Upcycled origami bag

In my stash was bits and pieces of jeans. I had salvaged them from a bin at the fashion institiute I used to teach at in another lifetime. 

I found a pattern for an origami bag which I could hand sew and decided to use the bits of denim and make an applique and patchwork bag. 

Blanket stitch all around and a whip stitch for the parts which had to be joined. 

The pieces of denim have been appliqued onto part of the king size bed sheet which I still have pieces of .

It's a very large and roomy bag. 

I've appliqued some rust dyed circles onto the bag.

                                                   

I rediscovered sorbello stitch and couldn't stop doing rows of it as a form of embellishment all over the bag.

Will keep this bag for shopping. I need something smaller that will work like a handbag.

Senbazuru for a young boy

There's a young boy who is very dear to me. This senbazuru is made specially for him from pages of Tupperware flyers.

He's at a cross road in his life when important decisions have to be made.

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
― Steve Jobs

With love, prayers and, support of his family, the anxiety should soon be a thing in the past.  

While folding these 1000 origami cranes I was sending him positive thoughts, wishing him well and praying he can make choices and be excited about the journey ahead. 

The 1000th crane. Wishing you happiness and enchantment sweetheart. It will all work out

   

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” ― Steve Jobs

Like  colourful streamers the senbazuru are hung around the verandah, the gazebo and car park and   they sway in the breeze sending the young boy positive energy.

Wishing he gets back his mojo and his smile <3 

New York Textile Month 2021

I'll be giving a talk about my work on the 24th of September.

Nervous and excited, I hope the internet doesn't play up. Last time it was my laptop.

Wish me luck.

90th birthday present for twin sisters

 I'm always surprised when someone contacts me via social media about a commission.  

The request was for a poem to be embroidered.                                    

I was taken by surprise when I was told I would have to embroider the poem  twice because it was to be given to twin sisters for their birthday 🎂 in July.

This was a first.                                    

The twin sisters are creative. One a poet and the other a designer.

The poem I was requested to embroider has been written by the poet.

The embroidered poem - Hometown Blackpool by Naomi Beth Wakan.

A frame for the embroidered poem was created with strips of shibori fabric.

The two copies of the embroidered poem.

The finished piece.

I have an account on Instagram @giftablewords for the express purpose of commissioning unique embroidered poems, quotes, birth samplers and wedding samplers, which one can gift 🎁 to friends and family.

Do take a look. I'll be delighted to work with you to create something special.

Have a great week.

Fruit

 Fruit was the theme in May for the areyoubookenough challenge. 

I've collected the stitckers you get on fruit and most of my journals have pages filled with these stickers.

The tiled backsplah in my kitchen is where the stickers are stuck. A little spot of pop art.      

It was only natural that I should make a book with all these fruit stickers.

That's the cover of the book with a question in Malayalam which translates - Is it the apple which wears a garment? Garment refers to the mesh like protective case which is put on each apple to protect it while being transported from various parts of the world. This was what a crafts woman actually asked me when I was doing a craft project in Kerala.

Made an accordion fold book with brown paper and made circular mandala patterns with the PLUstickers.  

The numbers on the stickers are a code to identify whether the produce has been grown organically, genetically modified or grown conventionally using pesticides. 

A PLU code which starts with 9  represents organically grown produce.

A four digit code which starts with 3 or 4 means the produce is conventionally produced using pesticides.   

The fruit I buy comes from halfway round the world. So I've bought and eaten apples from New Zealand, Chile, Brazil and Italy. 

Not very good for the environment, that's a massive carbon footprint. 

I'm sure they have fruit label designers who must be creative to come up a distinct eye catching label.

Another bit of trivia - the inventor of the produce sticker was Tom Mathison.

I have a lot of blank space waiting to be covered with fruit stickers. So this book is a work in progress at the moment.

Have a great weekend.

Slowdown Studio Art Comp 2021

I'd come across Slowdown Art Comp last year.

The last date to enter had just gone by. I had to participate this year. How can one not when the only real constraint is the size of the artwork. Very liberating if you ask me. 

This is my first entry. A Box of Bespoke Murukkus.

I had got a small spirograph in a Kinder Joy that I had bought. I'm a sucker for the little toys you get. I buy the blue ones meant for boys because the toys you get are so much more interesting. Little vehicles like earth movers, tops and spirographs. I also unearthed a spirograph I had bought outside a temple when I had gone on a project.

Spirography - not sure if that is even a word, is addictive. The forms reminded me of murukkus which are a type of crunchy savoury snack, made in South India. 

My third entry - Heirloom Flowers.

I combined the flower like motifs created with the spirograph with the batik like effect of the wax and ink.

The second entry - Silver Dollar

Gave the spirograph a rest and used just wax crayons, a candle and ink.

