Ethnic Purse (DIY)

I love carrying bright colored handcrafted purses with me. I love potlis, stitched, embroidered or painted purses. There is so much we can do with purses and re-designing them. 

This blog post is about how to re-design a purse. (One of the many ideas).

A brief description: I used a pattu sari to create a new look for my mother's old purse.

So let's get right into it..

Things you will need:

1. An purse which you want to re-design

2. Fevicryl Fabric Glue 

3. A pair of sharp scissors

4. Pattu sari or some rich looking cloth material

Steps:

1. Take the purse and take rough measurements of it

2. Cut pieces of the pattu sari based on the size of the purse

3. Apply Fevicryl fabric glue to the purse and sides of the cloth and stick the cloth to the purse. For the main part of the purse use the part of the cloth that has less work on it.

4. Decorate the borders with pieces of pattu.  Repeat step 3 and stick the pattu to the purse.

 

5. You can add more designs based on your liking. Some of us like our purses to be simple while some of us like them a little more grand. Ultimately we decide and we design.

6. Keep the purse to dry for 24 hours in a place where it won't be touched or moved,

And yay! the purse is ready to be used!

DIY: My Own Travel Dairy

For those of us who love to travel, maintaining a Travel Dairy or a Travel Journal is a great idea! As for me, I haven't carried one during my previous trips but I do feel the need to keep one in my backpack in future.

Here in this blog post I'm showing you a creative way to design your journal or dairy. We do get readymade travel journals in supermarkets but there is a different beauty in creating something ourselves and then using it.

A little about Travel Dairies/ Journals....
A Travel Journal needn't have any elaborate articles about our trips but could have some of the main points or highlights we wish to keep in mind about our journey. We can include points like:
1. Areas of interest in the place we wish to visit
2. The details of the place which we visited
3. Cost details/ important contact numbers (hotels/ cabs/ tour guides etc.) which we wish to note down
And an array of other information.

So let's get creative and create a beautiful travel dairy, shall we?

Things you'll need:
1. A dairy or notebook (could be even an exercise book)
2. Some picture and word cuttings which you wish to include on the dairy cover
3. A pair of scissors
4. Fevicol
And some chai and creative inspiration.

Steps:
1. Cut out some pictures and letterings you wish to include in your travel dairy

2. Apply fevicol on the pictures and stick them to the cover of your notebook as you wish.

3. Add letterings or wordings as per your liking

4. Cut out some gift wrapping paper and stick it to the corner sides of the notebook to get some rich border

5. Cut out some flowers using color paper. Also some rectangular paper shapes for writing the words 'Travel Dairy'.  This is wholly optional.

6. Using sketch pen/ glitter pen write the words 'Travel Dairy'and your name on the color paper that you just stuck.

Use your creativity and modify the way your travel dairy will look!

DIY Rainbow Bag :)

What happens when a boring, old handbag receives a makeover? Well, it becomes bright and colorful. It almost feels like a new bag.  I tried this and re-designed one of my old bags. I used the collage technique to design the bag. It is a simple, easy and DIY way to re-create. So experiment, try it for yourself and re-create!!

What you will need:

1. An old bag

2. Cotton dupattas/ saris

3. Fevicryl Fabric Glue

4. Scissors

5. Iron 

6. Lots of creativity and chai

So the steps are as follows:

1. Find yourself an old bag which you want to change and re-design. I had an old blue jute bag which I had bought many years ago. I no longer use it. This is the bag i'm planning to re-create.

2. Take a few dupattas/ saris lying at home which are pretty but not used much.  Cut out some squares from the dupattas/ saris, and iron them to even the material out.

3. Based on your liking, apply the Fevicryl fabric glue to the four sides of the piece of dupatta and stick it to the bag randomly. Continue this step until the entire bag is covered with collage cloth.

4. You can also mark the edges of each cloth square with silver or golden glitter fabric pen to give it a more boho look.

5. Keep the bag to dry in a corner of your room for 24 hours -30 hours

And the bag is ready to accompany you on your next outing!! It will look stunning and new! 

Try and DIY !!

Make A Skirt Out Of An Old Kurta

We all have a few clothes which we really like but hardly ever use.  We think of wearing them some day but that day never comes.  These clothes silently sit in a corner of our almirah and take up unnecessary space.  I found one such Kurta as I was scanning through my almirah yesterday.  I was quite sure I'l never use it, but at the same time I really like it. So i came up with the idea of making something I'l wear using it ! Interesting na? I made a knee length skirt our of it and now I'l share the steps with you..

