The hand embroidered collection

Psst…hey everyone…this is going to be a quick post, typed quickly and quietly before my little one hears the clickety clack of the keys and comes bouncing from her room to sit on my lap, demanding me to open Pinterest. I don’t blame her…just type “geckos” on Pinterest and see for yourself.

Anyway, I added some more pieces to the Khadi collection that I wrote about earlier, this time with some hand embroidery.  I have used fabrics like double gauze and natural dyed khadi cotton. Seriously fantastic fabrics. You wouldn’t want anything else touching your skin when you try natural fabrics. I’ve been reading a lot about pesticides in cotton and the toxic chemicals used in dye stuffs, and its enough to keep me awake at night. And they are all cancer causing!And they all get into our drinking water. Apparently a third of a pound of toxic pesticides are used in making a t-shirt. So multiply that by the trillion t-shirts sold everyday and you’ll get the picture.

I try to use a lot of natural dyed fabrics, handloom cotton, artisanal fabrics like block prints, ikats, kalamkari, jamdani etc. I know, its not always possible to buy only natural dyed clothing, as they are not always available, they fade a little and all that, but being aware of what goes into a garment that you are buying is the first step to reducing the damage before it become catastrophic.

Here are some pictures of the collection for you. If you are following my Facebook page or Instagram, you might have seen them already. But what the heck..you can see them again..:)

“I look like denim”indigo dress

Indigo dress

 

Excepting the blue checked dress, all of them are khadi cotton woven with natural dyed yarn. The blue checked fabric is a fabulous double gauze material I found in one of the stock lot fabric markets. Its really amazing, woven with two separate fabrics, all yarn dyed, not printed. Its criminal  to let it go to waste, since these stock lot fabrics end up in land fills after a while.

Let me know what you think.

There are many wonderfully inspiring brands that make good quality affordable clothing using artisanal fabrics and I will be showcasing them in the subsequent posts. So keep reading and see you soon. 🙂

P.S: You can find the above dresses and more in my Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/essikakids. Check it out and if you have friends who will like the clothing and the philosophy, let them know too. Let’s build a tribe!!

Love,

Merlin

Visit to the desi “Hamunaputra”

We visited Hampi a couple of weeks ago, (and I’ve been writing this post for the last few weeks with no hopes of ever finishing it). Anyway,this is not the season to visit Hampi at all, the  heat being so high that it induces madness (at least in me). But we got a chance to stay at the amazing Orange County resort in Hampi, and when you do (get a chance) you wont really care about the weather.

Orange county resort, Hampi

We started from Bangalore at sunrise (at least we wanted to, but things like last minute loo trip, going back to switch off fans, kids trying to shove a large doll into a tiny suitcase unsuccessfully, ensuing meltdown etc, we managed to leave at about 7.30 am). It took about 6 hours to reach the resort, with good roads most of the way.

The resort stands majestically in the middle of the dry landscape of Hampi, looking like a magnificent palace. It is a sight to behold  at night, with the grounds lit up by little lights. The resort is designed keeping the environment in mind, and you see signs of it everywhere from consumption of solar energy to urging guests to reduce water wastage and pollution.

It was gloriously cool inside the resort and after gulping down some delicious coconut milk drink, served by the friendliest staff I’ve seen, we went in for lunch.

Orange county resort, Hampi

 

Since we snacked almost non-stop in the car on route, we decided to have a simple north Karnataka meal for lunch. Which looked something like this.

North Karnataka delicacies. Source : The internet 

Tummies filled for the moment, we checked in to the villa where we were staying. It was called Jal Mahal and it was breathtakingly beautiful. It has its own private pool with a “Mantapa” to lounge in.

Private pool and mantapa at Jal Mahal

Bedroom

Everything was so still and silent, and you could hear the million cicadas beating their wings and birds playing peekaboo from behind the rocks.

There were some errant ducks taking a dip in the pool as we went in. The kids were thrilled to see a pool that was all theirs and the afternoon nap was completely forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, we set out to see some of the ruins of Hampi. There is an eerie feel to the place, with the abandoned structures and gigantic boulders that are purportedly a million years old or more.

Precious gems were sold in these bazaars during the reign of King Krishnadevaraya

Vitthala temple

Boulders on the banks of river Tungabhadra. It is said that, this river ran red with blood during the war between the kingdom and the Deccan Sultans

             Groovy Persian dance

                Pillars at Vitthala temple

                 This is the spot where royal weddings took place

There was so much more to see but so little time. It is a trip worth taking one more time and may be visit Orange County again. Might try climbing a few of those rocks the next time.

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

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