Rangoli-149-Borders16

Christmas Special-Borders

Here are some Rangoli Borders:

Hope you like them

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Friends this is my 500th post. 


When I look back, I feel the journey so far had many highs and lows, ups and downs, tears and laughter....I started my blog with so many ambitions and hopes. I could not achieve them all. Because there was so much I wanted to do and so much to share. I am sort of disappointed because due to my busy life, I have very little time for my hobbies or other activities and could not concentrate much on my blog.


Well I am an optimist and hope to carry out all my plans in future or at least try my best. It is one of my resolutions for the New Year too. Already I have been more active on my blog than before. I need to be more regular, consistent and keep up with my promises...:) I will...


A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL MY SUPPORTERS & CRITICS:


Thanks a lot for your encouragement and motivation. Without your suggestions,criticisms, help and encouragement I could not have made this far. It has always been my wish to share my knowledge or skills, my experiences (which is so very little when compared with so many talented artists I see all around) with all of you, so that at least some one some where is able to learn something or is benefited by my blog. 

I do hope you will keep on supporting me and encouraging me in future too..


Please do drop in your suggestions and comments for improving my blog, 

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Friday-Free Patterns

Hi Friends Sorry for posting my free pattern late. I am down with some bug and recovering. So here is the pattern:

This pattern is good for fabric painting. This can be used for Mirror work and or Bead work as well as Kundan work. I feel chain stitch, running stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch, detached chain, herring bone, French knots can be used.

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Rangoli-148

Nela Muggulu

Some more of the special Sankranti Rangolis:

This is the Astadala Padmam or 8 petalled lotus- a simple version.

This is also another version of 8 petalled Lotus, used on auspicious occasions like Pooja. You can see the tiny feet of Goddess Lakshmi. 

This is also drawn during the Dhanurmaasam. This Rangoli is drawn free hand or with the help of lines and not dots. I have used only two lines. But this is drawn with 4 lines, which makes it more beautiful. This has many variations. I have posted only one. I will try to update with other variations.

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Rangoli-147

Here is one Rangoli which is bigger in size.

This is 23 dots to 12 dots, placed like this:

     *   *   *

  *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *

  *   *   *   *

    *   *   *

Join as shown above. 

If you space out the dots, you can create a bigger Rangoli. That is the trick with which one can make even a small Rangoli look big. The only thing is the spacing of dots should be even and symmetrical.

You can colour the back ground with a contrast colour. I have just coloured the edges light yellow. But you can fill up the entire back ground. Only thing is it will take lots of time.

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Rangoli-146

Nela Muggulu


Here are some more of the Pathways Rangoli or Daarula Muggu drawn on Sankranti festival:

These two are again single blocks, can be drawn as it is, but usually are only a part of huge design with more of such blocks of different designs. 

I will try to post a bigger design of intricate path ways which drawn on the festival day.

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Rangoli-145

Nela Muggulu


Here is one more Darula Muggu or Pathways Rangoli. Slightly different from the previous one.

Watch out for more.......

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Rangoli-144

Nela Muggulu

Some more of Nela Muggulu. These are all drawn using lines, no dots at all.

This is known as Daarula Muggu or Pathways. This is drawn on the eve of Sankranti festival and also on festival day. Path ways means showing the path to Lord to enter into our homes. Some paths are kept open and some closed.

This is only a single block and only one variety I have drawn here. This Rangoli is actually drawn bigger according the size of the front yard. It will have many blocks of such path ways which are complicatedly meshed together. They are very intricate, difficult to draw but very beautiful to look at. These Rangolis require lot of intelligence, patience and skill to draw. But very beautiful to look at.

I will try to post other varieties and more bigger ones.

My request to all those who happen to see this post is, kindly mail me photos or drawings of such type of Rangolis and any details known about them please. I am trying to save these for the next generations.

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Rangoli-143

Nela Muggulu

Nela Muggulu means those Rangolis which are specially drawn during the auspicious month of Dhanurmasam-that is the month before the festival of Sankranti  or Pongal. Sankranti is an agricultural festival, celebrating thanks giving to Sun God, for the bountiful agricultural produce. This is also the month when Lord Vishnu is worshipped. 

