Pooja Accessories with Beaded embroidery in velvet

India is an ancient land steeped in religion and traditions, since times immemorial.  The adornment of the dieties with flowers followed by the tinkling of bells and performing a fragrant camphor Haarathi are a typical household regime strictly followed in most traditional Hindu homes with all the members gathering in the pooja room to offer prayers and seek blessings at the onset of the day.

It has been a common practice for girls and women in the family to adorn our pooja rooms and decorate our gods and goddesses with various accessories, as per the norms and customs of the culture we follow.  Drawing the Rangoli is an integral part of this regime, and other activities such as flower-making, garland-making, lamp-decoration, jewellery-making, garment-making etc. apart from cooking the relevant delicacies as per the festivities is part of an Indian woman's repertoire of talent.

I had earlier posted about my creation of round pillows embroidered with the religious symbols of Shankha and Chakra of Lord Vishnu.  In this post, I have added pictures of other such religious accessories, I have made for use during religious ceremonies at home.

Shataari base:  

Here are pictures of a small pillows, generally used as a base to hold the sacred "Shataari", which is symbolic of the feet of Lord Vishnu and used to bless devotees in all Vaishnavite temples.

A Shataari

Shataari is the Sri Vaishnava practice of placing a silver crown on the devotee’s head by the priest. If one closely observes the crown, one will see 2 feet impressions of Lord Vishnu on top.

Shataari comes from the word removal or emancipation from wickedness and evil (Shata means wickedness and ari means evil), which you seek at the feet of the Lord.

Shataari is synonymous with “Paduka” (footwear) of Sri Rama. When Rama was exiled to the forest, Bharatha his brother was distraught and wanted Rama to come back to reign the kingdom of Ayodhya, Rama removed his “Paduka” and gave it to his brother. Bharata placed it on the throne and mythology says that the footwear protected the world, in Rama’s absence.

Men should receive with both hands covering the nose and a bowed head by women and with folded hands and a head bent down Shataari.

Receiving the Shataari signifies the surrendering to the feet of the Lord and asking him mercy to relieve you from all wickedness.

How to make the base in velvet

Making a pillow base is easy.  Start with a square velvet cloth piece and embroider on one half, with sequins, beads, pearls, lace etc. When complete, cut into circles, insert a sponge batting  of the same size inside, and sew the edges shut on the sides.

Another way is to cut out both the halves individually, finish the embroidery, then insert the sponge batting inside and sew the edges shut on the sides.

Cradle base:

For cradles used in pooja of Lord Krishna as a baby, during Krishnashthami, a pillow base made of velvet and embroidered with sequins, beads, pearls, lace etc. can be used.

To make it more attractive and authentic, you could add a few tiny bolsters for the sides to secure the tiny idols of Lord Krishna.

Sparkling Kundan Rangoli # 2

Hi again,

If my readers remember, my first piece of Kundan Rangoli on the plastic sheet was a combination of just 2 colors- yellow and pink of Kundan stones/rhine stones.

The second time, I tried out a Multi-colored piece with bright stones and 3D-glitter.

Here is my basic outline with the three rounds of big stones, in golden-yellow, dark green, dark blue and red colors..


Then I worked around these, adding golden-colored beads of various sizes and shapes, strings of pearls, other stone shapes, in between the large stones, in matching colors and finally 3D glitter in golden, red and green colors.

To finish off, I trimmed the edges of the plastic sheet along the design.


Here is a closeup of the finished piece...


Looks grand enough I think, what about you?

Gorgeous flowers with Kundan stones/Rhinestones - Part 2

This is in continuation of my earlier post on making flowers with Kundan stones/rhinestones.

Once you have mastered the art of making the basic flowers with the petals, you can try advanced versions such as these..

Here is a flower with 2 layers of petals in matching shades.

The trick here is to make the basic flower with one level of petals, and then add another level of petals on the outer edge, by placing these larger petals in between the smaller ones.


Now for the next variation, this time by adding a border to the petals..

I tried out 2 flowers, one with a border of pearls and another with a border of golden-colored beads.