1. Open your almirah and scan for some Kurta which you want to use to create your skirt.

2. Decide the length of the skirt you want to create and draw a horizontal line using a chalk or crayon. This is the line over which we will cut the kurta.

3. Once we have drawn the line, cut the kurta over the line using a sharp pair of scissors.  It will look something like this this:

4. The lower half of the kurta will be our skirt. We still need to do some work around it. For this, take fabric glue (Fevicryl fabric glue) and stick the sides with each other to create the skirt. If we are not comfortable using fabric glue then we can stitch up the sides using needle and thread (either hand stitch or machine stitch).

5. For the waist line of the skirt, we can either place a button or hook or we can use a thread to tie it.

And yay!! Our skirt is ready!!

That was quite simple for those of us who like re-inventing our wardrobe ourselves!!

Re-Creating Using Old Cushions and Pillows

All of us have a few old cushions / pillows which we don't use anymore. We can use them to create something new and wonderful! I made very tiny square cushions using an old cotton sari as the cover. I call them 'cushionlets' :) . These cushionlets can be popped into my handbag as well, just in case I want to rest my head while I am traveling. In short, they are portable, light weight and very cute! :)

My cushionlet :)

The DIY idea will require:

1. Old cushions/ pillows
2. Old cloth which is in good condition and has a pleasant color and design
3. Needle, thread, scissors
4. Measuring tape

Steps to be followed:

1. Decide on the size of cushions
we should have a rough idea in mind before we start our work.  How big will our cushion be? What will be the size of the cushion? Etc.

2. Cut out the cloth.
Take the cloth of our choice and cut it according to the size we decided. If we want a square cushion, we can cut the cloth based on the length of the side. If we want a circular cushion (I am yet to try it), we can use a compass or a round shaped object to draw out the shape and then cut it out. We can also have flower shaped, star shaped, moon shaped cushions. In short, it depends on our liking :)

We have to cut two pieces of the cloth having identical size. (For the front and back of the cushion)

3. Stitch the cloth
Stitch the two pieces of cloth using a thread and needle. Select a silk thread for more strength, and also keep in mind that the color of thread should blend with the color of the cloth.
Leave one side open and stitch the rest.

4. Fill the new cushion
Tear the old pillow or cushion and remove the cotton inside. Use this to fill the new cushion. (which we stitched in step 3.)  Ensure that the new cushion looks fluffy.

5. Stitch up the last side
Stitch the last open side of the cushion using the same thread and needle. Once all the sides are stitched, check the shape of the cushion and even it up.

Our new cushion is ready!!!! We can repeat the steps and modify them as we like. We can add things like buttons, ribbons etc. to make them more pretty, but that is wholly our choice!!

Carry What You Make

When I was in school, we had subjects like Craft and Art.  I wasn't very interested in these subjects while I was a student. I used to be lazy to actually create my own crafts.  But once I started working, I don't know what changed, but I started feeling the need to create.  May be it was due to the fact that office life is mostly about the technical field and there isn't much of creativity there.  As years passed, I felt the need to creatively express myself, in order to get back in touch with me! And that is how the whole idea of 'Carry What You Make' started.

 Imagine having an idea, bringing it to form (which requires a lot of patience and time), and then using it. So if I feel like owning a bag, I think of the color and other details of it and I then create it.  At the end of it, I feel happy and light that I made something.

I have always loved simplistic kind of style.  And these days I like Indian, simple, colorful kind of fashion.  'Handmade, Handcrafted, Handloom'...all of these words are what describe what I love.

So what are the benefits of creative expression?

Creating something helps us all in some way or the other. So if you are someone who likes playing the guitar, then may be you can think of a new tune and compose it. Or if you are someone who loves cooking, then you can try a new recipe of your own. What ever interests you, take sometime out to give it form.  This whole exercise is very liberating. It gives us a voice in the world. It expresses what we have to say out into the world.

We need to create without expecting anything in return. We need to create for the joy of creating. We need to create to patiently see what comes out of our efforts.

So the  next time you feel called to create something, give it a try!

