Category Archives: Sewing

The Economic Times – March 2017

Sustainability is the buzz word for everyone today and so it should be. We are consuming our planet at a frightfully stupendous pace!

To be asked to give a sound bit on the subject was a no-brainer.

I try and re-cycle, re-use where ever I can. If I can value add or up-cycle then I will always take that route. But I don’t start with that premise. I would like to believe that has something to do with the quality of the end product that goes out of my studio. What separates a ‘finished product’ from a craft piece or DIY done for fun is the thought behind the product and the degree of finesse involved. I think of the end product, it’s form, function etc and then decide where I can re-use, up-cycle etc. 60-80% of the finished product that goes out of my studio is made as sustainable as possible. But sadly due to a lack of marketing budgets, only about 40% of my clients know and appreciate that the bag they buy is not only good quality, made with attention to detail and hands on craftsman ship but is also sustainable. But I live in hope that over time all my customers will get to know the value of what they buy when they buy handmade from us at ArtByAarohi.

Thank you Divya J Shekhar for that sound bite reaching Economic Times…

Give Away Alert! – With ‘Barley and Grapes’ and Chateau Auzias

I am thrilled to start this new year with a give away. And it’s not just one but SIX !! Yes, there are six slings to be won from the signature ArtByAarohi Collection.

The rules are very simple. If you are in Phoenix Market City in namma bengaluru (Bangalore), head on over to ‘Barley and Grapes Cafe’ and order a bottle of Chateau Auzias wine. That purchase gives you the chance to fill in a lucky draw coupon and at the end of every week – there is one sling to be won. That is it. You get to have your wine and keep it too!

And the give away happens in my favourite watering hole – “Barley and Grapes Cafe” which just turned three with my best friend Meghana Vakada. My voice of reason in all things that require err.. reason!

More Jhola Bags – Dec 2016

Your response to the Jhola bags has been so heart warming. To have every piece sold out in a matter of hours or at best a couple of days makes all the hard work I put in so worth while! You can see the styled images for the last two collections here and here.

A few of you requested that I make some for Diwali. Diwali deadline was a little tough to catch but I have been working away at my sewing machine, burning the midnight oil as it were. I shifted the goalpost and we are ready in time for Christmas 🙂

Please note – There are 18 new Jhola bags up for grabs on the shop. And as always each is one-of-a-kind! There are no two alike.
After this lot I really do need a break from sewing so I can get back to painting full time for a bit. The next lot of jhola bags after this will only be out next year – in 2017.

Happy shopping!

Hawa Mein Uddhta Jaaye – Dec 2016

I remember a conversation or was it a few lines in a book?
A serene idyllic view of a mountain side and a naughty boy pulling at a yellow dupatta. A young woman shyly admonishing him as she watched it float away..

The dupatta/stole/scarf… preserves modesty for some and adds colour for others. It can make or break an outfit. For me it is my shield. It shows you my mood if you only look carefully. It is bold or fluid. It is breezy when chiffon and base when khadi. It is so many things to so many. My maasi’s drape it a certain way and I wrap it around my neck. It is like substituting my lovers arms around me. And if I have memory attached to that yard or two of fabric… sigh!!!

In my never ending quest to further an idea and concept across mediums, here are 21 one-of-a-kind dupattas up for grabs.

Happy shopping!

7 skirts for 7 sisters – Nov 2016

Everything takes time. There are issues and then more issues to deal with. Life as we know it is a constant tsunami of change. Ideas that came to me a few years ago may only just find fruition. So without skirting any more issues at hand – here are a few of the skirts that I have been working on for a long while now 🙂

Each of the seven skirts is hand dyed and one-of-a-kind. Each has been lovingly made with new, up-cycled and recycled material. There are custom appliqués from the signature ArtByAarohi label along with some that have up-cycled fabric. These skirts have elements of hand painting, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, appliqués and patchwork. And they have all been done individually by me. I hope you enjoy them. Click here to buy.

Happy shopping!

The Fusion Projects – With Glasshopper

The first in the series of The Fusion Projects is with stained glass studio – Glasshopper. It’s been 6+ months in the making but the thought actually has been brewing in my mind for almost four years.

