Kantaha,research on the topic

Kantha 

Etymology

The word kantha has no discernable etymological root. The exact time of origin of the word kantha is not accurately known but it probably had a precursor in kheta (khet in Hindi and Bengali means "field").According to Niaz Zaman, the word kantha originated from the Sanskrit word kontha, which means rags, as kantha is made of rags.

Kantha Tradition

Like any other folk art, kantha making is influenenced by factors such as materials available, daily needs, climate, geography, and economic factors.^[11] Probably the earliest form of kantha was the patchwork kantha, and the kanthas of the decorative applique type evolved from this.

Kantha in Literature

The earliest mention of Bengal Kantha is found in the book "Sri Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita" by Krishnadas Kaviraj, which was written some five hundred years ago.

Kantha Making

Traditionally old sarees, lungis and dhotis were used to make kanthas. Kantha making was not a full time job. Women in almost every household were expert in the art. Rural women worked at leisure time or during the lazy days of the rainy season, so taking months or even years to finish a kantha was normal. At least 5-7 sarees were needed to make a standard size kantha. Today the old materials are replaced by new cotton cloths. Traditionally the thread was collected from the old sarees. That is rarely done today.

When making a kantha, first the sarees are joined together to attain the required size, and then layers are spread out on the ground. The cloths are then smoothed, leaving no folds or creases in between. During the process, the cloth is kept flat on the ground with weights on the edges. Then the four edges are stitched and two or three rows of large running stitches are done to keep the kantha together. At this stage, the kantha can be folded and stitched at leisure time.

Originally, designs and motifs were not drawn on the cloth. The design was first outlined with needle and thread, followed by focal points, and then the filling motifs were done. In a kantha with a predominant central motif the centre was done first, followed by corner designs and the other details. In some types of kanthas (carpet, lik and sujni, etc.) wooden blocks were used to print the outline. The blocks are replaced today by patterns drawn in tracing papers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshi_Kantha

photo via(Wikipedia)

some links here.......................

Handicrafts,India,SouthAsia,SouthEast Asia,Bangladesh,Bhutan,Maldives,Nepal,Pakistan,Sri Lanka
Aresearsh paper on sociological context of Bangal Kantha

stitching-stories-kantha-quilts-at-the-philadelphia-museum-of-art/

Have a read!!!!!!!

Maiya knits. Mayhem ensues.: Pick Your Own Swap

Maiya knits. Mayhem ensues.: Pick Your Own Swap: My favorite group on Ravelry , Knit Knack often holds knitting swaps or exchanges. Usually there's a theme and a designated dollar amount a...

Chamba rumal

My love of Handkerchiefs (rumal) i think inspired by a rural geet i will post if found anywher in net or i will record it from rurl folks voice and post it on my blog...Right....

Meanwhile know the chamba rumal !!!!!!!!

 

..The Chamba Rumal comes from the beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh. The art of embroidering Krishna on these fabrics is traced back to the 8th century and was promoted by Raja Prithvi Singh, who ruled Chamba from 1641 to 1664. A patron of miniature painting, he is said to have reinvented fabric art among his weavers and vegetable dye block-printers.

Yes!!!!!!! really chamba is a part of Himachal Pradesh, noted for its exquisite style of Phahari and Kaugra school of painting. The stlye of painting influenced the emboidery of the place and maybe considered as needle painting.

Fabric- used is Tussai or fine cotton faric, it is white or cream in colour. The cloth is generally unleached and thus appears off- white in colour. Material used is hand spun thin fabric like Malmal or hand spun hand woven khaddar. Machine made cloth is also used which remains unbleached.

Thread- used is untwisted silken floss in a variety of colours. It makes the pattern appear smooth and glossy.

Colors: colors used are many and vary. No chumba rumal is found in one color. Blue was predominant in earlier samples. Other colors are green orange and yellow. If a motif of the figure of Lord Krishna was used, the body was embriodered in blue and the hands and feet were embroidered in crimson or mauve. Colors were chosen based on variety rather than appropriateness.

Stitches used were- double satin stitch, carried forward and backward alternately, done on both sides of teh fabric simultaneously. The embroidery appears same on both sides. The intricacy of the work on both sides of the fabric is such that you cannot tell the right side from the wrong. Stem Stitch is used when necessary and buttonhole stitch is used to finish the edges.

Motifs Used: animal and bird motifs along with human figures are used. Bird motifs include parrots, peacock, duck and swan. Animal motifs include leaping tigers, horses, rams, running boars. Tree Motifs include the cypress and the plaintain tress bent, laden with flowers and fruits. the motifs were usually stylised in nature.

The themes are mostly inspired by paintings and depict scenes from indain mythology, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Ras lila, Krishna lila, Pahari paintings, hunting, marriage scenes, and game of dice.

Chamba rumal

Chamba rumal 2

Chamba rumal3

Chamba rumal……..thehindu

Chamba rumal….tribuneindia

Must Read!!!!