Start by making a basic flower but instead of a kundan stone, use a large pearl for the central bud.






Then make a small string of pearls for the border of each petal with the golden wire, and while making the petal, insert this pearl border piece below the golden wire of the petal on either edge.  Wind all the four wire endings together tightly to secure the border to the petal. Finally wind the petals onto the central pearl bead and use the green tape to complete the flower.

For the other type of flower, use a string of golden-colored beads for the outer border of the petals.  You could use the readily-available bead chain in the market, or make a border piece yourself in the same way as the pearl border shown above.  And for the center, you could try a string of golden-colored beads to form a circle like in this one, or any large golden-colored bead.  Repeat the same process as for the others.

Try them out now!!

 

Gorgeous Flowers with Kundan stones/Rhinestones - Part 1

All of us crafters are generally fascinated with flowers, and most of us have definitely tried out making artificial flowers with diverse materials.  The most commonly made flowers are of organdie fabric, stocking fabric, satin ribbons, crepe paper etc.

But if you have kundan stones/rhine stones, you can make gorgeous flowers out of these beads too, like these..

I made these flowers from contrasting colors of kundan beads, and just look at the results! Aren't they magnificent?

And believe me, they are very easy to make, so easy that even kids can try them out (of course, watch out for all those funny disasters in the process ;)). All you need are :

• various colors of kundan stones/beads, in the size you want for your flowers/vase, 
• ordinary thick wire (for strengthening the central bud), 
• golden-colored wire (to make petals out of the stones), 
• thick white thread (to wind around the petals and the central bud)
• green tape commonly used to wind around the stems of artificial flowers, easily available in all craft shops (to finally wind around the wires), 
• and loads of imagination!

The first one I tried is a pink flower with a yellow center, and the second one is a yellow flower with a green center. Notice that the sharp edges of the petals are pointing towards the center/inside.


Here is a variation with white petals and a blue center, but notice that in this case, I have kept the sharp edges of the petals pointing outwards.

You could also try out other petal shapes, such as this light blue flower, where I have used oval kundan stone beads and arranged them around a dark blue center. Why not a Purple flower with a red center?  Or a Red flower around a golden-yellow center..

Any number of color combinations are possible, and your creativity is your inspiration!

So, the next step when the flowers are ready, is to exhibit them properly.


One way to show them off is to put them in an appropriate vase.

I chose a small glass vase with black motifs printed upon it.  I then filled it up to 3/4th level with gravel/pebbles.

Then I arranged the flowers in the vase..

Here is how it looked finally..

For detailed instructions on making these flowers, I absolutely recommend watching K. Sripriya's video >> (I did the same thing:).

So, what are you waiting for?  They hardly take up about 10 minutes each to make, so you can start adding sparkling flowers to your vacant vase right away!

D-I-Y Simple "Designer" Saree Blouses

Hi all saree lovers!

If you are fed up wearing the same dull type of saree blouses, and wondering on how to jazz up your plain blouses at home, here are some simple "designer" illustrations!  These need not take up too much of your time, nor do they require any stitching skills extraordinaire!

So just scroll down for some simple do-it-yourself-at-home ideas for saree blouses, which I tried out..  It is quite easy actually to position the lace along the edge of the blouse in the back or on the arms, and use simple hemming stitch to sew it in place.

Click on the pictures for larger views..

Here is a peacock-blue silk blouse with an extended V-neck back where I have used a lace with 2 rows of small golden-colored beads..

This is a closeup of the beaded-lace border..

The next one is a shining green-gold colored blouse with a round neck.  I have used a beaded lace with sparkling kundan stones/rhinestones for the back.

Here is a closeup of the stone lace border..

The third one is a golden-orange blouse with an extended V in the back.  I have stitched some straight golden lace along the edges, with a sewing machine, to give this effect..

 Here is a closeup of the laced border in the back..

The fourth one in this series is a lavender-colored silk blouse, with a rounded and extended V in the back.  I have stitched another kind of golden lace for the edges of the neck and along the arms, using a sewing machine..

