Stand for Necklaces and Bracelets

 

If you are like me, then you understand the dilemma I had been having for some time...

I have a fair (subject to interpretation!) amount of costume jewellery, and lack of adequate space to store them. I don't know how you all manage to keep them safe, secure and handy. For me, out of sight is out of mind. Will wear what is in front of me / visible. I tried keeping them in boxes, in the desk drawers, cupboards, almirah, leaving them on the dressing table, etc. None satisfactory. Lately I collected a few more necklaces, and I want to wear them too. So, it is imperative they are easily accessible (and not inside a box, inside a drawer etc.) and kept separately. I had been thinking about it...

Voila! The idea struck ...

In my recent post, I had put up the blog on Stand for bags which Jo had made for me as a New Year's gift. Because the wooden post was too long, he cut off the top portion of it. 

I fished it out, and gave it a wood polish (this too left over from the stand). If you notice closely, one After a few days of drying in the sun, took it to the hardware store and started looking for accessories to convert a piece of wood into a stand on which I can hang my Jewellery.

Found L angles for the base, and two varies of steel hooks. The hooks were available in several sizes. I chose the ones suitable for my purpose and keeping aesthetics in mind. The shop keeper was kind enough to throw in some screws to match the L angles. Armed with these, I set about making my stand. 

First and foremost, I marked the position of all the hooks with a black sketch pen. I wanted round hooks on the top, to hang finger rings etc. L shaped hooks went round in a spiral, so that the necklaces all won't be from the same height. The wood is teak, and has natural grain and small holes. I just let them be. At one end, there is a joint in the wood. I kept this at the base, and staggered the L angles on either side, so that, the screws do not split the post through the joint. It worked.

The trickiest part is to drill holes. I had to rope in Jo for the drilling job; which meant I had to wait until he was free and in the mood for the job. He is a wiz at drilling stuff, with the power drill machine. On the following Sunday, after a reminder or two, the holes were there, and he very obligingly fixed the hooks too. Huh! my jewellery stand is ready.

All I had to do after that was to hang up my necklaces etc.

SHOPPING BAG OUT OF KURTI

 

 Cloth bag / shopping bag in cotton fabric

A neighbour and friend was walking out for some grocery and veggie shopping. She was not carrying any bags. On enquiry, said that she had no cloth bags. Immediately decided I must rectify the situation.
Came home and looked through my stash of fabrics. Could not find anything suitable. I wanted at least 1m length of fabric and sturdy enough to take some load and be used roughly. Finally I found a kurti that I was not wearing any more. It was made of handloom cotton and had block print on it. It seemed like the ideal material for a cloth bag / shopping bag. 
The kurti had 3/4 length sleeves. First I separated them from the kurti. It was exciting to cut up the rest of the kurti. What I actually did was to cut off the top of kurti till below the arm hole opening. Turned it upside down. Folded the stitched end of the kurti once about 1.5" wide and stitched a band. The side stitches of the kurti were left intact. Stitched up the bottom of the bag twice, for strength.
For the handles, out of the sleeves, cut off 4" wide strips. Attached two strips together for the required length. Folded them and stitched the inside along the length to form a tube. Took inside out. 
Attached these handles at 6" apart on either side, on the inside. Lo and behold, cloth bag for shopping is ready!

Tote Bag out T shirt, an Upcycle project

All those who are active on internet would have seen this video of a striped T shirt converted to a tote bag. I too saw it. It is no sew tote bag. One requirement for that tote bag is a kid's size T shirt. Since I could not get my hands on a kid's T shirt, I let it wait. 

Recently I went visiting my young neighbour. She liked a tote bag I was carrying and wanted to make something like that. I remembered this T shirt to Tote bag project and explained to her. She quickly grabbed 2 black T shirts and gave me a choice. WOW! I suddenly have 2 T shirts to chose from. One was plain but sturdy (you want a sturdy bag, right!) and the other had a smart print on it, but the material was a bit thin. I opted for the sturdy yet plain black one and went to work with it.

Like shown in the video, I cut out the sleeves, increased the neck opening, same depth, front and back. I pinned the bottom and tried it with stuff in it. As expected, It was not comfortable. I turned the bag 90 degrees (the seam will come in the center) and again pin the bottom opening and checked. It fit perfectly this time. Instead of tying up the tassels at the bottom (again as shown in the video), I put a seam, rounding the corners (or the corners would sag!) 

Well, it turned out to be a perfect but boring black bag. Rummaged through my stash of materials and found this piece of cloth with a funky print in a rectangular shape and some old and used lace. Quickly attached the applique and lace to the front. 

Tote bag ready.

Cushion Covers

Here are some cushion covers I made for a friend out of assorted left over materials of assorted sizes and shapes. They were - Raw Silk in Beige, Green Tie and Die and red black and white Ikkat hand loom material. Made them in two sizes of 16"x16" and 12"x12". On the back there is an overlap and I fixed 2 press buttons.

