machine stitches have produced a beautiful and sharp pattern . 

   Mura-Collective facebook page has lots of eyecandy so do look up their page.  Their collection  will amaze you!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mura-Collective/203311819695173

 Is`nt it amazing ?



Motidana

Peacock ! A designer`s eternal delight !

The most exotic Nature`s gift , Peacock , the national bird of India has been a source of design inspiration for art lovers , designers, craftsmen , and artists for centuries. The play of colour , the grace of the bird , the rhythm of movement and the proud dance of the peacock in the light drizzle of rain , has evoked many poets to write about it`s glory !
         For any Indian , the bird is synonymous with Lord Krishna proudly displaying a feather in his hair, playing the mellifluous flute. Mughal paintings, Rajasthani miniature paintings , Gond paintings, Kalamkari , or madhubani , all have different forms of  Peacock as a motif form. The Indian Textiles are also not far in using this Natures gift as a source of inspiration !

        When I was writing my previous post on the jewelry of Lord Krishna , I was struck with the idea to find out where all the peacock motif has been used in Indian crafts . I came up with the idea of trying to find out different motifs which are in my own collection, and beginning with textiles (a subject  of my most favourite interest ) this is what I came up with  !!!

Printed , Painted and woven Textiles from  India.

A prize possession , this vegetable dye ,block printed kalamkari vintage saree  from Masulipatnam (ANDHRA PRADESH ) is printed using Manjisht or the Indian madder which gives it the typical pomegranate red. The 8' gold border adds a beautiful highlight to the print.

Another beautiful block printed kalamkari dress material from Andhra Pradesh with a beautiful pair of peacocks.

   Not to be left far behind , the typical peacock motifs in the hand painted Kalamkari from Sri Kalahasti are a visionary delight ! Each stylized bird , unique from the other,is`nt it?

A beautiful saree with two pairs of peacocks in the pallu and skirt (shown below)

Taking inspiration from the traditional kalamkari , textile designers have replicated the age old style in this screen printed fabric. Though it is not a genuine kalamkari , I love it none -the -less , as it has a gorgeous look.

Whew ! Isnt that  a lot of motifs ?  Guess the WOVEN WONDERS  will have to wait till my next post !