Jewellery.

I have always wanted to see my work in the many possible ways it can be used – to take a concept across mediums and hopefully have it successful in all of them. I wanted to take my art and make it accessible to more people. To those who may not have space for a trunk or a kettle or even a large painting…

But the jewellery had to be different and yet be universally appealing. I could have worked with a regular silver/gold smith to make the pendants but then where is the fun in that? Enter Saarus Nirhali – my friend and a wonderful stained glass artist.

I had originally asked her to just encase my artwork into some pendants and I would buy those off her and then get down to my solitary work. Collaboration had been on my mind for sometime so it was serendipitous that she asked to collaborate. And things took of from there. I knew what the end pieces needed to look like. I just needed Saarus to see my vision. And she did. Her reaction when she saw the first set of completed necklaces was something I can’t describe. Her words -‘ I knew you would do something but this I had not expected! I did not know my work could look like this...’ 🙂
Saarus works with glass but on a much larger scale. So to work on one square inch pieces meant she needed to rethink her entire approach to her own work! The challenge for her was to get a fineness in the edges and edge finish. She needed to see the potential. I have to say. Saarus was ready for the challenge. The pieces are truly wonderful even if I say so myself.

At ArtByAarohi I have always tried to push the envelope a little, to blend material and media. To add an element of up-cycling or recycling. An element of surprise. This collection too has a little bit of that.

Gold and silver have an innate value irrespective of how good or bad a design maybe. These needed to be good designs! Since neither gold nor silver is being used. The design and finesse had to be something that worked for everyone. Or at least everyone with a certain sensibility. It has been months in the studio, doing, re-doing and refining pieces. There have been instances where a finished necklace has been pulled apart and re-done because the loops on the pendant did not sit right. I am an extremely detail oriented person and would go back to the drawing board when I wanted a piece to be a certain size or the loops a certain orientation. But I think we are now at a level of finish that I am happy with. Our work will only get better from here.

The artwork in each piece is based on my original painting. The materials, their use and how the end piece would look has been my work. Saarus on the other hand has worked on encasing the artwork using true Tiffany style stained glass techniques. Her studio has been busy working away at cutting/grinding and then soldering many tiny pieces of coloured glass to fit my vision. The loops on each piece of glass has been a very time consuming and exacting process.

I have learnt so much through this collaboration. Not just about stained glass and it’s possibilities/limitations but about working with another individual. Patience was never my strong point but I have learnt it along the way. This collaboration has allowed so many wonderful iterations in the ideation process that I can truly say that alone this series of jewellery may not have packed the punch that it does.

Please do click here to read Saarus’s experience in the making of this collection.

To view this first collection do drop by at my Studio in Bangalore on the 27th and 28th of Aug 2016 at:

The ArtbyAarohi Studio
C-44 Diamond District Apartments,
Kodihalli, Old Airport Road,
Bangalore – 560008 KA

The Denim re-done Collection July 2016

The first edition of the Denim collection was a sell out. If I remember correctly there were about 14 bags at that time. Actually sell out is not technically true – one was left at the end. These too sold out in about 12 hours from the time they went live on the store much like the first edition of the Jhola Bags and the second. The second took a little longer. You can see them here and here and here.

With me and my penchant for wringing the last bit of use from a bit of fabric – old jeans are a no-brainer. There are many who make bags out of old jeans, but I would like to believe mine are a tad bit hat ke – different. For starters they use prints from the signature Art by Aarohi collection. Which in essence means each piece of art has been hand painted by me at some point. These prints are appliquéd on the the denim and then further worked on and embroidered by me. So there truly is a little bit of me in each bag. Yah! I know sounds cliched but it is true. This is actually the third or fourth edition. Like I mentioned in a previous post, much gets sold from the studio itself or at exhibitions that it never makes it to the store online.

This time along with Denim Jhola bags we also have Laptop bags to comfortably fit two sizes – 13″and 15″ – with a little room to spare post that! Oh! and a few satchels too…

I leave you with a two images from this next edition of the denim bags. And you – guessed it – They are live on the store at this time – Happy Shopping!