Cloopco: Dress my feet

Dress my feet

I love the word "slipper"! It's one of the first words I usually look up in a dictionary when I'm learning a foreign language and, for some funny reason, that word always sounds adorably cute: babbuccia, babouche, pantofola, pantoffel, pantufla, terlik, туфля "tooflya", papuča "papoocha"...probably because slipper is a lovely thing. No wonder you need to lose a slipper to get a leading role in a fairytale (losing other pieces of clothes surely does open new opportunities as well...not in fairytales, 'tho!!).

The other day, while I was searching for some old sock patterns in one of my knitting baskets, I stumbled upon a few lovely traditionally knitted slippers my late grandma had made long time ago.WHY DON’T I KNIT SLIPPERS? Do other knitters make them? I don’t recall ever seeing a pair of slippers on Ravelry. If there were any, I guess I would have spotted them by now (what a mistake!)! But, again- with so many sock knitters out there….So I typed the word “slippers” into the Ravelry Projects browser and…oh, my! The picture was breathtaking! Ravelers do make slippers! And boots! And clogs! Ballet flats, Cinderella slippers, shoes…They make miracles! In circle, flat, toe-up, upside-down, felted, knitted, crocheted…all kinds of miracles.
And that treasure chest has been in front of my nose all this time.

I had to share that beauty with you, of course, so I picked a “few” projects and made a gallery-like post (well, two posts to be more precise, there’s no reason to reveal all the beauty right away, is there?!) of what bare hands can make (to make bare feet feel warm). All that with help from their authors and designers, of course!
And, no, I won’t get paid for saying how beautiful their works are (recession!!!). :)))

I’ve picked some lovely pictures and I’ll put links to the original patterns wherever it is possible - you can drain the inspiration from them, CO some of the projects yourself, enjoy watching them, buy them or get them for free, faint or bow to the authors if you like…what ever you do, I promise you it’s going to be a jaw dropping set of pictures. (I’m allowed to say that- none of the projects from this post is mine. But, then again, it’s my blog and I’m allowed to say whatever I want, anyway! :)) ).

Only, bare in mind- this is not a top list of THE most beautiful projects; there’s still a sea of outstanding hand-made slippers out there. My main intention was to show you some of the most interesting shapes, designs and ideas. Oh, well, yes, I did add multiple examples of the same pattern here and there but I just liked them so much…Yah, I was a wee bit subjective too, I admit! ;-)

That said,

The story of the magic slipper from my imagination begins long time ago somewhere in Persia…

...and that is where this list begins as well...

source 

Recycling of tree branches..........

 

Yes where there are trees, there are fallen branches for sure, especially after a big windstorm…we have many trees in our front park and one in just front of our main gate…here I am telling you how to turn tree tailing into wooden buttons that add a natural touch to any heavy garment .or to your furnishings.the process is simple……..an expert(carpenter) will tips from his experiences on what branches to look for(and avoid), how to dry wood, and how to prevent splitting during drilling..

So instead of spending money on endangered-hardwood, sweatshop-labour buttons from around the world, why not wear a piece of local, living tree that you love?????

 

 My handy man helped me make my buttons out of a log (branch) from a tree in our front main gate…..

Instructions on how to make diy wooden buttons:
Begin by using a sharp tool or a pencil to mark the intervals where your buttons will be cut. You want them to be relatively thin, but they should not be so thin that they risk snapping. I found that they should be at least 1/8″ thick. I marked next to my notches in black so that you can see them more clearly.
Cut the end of the branch using the hacksaw or you can use electric table saw. The project is admittedly far more tedious when sawing by hand, but I wanted to show that this could be done without any major tool investment. My handy man is equipped with his handsaw only. But if you or your handyman do have an electric saw, I would recommend using that for expediency. Of course watch your fingers, incase you yourself is doing this task or instruct your handyman for these safety measures like….. Wear safety glasses! Right!!
Place the sawed end of the branch over the edge of your work surface, and saw through the first line you’ve marked off. Once you’ve sawed that button off, continue until you have as many as you’d like.
Using your drill l with a very fine drill bit, carefully position your bit just left of center and drill through the button. My handyman drilled atop an old piece of wood to protect his work surface. Repeat with the other side of the button to create two holes (here I do made him to make four as the diameter of buttons is big)for sewing. If you prefer the look, then you can too drill four holes instead.
One you’ve drilled through all your buttons, lightly buff each side with sandpaper to remove any edges that could snag clothing or other fabric.

 

After sanding, simply polish each button on both sides with a wood product, such as furniture polish or the like. This will seal the buttons a bit and give them a more ‘finished’ look.

 

Mine buttons are waiting for their last finishing touch! I will apply two coats of varnish on them!  The reason .it is in hand with me, but it’s really more to shine than polish.I’ recommend a polish or wax for this step.

There you have it_______as many cute little wooden buttons as you’ll ever want. You don’t need to buy any expensive tools, and you’ll save a lot in the long run over ordering wooden buttons from the market…………..

the buttons above on my curtains were costly .....now i can use my own created buttons on my other new curtains.right!

and i have to cover a button for my wreath rag flower...........now i can use my wooden ones!

this is the button selvedge d from my shirt i sewed in 1974 when i was in 11th not only that it was used on my purse and the selvedged from purse for another new project.this is bigger then my wooden buttons.Now i will use my wooden buttons wherever big buttons are required.right.......

Have a good creative day!!!!!