The Tell Tale of Halloween

 If I tell you that I plan for the next year's Halloween in a year advance, will you think I am crazy?  But this is true! There is so much to adore about this season and the festival! Somehow the possibilities around a witch, haunted house, full moon, bats and black cat intrigue me a lot!

Wearable art - everyday inspiration

Few weeks back as a part of an assignment in a course on Graphics Design, we were being asked to write about sources of inspiration. As an art aficionado I find inspiration from lot of different places -  illustration in children books, movie covers,  wall art, decors inside quirky shops etc. And I think sometimes it is just a matter of picking colors from those inspiration and convert them into something wearable!

My latest art project is largely inspired from a combination of wall art and children book illustration. I had come across this wall  from a suburb of Kolkata and the picture reminded me of my childhood. I could visualize the girl who used to wear a navy blue school uniform and attended school some 22 years back. And at that moment I knew I have to transform this picture to an another medium.

 I also came across this book in my son's classroom. The simple figures in the illustration reminded me a lot about the morning moments when I used to catch the school bus.

The small town where I grew up didn't have any subways. But there was school bus. Each bus route had their unique names or numbers, mine was called L.
School meant navy blue tunic with white shirt and black belly shoes with white knee high socks.
School  meant neatly braided hair tucked in red or white ribbons.
School also meant friendship, sharing snacks ( or tiffins as we would say) and stories.

As a kid was I was not terribly excited about my school uniform. I had a feeling that the tunic was too heavy and perhaps boring as well. But now since that school, that town and my country reside thousands of miles away from me, sometimes I feel a lump inside my throat when I think about those days.

What could be a better way to pay homage to my school days other than convert into something personal? I had a plain cotton blouse which is perfect base for an applique project.

The figure is largely made up with the help of heat bond lite sheets. ( Tutorials can be found in this post). I used little bit of acrylic paint for the shoes.

Dr. Suess says, sometimes you will not know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory! Oh yes! I miss my school. I miss those days .. ringing of recess bells, echoes from the corridor, fighting, frowning, laughing .....we'll always cherish those memories forever and ever!!

Mementos of the past - whitework embroidery

Last month I was cleaning an old trunk, the trunk which I found at my in-law's place. The  trunk was lying underneath a bed, forgotten, rusty, covered with dust and cob webs. Almost every household of West Bengal owns one ( or couple) of such trunks. In the days when closets were not a very common thing, these trunks were used to store winter clothes,quilts, which people typically don't use all around the year.
Sometimes these were also used by students when they moved away from home and went to a hostel/ boarding schools. My Maa still packs woolen clothes in these trunks and before stowing them away she puts couple of  Naphthalene balls inside the clothes. I still love the moment when I open a trunk and get welcomed by the smell of Naphthalene balls!!

Over the years this old trunk has moved to different places and has witnessed several historical milestones.It has seen partition of India and has followed the trail from Bangladesh to West Bengal. Later on along with the family the trunk has been to Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and now it rests back in West Bengal.
As I opened the trunk there were few surprises.The trunk yielded old journals, family books, baby quilts and other household items. The smell of vintage fabric caught my attention. I never get tiered of looking into old fabric art. As a connoisseur of fabric arts, I was quite enthralled to discover these handmade delicacies. 

A Kantha stitch table cover made by my mother-in-law

A table cover made by my mother in law

I recognized few of the table covers which was created by my mother in law.Bengal is known for Kantha stitch, and my mother in law was an expert in making quilts with Kantha stitch. But perhaps the greatest surprise of the day was when I came upon this white piece of embroidery on the delicate white cloth. 

Sample white work embroidery made by my grandmother in law

Although I am not an expert in Bengali hand weaves, but I was surprised to learn such kind of artistry exists. I am not sure about the creator of these art works. My mother in law passed away couple of years back. But I remember she spoke highly of the artistic skills of her mother-in-law. So I presume this could be made either of the two leading ladies of the house.

I had to search in the internet to find out the name and history of this stitch. Drawn thread embroidery is an old method of producing design in fabric by drawing threads from the body of fabric. Drawn thread work is also known as white work, Opus Tiratum, Punto Tirato, cut work, pulled thread work. Drawn thread work likely began in the 16th century and was popular in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway and England. Relics of drawn thread work has also been discovered in Medieval period of China and India. The mesh work created with this stitch can be considered as a predecessor to lace work. Traditionally White work embroidery was used as an embellishment for underclothing, table clothes, church linens, christening gowns, veils and bonnets.