I had fun.

There's time, another week infact if you would like to participate.The competition period is from July 1 to July 31st 2021.

You can find the details for the competition on the Slowdown Studio, Instagram page.   

Have a good weekend. 

Fighting the Pandemic with Found Poetry

The book I made for the prompt #areyoubookenough_blackandwhite. 

All of June we were in lockdown because of the second wave. No shops were open except grocery stores, pharmacies and petrol bunks.

So I used whatever was there in the house. Copier paper, old magazines and black embroidery thread.

Limited number of black and white pictures but enough text so I decided to create found poetry.

Since 2019, WFH has become the new normal. Everything is now online it doesn't matter where you work from, as long as there's reliable internet connection which permits zoom calls and online classes for the children. Companies are giving up office space. Home schooling is being adopted by more parents. Remote places with internet connectivity are being favoured over homes in a metroplis. 

People feel imprisoned in their own homes. Single people try to cope with isolation and loneliness. Confined spaces, social distancing and living in a bubble with only virtual interactions have created many mental health issues. 

Virtual graduations - I attended my nephew's graduation from SCAD online, that was a first for me. Made a presentation of my work via Zoom for Parsons School of Design, New York, for the series Community Conversations. Now that was interesting, I don't think this sort of thing would have been thought about had it not been for the pandemic.  

Everybody is dreaming of that trip to visit family, to go on a short holiday. 

Looking to escape the monotony.

Staying at home, with no help and no restaurants open to dine in. People have started cooking. Cooking from scratch, non of the ready to eat tasteless food. Did you try your hand at making Dalgona coffee? People also took to baking all types of bread. Sourdough was very popular where I live. I didn't try to make bread or Dalgona coffee.   

 Cloud Kitchens and delivery services mushroomed. I discovered recipes which repurpose food. Being thrifty and more sustainable. Watermelon rind chutney, lime pickle made with lime peel after the juice has been squeezed out. Repurposing food or parts of ingredients which would have been thrown away usually, such as seeds, leaves, peels etc. has become a little project of mine.

Traditionally in India people have been very thrifty and judicious with the use of ingredients, I have started looking to find such recipes. Some forgotten and others like bread pudding which is a comfort food and at the same time gives stale bread a purpose besides feeding the birds.    

The pandemic, in a year has changed our reality. The way we get our education, the way we interact, how we shop, what we shop for, the way we communicate. Everything has changed.   

Isolation and minimizing social contact will dictate the way we take vacations and interact with friends and family.

The virtual world is becoming more and more our reality. The other thing is that you really don't need much. Creating this book is a good example. I get to view the creations of so many talented people on Instagram and I can participate and create a piece of art with whatever resources I have. There's plenty to work with if you go through your stash and the constraints makes you more creative.

  

There is a lot to ponder. Do you think the fall out of the pandemic has more positives than negatives?

I'd like to know. I feel there are more positives. 

Our lifestyles and it's impact on the environment was sorely in need of recalibration and I think the pandemic has done just that. 

It was good putting this book together.     

My contribution to 25 Million Stitches published in Embroidery Canada

Writing this blog has put me in touch with so many people around the world, after that I created a Facebook page for Million Little Stitches and more recently Instagram as well.

I have wondered who comes and reads what I post on Million Little Stitches. Some of you are kind enough to post comments, so then I know. Some of us have become blog friends.

The Stats button previously showed the number of people from each country but now it's just a number making it all the more mysterious.    

Then there are surprises which can only be termed pleasant. When Kathryn Robicheau, the acting editor of Embroidery Canada emails you and has this to say - 

'I found your blog through a convoluted trail of links and I'm very happy that I did. I like that your embroidery is bringing attention to the refugee crisis. It's great to have an example of how we can use our artistry to express our social values and bring attention to injustice'.   

Kathryn went on to explain that the theme for the Winter issue of the magazine was maps and she sought permission to publish my post and share my embroidery and the inspiration behind it with the members.

I was delighted and had to marvel at the way this connection was made however convoluted. I was not aware of Embroidery Canada until then.

Embroidery Canada changed to a bi-annual publication so the Spring 2021 issue has my post in the Spring 2021 issue of Embroidery Canada.

Ali Ferguson from Scotland who uses mind maps as a starting point for her embroidered creations.

So many interesting interpretations of maps. It's been a pleasure to view the work and interpretations of different artists. 

Thank you Embroidery Canada for five copies of the Spring 2021 issue.

I must thank all of you who come read what I have to share on this platform. I do believe that we will connect, if it is meant to be. Irrespective of  where we are and however convoluted the journey may be to make that connection. I find it exciting to retrace the steps. I look forward to making connections and collaborations. 

 

Have you interesting anecdotes of making convoluted connections with other artists?

  

Have a  great weekend.