 

Taking fresh material from the bail and making whatever items we want to make is any day easier. Making items out of assorted pieces is challenging, but the results can be very charming! 

Shopping Bag

 

This is my sketch of the bag

 

I needed another shopping bag and time for rummaging in my stock. Found these materials bought for some such purpose. Did some easy maths, and came up with the following sizes:
Bag -
Length - 14"
Height - 14"
Width - 3"

Pocket - 7"x6"

Handles - 18"x1"x2 nos.

Flap / Strap 2" wide

Wooden button

Some backing material for the side strip. 

Attached the pocket to the front piece. Then,stitched the front and back pieces to the side strip. Gave backing / lining to the side strip for extra strength; the seems are turned in; attached the handles at 4" from the centre. Finally, stitched the flap to the back piece and  button to the pocket.

Sling Bag

I noticed that when I wanted to go the neighbourhood supermarket or just visiting the next door neighbour, I would be carrying house keys, mobile phone, some money, spects etc. Taking a hand bag along is too much bother for short distances and I did not need it really. So what is the solution?

I hit upon the idea of a sling bag, small in size and light weight too.

Rummaged through my stash of left over fabrics and material, I found the right stuff.

It is dense furnishing fabric material and closely woven and synthetic and cotton mix, so sturdy and easy to wash; and some contrasting curtain material for the pouch in front and the button flap.

This is what came out by the time I got done with it.

Dimensions of the sling bag are:

Length – 7”

Height – 8”

Front pouch – 5” x 4”

Strap length – 55”

Strap width – 1”

These are finished measurements. Must add ½” for stitching and 1” for strap.

Silk Kurta with applique work

The final look of this salwar kameez happened accidentally. It was meant to be different.

This outfit I did a while back. I had the off-white pure silk material which I wanted to make into a kurta. I was lucky to find salwar and chunni / dupatta materials in matching prints. The salwar material being thicker synthetic / polyester type and the chunni in chiffon like. 

I finished stitching the salwar and kurta. I wanted to put embroidery on the kurta dn had bought suitable threads, mirrors and beads etc. There was quite a bit of material left over from salwar. While watching TV, I kept snipping the printed left over material, and Voila! I had the flower motis neatly trimmed. 

If you remember as kids we would cut paper into different shapes, It turned out something like that. I must have had restless fingers, I cut quite a few pieces.

Then a brain waves struck, and wondered how will it be if I simply stuck these printed pieces of cloth on the kurta instead of embroidering etc. Sure enough it looked good. 

Then I arranged various pieces strategically around the neck, in the middle, and at the bottom corner.

Initially I stuck them on the kurta with fabric glue at places just to keep in place, and tacked it around the edge, with a loose running stitch and then, did a neat blanket stitch with matching silk embroidery threads.

 

Since I already bought the mirrors, I stuck them with fabric glue. The total outfit turned out well. Even after several washes (in the washing machine too), the applique, mirrors are still in good condition.

Ear Ring Holder 1

All those of you who have a big collection of junk / costume jewellery must have faced the problem of storing them. I love ear rings and love them in different materials, colours, sizes and shapes.

I have them in Gold, Silver, beads, pearls, precious and semi precious stones, wood, seeds, bone, glass, shell, thread, etc.

Have you noticed that the ear rings with hooks get tangled up when you keep them all in a box or a case? Most of the time, you will find one ear ring that you want to wear but not its pair, especially when you are in a hurry? I had that problem often. Not any more!

I made a holder / board (for the lack of a better name) on which I hung all my ear rings with hooks. It is kept the board on top of a wall unit, at eye level.

• From a packing box, I cut out a flat piece of side panel and smoothened the edges with scissors.
• The ear rings were made into different categories based on their size. I knew how many rows and what distances they should be hung.
• Drew horizontal lines across and marked points for making holes.
• With the help of a pointy tool, made holes on the markings.
• Stuck metallic lace all round for decoration.

Finally I hung up my ear rings on the holder. There seems to be extra space for a few more pairs! 

Now they are easy to remove and put back. They are safe from scratches and breakings!

Mirror Mozaic piece

I was always fascinated by Mozaic, the arrangement of random sized pieces in mortar. Goa is famous for Chinese Mozaic and I was wondering who will teach it. Luckily, Ms. Kanika Singh a Mozaic artist from Gurgaon, conducted a 2 (half) day workshop, and off I went and registered myself. 

Glass tiles of different colours

She provided all the materials, ie. a frame of 9" square with hardboard backing, a mirror of 4" square, glass mirror pieces of various colours, coloured glass beads, etc. The glass mozaic pieces have a translucent quality and lovely gloss to them. On the right side, they have a smooth finish, and on the back, there are groves for better grip when glued. They are about 2.5mm thick. One can use any other decorative pieces like, sea shells, pieces of ornaments, metal pieces, small stones etc. to give variety to the composition.