A table cover made by white work

Details of the white work

Another variation of white work

 Embroidering or wool - needle was often considered a form of domestic happiness. Women would gather together in lazy afternoons and would trade patterns and carry on the needlework.

The amount of labor and love that went towards making these detailed needlework is awe inspiring.Some of the linens were so old that they had lost their pristine whiteness and have turned yellowish, but nevertheless they appeared timeless.I have never met my grandmother-in-law. But as I was examining the embroidery and trying to find out the origin of the stitch, I felt I was communicating with her. May be these pieces were embroidered while she was still in Bangladesh? Maybe I am holding a piece of history which has witnessed the partition of India?

I feel I am lucky to have such talented women in our family who made them, and preserved them with care so that we can enjoy later! What was the last piece of family heirloom that you have been handed over?

References:
https://www.needlework-tips-and-techniques.com/whitework-embroidery.html
https://textilis.net/2015/07/14/historical-reproductions-19th-century-whitework-embroidery-g-7/

The pied piper of Hamelin - Halloween costume

Sometimes I wonder how the festivals across the world are tied to an invisible yet unified spirit. Although thousand of miles apart, but the celebration of Bhut Chaturdoshi in India ( mostly in my state West Bengal though) has almost the same theme with All Soul's Day in Europe, Halloween in USA and Day of the Dead in Mexico! And the dates of celebration also  coincide with each other.

Bhut Chaturdoshi is a way of remembering our forefathers. This festival also coincides with Diwali, the festival of lights. Chaturdashi means 14 and this to represent the previous 14 generations.  Earthen lamps are lit all over the home to fight off the evil and also to remember the forefathers.

Traditionally, Halloween was never celebrated in India ( but I do see it is gaining popularity now-a-days). But there were other celebrations which involves wearing fancy costumes. One such celebration was called Charak er mela, which is held in the month of April to signify the end of Hindu calendar. Another fun tradition  was "Go as you like" costume parade in the schools. Kids would dress up in myriad of ways - right from a circus clown to a tiger or a little mafia!

In continuation with my last year's tradition, this year also I decided to put up a costume for our son!
As usual I thought of using old clothes and trimmings to create the costume. Initially I had thought of creating an owl costume, but as I embarked on the project, things started becoming too colorful to be an owl. So I declared this dress as a Pied Piper of Hamelin!!

My Piper was running a fever on the eve of Halloween, so things were a bit quiet this time. Here are the steps and glimpses!

1. I ripped open lot of his old pants and shirts to create patches. Initially I traced out the design on a paper before cutting out fabric pieces. Cut out all pieces and put them in a sequence before you start sewing. Try to visualize how this is going to look!

Take out as many colors as you want, the more, the merrier! I should confess that I had used Elmer's clear glue to put the patches on the shirt before I stitched them with hand, but probably it was not a brilliant idea. But given the shortage of time, I had no other quick way of managing the project.

2. Stitch the pieces, try not to leave any empty space between the patches.

3. Once the shirt was over, it was time to get the cap  right and I used an unused grocery bag ( yes you heard right, an unused grocery bag to make a cap!!!)

4. Cut open the grocery bag

Step 5: Fold it in half and cut a little circular corner

Step 6: Turn inside out and fold again ( you may use pins to hold the corners) Stitch it

Step 7: This is how the folded hat looks. Bring together the other corners and stitch them.

Step 8: Turn inside out and you are almost done!

Step 9: Consider some embellishments? Some feather and pompom balls!

The Pied Piper dress is there!

How was your Halloween this year? Do you make fun costumes as well?!

An ode to my garden - fusible applique project 2

The weekend crafter is back! 

Last month went through a haze. I got accepted at the UoH, M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction ( with emphasis in Learning Design Technology) and my classes started! Houston also witnessed partial solar eclipse. The clouds kept coming, so I was not as lucky as I was in 1995!! Just as the school session started we got slammed by Harvey.It created a havoc in Houston. The hurricane stalled for three days and on the top of that, Army corps decided to release water from the Barker Cypress reservoir. Some of the communities might require years to go back to the original "normal". Fortunately we were spared, but it completely  breaks my heart to see the horror stories.