The Rangolis drawn during this month are special, meant for Thanking Sun God and also for praying to Lord Vishnu. These are drawn using lines (no dots) and are peculiar to Andhra State. The people of Krishna Guntur, Prakasam and especially Coastal districts draw these designs. But now these are all disappearing and only modern Rangolis with dots are being drawn.

My previous posts on this Rangolis are here:

http://summersofindia.blogspot.com/search/label/Nela%20Muggulu

 The leaves denote the crop or agricultural produce.

 These are pumpkins, a favourite of our state.

These denote the Paddy Ears.

There are many more like these which my maternal Grandmother used to draw. But alas! I could not note them down and now most of this type of Rangoli is disappearing.

My request to all those who happen to see this post is, kindly mail me photos or drawings of such type of Rangolis and any details known about them please. I am trying to save these for the next generations.

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Shisha (Mirror) Work-3

Frame Work Stitches-1

Mirrors or Shisha used for embroidery or decoration on fabrics do not have holes. Similarly some Paillettes also do not have holes. In such cases we need fasten them and hold them on to the fabric by using a frame work of stitches. 

For Paillettes, the basic frame work of stitches are enough to hold them as they are not heavy. Care should be taken to do these stitches neatly and precisely.

In case of mirrors, we need to encase the sharp/irregular edges in stitches, so that it will not slip out of the stitches, as the bigger ones are more heavier, the edges harm the fabric as well as our hands while washing them. For this one has to stitch around the mirrors, over the basic frame work of stitches.

There are many ways of stitching the basic frame work stitches which hold the Shisha to the fabric. These stitches depend upon the shape of the mirror, size, ground fabric and thread used. Similarly, there are variety of stitches made over the basic frame work stitches to cover the edges. Apart from this one can use many stitches, and other materials to adorn Shisha work  to make it more attractive.

As far as our Indian Embroidery is concerned, there are some Shisha Stitches used in the Banjara Embroidery (Banjara-Gypsies of India) and embroideries from Gujarat(Kutch, Ahir), Rajasthan and others. Usually wool, cotton or silk floss was used which were hand dyed (in earlier days). The fabric used was mostly cotton. Now commercial embroidery threads and other fabrics are being used for commercial productions.

OK here we go now on the journey of exploring the stitches....


Some Tips Before We Start:

• Use cotton threads and cotton or jute fabric for practising
• Stick the mirror or the paillette to the fabric with fabric glue. This way it is easier to handle
• Work with Paillettes first
• Use embroidery, frames or hoops 

Frame Work Stitches For Round Shaped Shishas or Paillettes:

There are many ways to hold the Shisha on to the fabric. Some are traditional, some modern.

1. Star Stitch: Here four straight stitches are used for holding the Shisha. This is actually star stitch. I have used a Paillette.

After sticking the shisha to the fabric, bring out thread on to the surface of the fabric. Stich from A to B, C to D, E to F and G to H, pulling thread tight enough to hold the Shisha. One can use more stitches in between these to secure it more. Different colours, weights or varieties of threads can be used for interesting effect. I used pearl cotton.

For Paillettes and shishas with smooth edges, we can leave it there. But if the shisha is heavy and edges are not smooth, we may have to add stitches for covering the edges. That I will post in subsequent posts.

Please do drop in your valuable comments and suggestions and any questions...

Watch out for more.....

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Friday-Free Patterns

Design for Borders

The stitches for this design could be-Stem/Chain or Running Stitch, French Knots and Herring Bone/Chain or Satin Stitch.

Would look great for fabric painting too.

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Shisha (Mirror) Work-2

Shapes And Sizes

So let us start with the sizes and shapes of the Shisha. 

Here you can see the various shapes and sizes of the mirrors or shisha available. Circular or round shaped, square, diamond and triangular shaped ones are the popular ones. You can also see the rare forms of crescent and eye shaped shishas.

Tiny mirrors in melon seed shapes are also available, but not shown here.

These are the round ones I have. You can see some of them have irregular edges. Machine cut ones have  perfect shapes and edges.

Here you can see the back side. These are perfectly cut by machines and of good quality, hence costlier.