In the 2 days, we have to make a decorative mirror frame with mozaic around the mirror.

Round wheel tile nipper (Tile cutter)

We could use the materials as they are, or if we need smaller sizes or different shapes, we could cut them up and use. The cutter (as shown above) has circular blades and you get a more or less even edge. One needs a little bit of practice to get the diagonal lines and curved lines properly. 

The mozaic work is done in two stages, the first stage consists of Tiling. I made a tentative design, deciding the position of mirror, the colour scheme, and sizes of glass pieces and a general pattern to follow. It would have been better if we did draw the whole thing on paper and arranged the pieces on it, finalised it , and then transfer the whole thing on to the frame. Anyway, I had a mental picture of what I wanted. Firstly, I stuck the mirror on the hardboard base with Fevicol. Then one by one, stuck all the glass pieces as per my pattern, leaving a fine gap of 1 - 1.5 mm between any two pieces. I also filled a few gaps with glass / ceramic beads to add interest to the design.

Ms. Singh recommends Fevicol SH for gluing the mirror and the glass pieces. We let them dry overnight. 

   Cement for Grouting      

     Hardner        

   Spatula or artist's knife

Stage two is done on the second day. It consists of grouting, ie. filling the gaps between the glass pieces and finishing. There several shades of cement for grouting. Different coloured grouting gives different looks to the same colour scheme of glass mozaic. I chose copper shade cement. Used the hardner and some water and mixed the cement thoroughly. A soft and stiff consistency should be achieved. 

Left it aside for a few minutes to become tight. Took a small lump of grout and pressed it between the gaps in the design. Slowly filled all the gaps in the frame with grout. Either with the fingers or with the help of spatula, the grout had to be pressed, making sure there were no air pockets. Next step was to wipe off excess grout from the mozaic. Polishing the glass pieces and beads with fine cotton or muslin, until they shone, took some time. Once it is done properly, the whole thing looks lovely and it is a very satisfying experience.

My final Mirror Mozaic Piece

I am thrilled at the finished product. Infinite number of designs are possible. I aim to explore a few at least.

Patchwork pillow case and cushion cover

Following are a few patchwork cushion covers and a pillow case I had made. Two of the cushion covers are random patch work, done by hand stitching. I found a piece of embroidery from an old garment, and I appliquéd it. There is a base lining material of cotton fabric on to which the patchwork is done.

Patchwork cushion covers

 The pillow case and one of the cushion covers match the patchwork bedspread I made earlier. The pieces are cut to 7” wide and whatever length is available, but not exceeding 7”. After they are stitched together, the width came to 6”. All the pieces are attached into a long strip, making sure no two pieces of the same design and material are next to each other. The strips are next attached together to form the cushion cover / pillow case.

Patchwork pillow case

Patchwork cushion cover

Silk Kurta with hand embroidery motifs

It all started when my best friend gifted me that soft tie and dye chunni. I had a few meters of off-white pure silk material. When I rummaged in my left over-fabric carry bags (any given time, I have atleast two bags full), I found this brocade Benaras silk piece in shades of green and blue. It was less than half a meter and in odd shape. I put them all together and felt they will look good, and here is my semi-formal silk kurta with chunni!

Silk kurta with hand embroidery motifs

Materials used:

Blue / green yoke – less than half meter

Embroidery Silk threads – blue & green, part of spool each

Gold beads – 5 per motif

Gold bead lace – 1.25 m.

I used the green / blue silk for the yoke and as a band on the short sleeve. First I finished stitching the kurta. 

Green / Blue brocade silk yoke and band on sleeves

It had been a while since I did any embroidery work and my fingers were itching for some hand embroidery. To make it a well-put-together dress, I picked the colours from the chunni and made a small motif; traced it on the dress with a carbon paper. The coloured threads were also old and left over from a previous project. The small gold beads were also from before.

Embroidery motifs traced with carbon paper

I used stem stitch and satin stitch. Each motif took precisely 20 min. to stitch / embroider.

I still needed a trim to get a finished look. The thin lace edging with gold beads seemed perfect. Finally, the lace is tacked on to the edge of the sleeve and the yoke.

Detail of one Embroidery motif 

Cotton apron

I needed to send a few gifts to some friends. What better than to make something with my own hands and give! 

I had 1.5 m. of Pochampally handloom fabric for a few years now. The fabric is thick but smooth. Perfect for an apron! There was some pure silk Pochampally material in shades of brown which added some colour. 

Apron with ties and pocket

I had stitched several aprons long time back. But now, I was short of time, so decided on a simple pattern. Since I did not have the body measurements, I wanted the apron to fit any size. Ribbons of silk material were attached to tie around the neck and also around the waist. A good sized pocket is very useful on an apron. So, an edging of silk fabric was put on the pocket to high light it.

Apron when worn looks like this

The whole piece took about 3 hrs. from cutting, stitching to pressing.