I finished this applique project in one afternoon. Yes it is as easy as it sounds!I taught myself applique long ago. One of the famous applique from India is Pipli applique work. There are lots of different way in which applique can be done, but at the moment my favorite medium is fusible applique! With little imagination, almost every project can be transferred to an applique.

I had this cotton blouse in my closet, a blouse which is very comfortable but lacks a kitsch! I loved the soft pastel color when it was brand new, but now, after almost 2 years this blouse looks quite pale/ And these are the perfect project to get a makeover. To add some zing I first color dyed it with Rit and then appliqued on it! 

And this project is an ode to my small balcony garden.

The tutorial for creating a fused on applique design can be found here. I used different pieces of fabric to create hat, ribbon, body, shoes etc. Once I had created and cut all the designs, I fused them one after another to give a complete look.

One of the nice things about applique is that you can put to use the old fabrics, reuse parts of old dress. The white watering can is made from a blouse which I used to wear in 2007! Almost 10 years is gone, but it feels nice that a part of my favorite blouse is still with me!

What do you do with your favorite dresses as you outgrow them/ they grow old? Do you reuse them in one way or other? 

Make a splash - easy iron on appliques

What do you do when you are left with lots of old dresses and fabric materials which have either fallen short or too dear to part with? I saved the old onesies and shirts of my baby boy with the hope of turning them into some DIY projects and at the end I think it was indeed a good idea!

Many of his T-shirts are made of extremely soft cotton; yet they are durable. And somehow I don't want to part away with them. I wish if I could turn all of them into a re-wearable DIY!

I have a huge stack of baby clothes and one of the easiest way to reuse them is to make applique! Using old fabric scraps as a source applique is kind of prolonging the memory! Lil S's Didoba ( grandmother) gave him this pastel colored T-shirt when he was  around 10 months old and now after 2 years I thought, I could use a part of this T-Shirt to create a more unique look in a simple navy blue shirt!

 I used Heat and Bond Ultrahold from Michaels Store to create my applique design. Anyone who has used this fusible sheet will appreciate this is so easy to use, even for a beginner level!

I wanted to create a dolphin applique on one of his old T-shirt ( 100% cotton).Washed it and ironed it.

• Prepare your work area, as you will be using the iron quite frequently. 

• Next I cut a small piece of fusible paper ( 10 " by 10") which will be used to create the applique. 
• Place the fusible paper on reverse side of fabric ( which you will use to create the design). Be mindful when you do this step, otherwise you might end up with completely wrong side. Iron on the paper ( again smooth side of paper will face up, plastic side of paper will face towards the reverse side of fabric)

• Iron for 30 secs ( you might have to check the time depending upon the fabric you use). The paper should firmly get attached to the fabric.
• Draw the design on the paper and cut the fabric with a sharp pair of scissors
• Peel away the paper from applique
• Use iron again to attach the applique ( this time, top of the fabric will face the iron and the glue side will face the shirt ). Iron from 30 secs or so to ensure that the applique gets completely attached.
• Your applique is ready! You could add other embellishments, like I hand embroidered the waves!! 

The pink bridge

I never grew up in Kolkata, but as a child every summer we used to visit Kolkata to spend vacation at my Pishima's  house (paternal aunt). I  still remember the joy when the train used to pull over the Howrah bridge and I could feel the gentle touch of breeze as we whooshed over the river Ganga. 

River Ganga goes through the city, Howrah district is on the left and the city of Calcutta or Kolkata lies to the right. So it was double delight for us, once to arrive at the Howrah station the train would chug up on the bridge and secondly, moments later while going to the city,we used to cross the bridge again, but now this time on a bus.

I had this Khadi dress material lying with me for quite sometime.While I was planning to get this stitched in the form of a Kurta, another part of me wanted to add a personal touch to this fabric piece. And I wanted to add Howrah, the capital of my state  on this piece! Since 2002, my parents are residing in Kolkata. I miss the physical joy of crossing the bridge on train and bus, but still, sometimes I get to cross the bridge and remember those childhood joys.