 Here is another hand-embroidered blue silk blouse where I have used a lace with a single row of golden beads, for the U-neck in the back and also along the edges of the arms..

Here is a closeup of the edge with the lace trimmings..

Now, it is your turn, readers, to try out any variation yourself.  The craft shops are overflowing with a myriad of lace trimmings, with or without beads, with embroideries, etc.

So, why not let your creative fingers work some wonders on your dull and plain blouses??  And for those aspiring for "advanced" "designer" blouse patterns, there is always our favourite Google images toolbar..

Saree Embroidery - 9 - Kantha Bengali Embroidery #3

Continuing my series on Saree embroidery techniques and designs, here is another of my silk sarees where the Kantha Bengali embroidery technique has been used.

The base material used is an English pink silk saree.  Here is a picture of the saree.

The motif worked in Kantha stitch is quite large, so the pattern has been repeated throughout the lower border of the saree, and in the pallu too.

Only three colors apart from black have been used to embroider the motifs: dark green for the leaves, deep red for the flowers and baby pink for the lower level flowers.

Black as usual has been used to outline the stems and the edges of the flowers and leaves.

The kantha stitch used is the basic running stitch.

For more info on this, check out Wikipedia >>

Sparkling Kundan Rangoli #1

Hi!

Rangoli is an ancient art form in India, as you all know, with religious and traditional connections.  Women generally use rice flour for laying out both simple and elaborate patterns both outside the home and inside in front of the dieties/pooja rooms. Many often use home-made and natural colors like turmuric/haldi and kumkum powders, and chemical powders for other brighter colors. The patterns and motifs vary from state to state and reflect the local customs and festivals celebrated.

Rangoli enthusiasts keep constantly innovating within this traditional gambit to produce new and fresh ideas for decorating.  One of these modern additions is the Kundan Rangoli.  Here, colorful gemstones/plastic beads/rhine stones called Kundan stones in Hindi are used on plastic or wood bases to create stunning and reusable designs, which can be used either alone or as a combination to form larger designs.

Whew, was that a long lecture ?!  Actually, gals, that was info for my international readers, and not for you the "Know-alls" !! So scroll down for the real stuff..

I decided to create some myself, after I saw the one done by my friend Vinuthalakshmi, and to tell the truth, it was immensely creative and inspiring.  As there is no end to the number of combinations or colors that one can use to create any number of patterns, I urge all my readers to give it a must-try!

Here is my friend's simple creation using only two colors Pink and Green, apart from some pearls and gold-bead chain for the outlines.  The surface used is the plastic sheet (OHP-Overhead projector sheet) commonly available in all stationery shops.

She created a large circle first with a large silver bead-stone in the center, surrounded by several alternate rings of golden beads and pearls, and then alternate rings of the oval stones in pink and green colors, outlined with gold-bead chains.  The outer rings of the larger oval stones are further embellished with smaller oval stones all around them. The final step is to cut out the excess plastic sheet following the shape of the oval stones, after all the stones are fixed when the glue dries.

Here is my first piece, ahem.. where I tried out the traditional mango/paisley motif.

I used the plastic OHP sheet and Fevicol.  Apart from the various kinds of kundan/rhine stones in white, pink and yellow colors, I also experimented with Golden-colored Glitter glue from Fevicryl to follow the borders and fill in some detailing both inside the mango motifs and in between them.


Here is a closeup of the motif corner.

And if you notice closely.., I know, I know, and I admit I need to exercise some more practice to get the glitter glue to sit better along the border of the motif! :)

To finish off, I cut out the excess plastic sheet along the edges of the motifs, of course.


Now that I am bursting with creative juices, I am working out on some more ideas of mine, so stay connected, and check on my newer posts soon!

To extend your curiosity a bit further, here is a picture of my daughter with a bright cream and red churidar set, where the neckline has some lovely kundan stones and beads embroidery..

Meanwhile, why not try out some yourself?  If you need more inspiration, just google on the search terms - Kundan rangoli and get blown away by the results!!