 These are square and diamond ones.

These are all encased in thin metal sheets to protect the edges of the mirrors as well as for safety. They can be stitched without removing the covers or after removing the covers.

These are the paillettes which are like sequins, light weight and available in round square, diamond, oval and seed shapes. If these have holes(one of two) it is easy to attach. If not, one has to attach them like shishas. These days these are more popular because of their light weight and also safe as compared to real shishas.

These (Shishas)are sold by weight(in case of smaller sizes) or in boxes and in pieces, if they are big. Paillettes are sold by weight.

So in my next posts, I will be posting tutorials on shisha stitches.....

Please do drop in your suggestions and comments.....

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Rangoli-142

13 dots 3 rows in the center. 11 dots 2 rows on either side and then 9, 7,  5, 3, 1. Join as shown.

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Rangoli-141

Center: 13 dots ---3 times then leaving one on each side place dots upto 1 dot. Join as shown above.

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Rangoli-140

Dhanurmasam starts from 16th of this month.  This is an auspicious month for praying to lord Vishnu-specially through Rangolis. This will culminate with the three day festival of Sankranti. Sankranti, is an agricultural festival, thanks giving to Sun God for the bountiful crops that are harvested at this time and the brought home. But unlike all other festivals this festival also known as Pongal festival has a special place for Rangolis. Well more about all this later.

We have to gear up all our old Rangolis, notebooks, papers, paper cuttings containing Rangolis and also create something new, which we do every time. Well here we go:

This is 15 to 1 dots. Join as above. 

Watch out for more Rangolis.....

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Shisha( Mirror) Work-1

INTRODUCTION

Shisha is a Persian word later on adopted by Hindi or Urdu languages. the word "Shisha" means glass and mirror. Shisha work or embroidery using mirrors is perhaps unique to India (Indian sub continent). It is said that this type of embroidery was introduced by the Mughal from Persia when they occupied Indian sub continent.

Where the Royalty and rich had gold, silver and precious gems to add richness and glitter to their clothes, the common folk used mirrors or shisha for adorning their cloths. They were affordable, easy to stitch on to the clothes, shimmered like stars in the sky and added beauty to their clothes. It was also believed that the light reflected by Shisha would ward of evil spirits. So, Shisha Work was the forte of Folk Embroideries of India, practised by the Banjaras(Gypsies of India). The embroideries from Gujarath and Rajasthan use this work.

At first pieces of mica were used. Later on glass was blown into a globe like shape and broken to get the pieces. These pieces which were uneven and had slight curvatures were used. Now pieces of mirrors perfectly cut on machines in various shapes are used.

The Shisha work slowly made its way on to the blouses, kurthas (tunics), lehenga (long skirts), saris, worn by girls and young women and also on bags, purses, cushion covers etc.  Actually the skirts of Banjara women and women from Gujarath and Rajasthan and also their blouses have heavily embroidered Shisha work. But this was scaled down to suit the modern needs and was a huge hit in early 70s to 80s. Even today this embroidery is well appreciated.

Shisha Work in combination with Kutch Work or appliqué work was quite popular in India. In the present times, with the growing appreciation for ethnic art, hand made goods, embroideries of India have again caught the eyes of the fashion designers as well the end users. Today instead of glass mirrors, paillettes are being used, which are light weight. 

So here is my attempt to bring out a series of posts on Shisha work and the stitches used in it some of which I have learnt from my family, friends and some of my own experiments. I promised to do these tutorials for my very dearest friend Dee a long time back but somehow could not. These posts are dedicated to Dee 

I will also try to post some patterns and my sampler as I make it.

Just keep a watch......

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Friday-Free Patterns

This weeks pattern:

This again is a motif for crewel work. Crewel work in India is known as Aari work-the chain stitch embroidery done with a hook known as Aari. In this type of embroidery, mostly wool is used (in Kashmir) and silk or cotton threads in other places. It can also be done by ordinary needle but the stitch with Aari is more fine and beautiful.

The above motif is inspired by the designs from Kashmir. 

Satin Stitch and Running Stitch or Kanta Stitch Herring Bone Stitch, French Knots can also be used.

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