As Eiffel Tower symbolizes Paris, or West Minister Abbey symbolizes London, so does the Howrah Bridge to Kolkata. The bridge has made numerous appearances in movie posters, novels and has also been in fashion circle for quite sometime. And you can realize as in poster below, Prosenjit carries off the Howrah Bridge with an elan on his T-shirt ( still from the Bengali movie Prakton) and I thought, why not me?? :)

While Howrah bridge makes a fashion statement on Coffee Mugs, T-Shirts, mementos, but to me it is also a metaphor. A metaphor of  transformation where people from different parts of India and abroad come to the city in search of employment, education , habitat.

Top: Movie poster from an old movie Howrah Bridge, Bottom left : Still from movie Prakton; Bottom right : Still from movie: Do Bigha Zamin

And since it is spring in Houston, I decided to make the bridge in pink, to celebrate the advent of Azaleas!

Here is how the final piece looks!

But yet, this is not really the final version, this will be stitched in the form of Kurta. May be after few months I will be able to post the final version of my project.
Till then , here is my city! Enjoy!

The squirrel in our balcony

                  This year when I thought of making a Halloween costume for Lil S, I had no other second thought, but to feature the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel family, which has been regular visitor in our balcony for the last 3 years has been our source of joy ( and anger at times as well)! But instead of making a grey squirrel costume, I went on to adapt a golden squirrel theme ( just to get the brighter color!)

                    Eastern Gray squirrel in wild doesn't have a big life span. Their chances of survival increases as they mature. It is funny, that most of the squirrels in our balcony have certain physical attributes which makes it easier to track each of them individually. One of them had a scar in her ear, we named her as "Kaan-Kata" ( pierced ears). She has a very fiery attitude and she was the most regular visitor. Be it rain or cold, she would not fail to make her presence known twice in a day , once around breakfast time and the  last was at dusk. More funnier tidbit is, most of the squirrels disappear in weekends!! Yes, I don't know how, but on weekends they are fewer in number!

                    And we named them - Chiko, Genu, Kaankata, Podmo-Korno, Chidro-Korno and a host of others! It's no wonder that Lil S loves feeding them. He insists on giving a handful of peanuts to them every time!

              Preparing the costume didn't take much time and it was pretty much free handed stitching. I bought a footed pajama . It was a bit bigger, so I had to slightly alter the length .
           
             Next I drew outline of ears, and made ears with Felt pieces. Nose and whiskers were made up  of  fuzzy stick and woolen bead.  Tail was stuffed with artificial cotton. All the supplies can be found in a local craft store.

             Once these were done, it was time to stitch in the pieces to the pajama. I also made an acorn cutout and tried to put in the front, but could not come up with a clever way to put an acorn across the front zip.

      It was Lil S's first Halloween and watching my big and lil squirrel playing in the grass was such a joy! Happy Halloween folks!

Tales of Polash on my denim blouse

Although it is almost Fall in this part of the world, but I just finished engraving a tale of spring on one of my denim blouses. A pretty basic denim blouse got some face lift, courtesy : some quick embroidery.

A stalk of Polash almost resembles like a sprig on vibrant orange flames. Usually by end of March, Polash trees burst into bloom and rejoices the glory of spring. . I remember the big Polash tree which stood close to my Art school. We spent many afternoons collecting the Polash flower and then soaking them in water. After couple of hours the water used to turn to a sweet orange hue. Some people use that orange colored water to dye their clothes. Some use Polash to make a garland. In West Bengal, the traditional spring festival ( Holi) will remain incomplete without the decorations with Polash flower.

I had this Denim blouse lying in my wardrobe. I like the texture of Denim and thought of adding more color to it to give a complete and personal look. Since my high school days, I developed serious interest in surface embroidery. To me, surface embroidery is a way of liberating my thoughts into another canvas.

This time I didn't trace any outline of flowers. I let my imagination guide me and I thought nothing is more sweeter than the perfectly imperfect flowers! With a toddler around, it took slightly more than a month to finish this project. I used Kashmiri stitch to fill up the flowers. Sometime later I will probably write a small tutorial about Kashmiri stitch.

And here is look of the completed project.

The above  picture doesn't do justice to the original project. But hey, it was a fun project!

And here is the final look!