Chudi Bazaar @ Hyderabad

My visit to Hyderabad wasn't planned. It just happened. My friend called me one day while I was at my cubicle in office.  I was speaking to her after a long time and as we spoke we realized we hadn't met since two years! The plan to visit her at Hyderabad followed, the tickets were booked through Tatkal and Shatabdi Express dropped me off at Secunderabad station on the afternoon of the Saturday that week.

My ethnic, metallic bangle box

My trip was very short as I had office the following week. But in the short time that I had at Hyderabad, I managed to visit the Chudi Bazaar also known as Lad Bazaar near Char Minar (Old Hyderabad). The  I have always loved wearing bangles, be they chudis or kadhas. I started collecting bangles since my college days. I have a varied collection now. I have the colorful metallic thin bangles, and the glass ones which are a little thicker than my metallic ones. I have the wooden, hand painted, thick ones. These continue to be my favorite. I love hand painted and hand crafted things. As I belong to the IT industry and we work a lot with the computer, I find wearing bangles on a daily basis a little cumbersome. I'm not very comfortable typing with too many bangles on my hands. I collect bangles nevertheless and wear them whenever I get a chance!! :)

The Chudi Bazaar at Hyderabad has a vast variety of bangles. There are the thin chudis (metallic, glass, etc.), the black metal, bangles with stone work, wooden ones, painted ones.  There are the simple ones which we can wear daily, and then there are the ethnic ones too!

The market is very crowded as it is thronged by tourists from all over. We need to bargain a little as the prices quoted are a little higher than the actual price.  We also need to check the bangles really well before buying, as if we buy a defected piece we will have to go back through the crowded streets to find the shop.

Apart from bangles, we also get bangles-boxes of many kinds, Some are metallic, others are wooden, some look simple while others have a richer look.  I didn't buy any box as I already have one with me. My bangle box is metallic and has an old, ethnic Indian look.

During my trip to the bazar, I bought a few bangles for me (rustic old golden shade with white stones perfect for a sari or an ethnic salwar kameez, and similar bangles for my sister who also happens to love bangles.

So for those of you who are planning to visit Hyderabad and who wouldn't mind exploring the world of bangles, the Chudi Bazaar is definitely worth a visit! :) Happy journey and happy shopping !! :)

My Latest Love - The Bindi :)

Bindi - a tiny dot placed in the center of our forehead.  It is common to see women wear a bindi in India.

I used to be a person who never liked wearing a bindi. Recently though, I have developed a lot of love for the Bindi, and when I tried wearing one, I felt it suited me :)

I belong to the Konkani GSB community and according to our tradition we are supposed to wear the bindi.  But these days it depends on each one's personal choice.

I did some online research on bindis and found the reason they were made part of our tradition. It seems that a bindi is traditionally placed on the Third Eye (Ajna) chakra and it is supposed to protect the person from negative energies and other evil. I am not sure about the scientific side of this theory but this is something I read.

I feel that wearing the right bindi with the appropriate outfit can greatly enhance one's look. It can make us look traditional, beautiful, elegant and trendy all at the same time.  I specially love the large round bindis which are available in many colors. Bindis look wonderful with a sari (simple or ethnic), with kurtas and salwars, with ghagra cholis, and other Indian attire. It makes our look complete.

As for me, I am going to make the bindi a part of my look whenever i can from now on !!

Lost in Green

Being out in Nature has any benefits, be it a walk, or gardening, or just sitting near a tree.  In olden days, children spent more time out in Nature, and even adults were more connected to Nature.  With the rise of urbanization, trees reduced in number and buildings increased.  These days most cities are filled with smoke and pollution. People are living a life cut off from Nature, but this isn't how it was meant to be.

Nature and human beings as well as animals were supposed to live in harmony.  The rate at which we have gone astray from this original plan of the universe is shocking. May be it is time to get back in tune with Nature.

Some of the scientifically proven benefits of being close to Nature are:

1. Nature helps us calm down and relieves stress

2. Nature is said to positively affect our health

3. Nature makes us happier people

4. We become more productive at work

5. We are more balanced as people

There are so many more benefits of spending time in Nature. Many people are realizing the importance of re-building their connection to Nature. Some people are switching to Organic products, many people are creating start ups related to Nature, like Yoga Retreats, Homestays, Gardening, etc.. Slowly, we are able to see some change in the world.

I think we should all try to re-built lives in such a way that Nature is also a part of it.  Activities like Nature walks, hikes, gardening, etc. are some great ways to start.