The Jhola Bags Collection : July 2016

The first edition of the Jhola bags that came out last year in February was a sell out. I mean that literally. They all sold out in about 12 hours. Though in the interests of full disclosure, I must be honest and say there were only 12, but still 🙂 You can read about and see some of that collection.

This edition is different looking in terms of colour and the surface treatment but it still has the signature ArtByAarohi feel. Each bag has a print portion of original art which has been appliquéd and then the bag further worked on and embroidered by me.

There are 18 bags in this collection and each is one-of-a-kind and hand-crafted by me. It uses left over pieces of fabric from other tailoring and bag making projects and yes, just the like the last time – the inner lining between the actual outer and inner fabric is old curtains (washed and cleaned before use).

I do take the feedback you all give me quite seriously. So this time there is no faux leather. The straps/handles are made with woven cotton yarn and the tie ups on the side too are recycled yarn. The bag is a tad bit smaller though that in no way compromises the insane amount of volume that one can pack in! And the interior pockets are bigger and deeper. It really is a joy to behold.

I leave you with a few images from the new collection and a link to the store.

The Denim re-Done Collection : February 2015

Old denims. Every house has at least one pair. And I hate, absolutely hate, throwing away an old pair of jeans. They are so comfortable – almost like a security blanket. The other day I wore a pair that I have had for a gazillion years and went downstairs for a walk. And a dear friend tells me ‘either cut them into shorts or fix them’. Though not vocalized, implicit in that statement was … ‘throw them!’

I digress here but I must share this with you. The year was 1994 and my father was commanding an Air force base in Western India. I was home on vacation from college and was about to step out of the station compound to go to the local market. So walking over to pick up a friend, I hear this shout from behind me. The guard at the main gate tells me that my mother has left a message for me to return home immediately. I panic and almost run the entire way home with my heart in my throat. I reach and my mum says ” I just got a call from the mess bearer – ” Madam, aapki ladki ki pant phat gayee hai…” (Madam, your daughters pants are torn!) So mum to save me embarrassment had called me home. The pants in question were actually a pair that had been reworked with embroidery patches in multiple places though the knees were bare like the pair you see in the picture above. I thought they were very chic and bohemian – the mess bearer thought otherwise 🙁

So it was time to discard the old jeans. But you know me and my little issue with throwing things away when they still have life left in them. I decided to rework/up-cycle them into bags and blankets. Actually anything that could be used. Then I had friends donating their old pair of jeans, cargo pants and chinos and a whole collection was born.

You have already seen the Dog tags here and one version of blankets here.

Upcycled bags – buy them here. Help make some room in that landfill, reduce your carbon footprint and help another soul along. Did I mention that these bags have been stitched by me in the studio. And a lot of these bags have embroidery done either directly by me or the girl from the village that works for me sometimes.

The Jhola Bags Collection : February 2015

And it is here. The collection that was for a while in a very dangerous and almost unrecoverable stall! The new Jhola Collection for February 2015 is live.

This is something that has been in production for almost a year. Between karigars not working on time or just plain ruining the work I did. I had to improvise and just do the lot myself. These jhola bags have been made in house. Only the gold faux leather straps went out to the karigars shop and he took six months over 10 bags!! Just not worth it. I almost gave up on this collection but given the effort that had already gone into them, I had to give it one last shot.

These bags have been hand stitched and hand embroidered by me and my design intern has painstakingly stenciled every bag. Each is an individual one-of-a-kind bag and looks different on the front and the back. And more importantly almost 70% of these bags is made with up-cycled and reused fabric.

So know that if you decide to take one home you are the only one who will have it! Make some room in that landfill, reduce your carbon footprint and help another soul along.

Oh! And wait for the denim collection coming up shortly 🙂

The ArtbyAarohi Studio C-44 Diamond District Apartments, Kodihalli, Old Airport Road, Bangalore – 560008 KA

The ArtbyAarohi Studio
C-44 Diamond District Apartments,
Kodihalli, Old Airport Road,
Bangalore – 560008 KA