Rakhi Tutorial

Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan, an Indian festival is just around the corner. This festival celebrates the strong bond between a brother and a sister, wherein the sister ties rakhi(thread) on her brothers' and cousins' wrist, and the brothers in return vow to protect and take care of their sisters lifelong. I am lucky to have all my brother and cousins to share this occasion with.  

This year, on my mother's encouragement, I decided to make my own Rakhis. Here in US there anyway is not much variety to choose from. This year, even Maya had to tie/send Rakhis to her brother and cousins. The rakhis offered here were too simple for kids. All the more reason to make own Rakhis.

While my Mom was visiting us few months ago, she bought embroidery/cross stitch thread(in 3 colors) for me for this purpose. So thoughtful of her.

For a 12 inch long Rakhi, I cut four 15 inch long thread of same color. Did the same with other 2 colors.

Tied all the 3 colors together to make a braid.

Made the braid, and knotted the other end, and cut the edges to even length. I know the threads pic above does not match with the braid below. Atleast I have a pic :)  

For my brother and cousins, I sent these simple braided threads. But for little ones, these are too plain. So, added the embellishment with some hot glue. I got some 3D stickers like Guitar and Panda. 

Finished by adding a small piece of felt on the back side with hot glue.

Also made some with Ganesha charms.

Happy Raksha Bandhan to my dearest brother and cousins. 

Block Print Goodie Bags and Table Runners

I am back with a post after ages. I was so busy with all the projects I had undertaken for my daughter’s first birthday, that there was no time to blog. And with 2 kids,  I can either find time to work on my projects or blog about it, but hardly to do both.

I have been recently hooked to Block Printing. I can’t wait for my next visit to India, to pick up plenty of wooden hand crafted blocks. But as that trip won’t be soon, and I have never been known to be patient enough, I ordered few blocks from etsy buyer Amada Jones . There were many other sellers, but I settled with her as she buys blocks from artisans in India at tourist prices instead of low bulk prices.

Here are the stamps I bought:

With these stamps. especially the last stamp on right, I was taken back to the days when my Mom and Maseeji(aunt) used to buy us block print Indian dresses. And there were days when me, my sis or my cousin would unintentionally end up wearing the same dress, and only people’s glares made us realize that we were dressed same.

Initially, I had these huge plans of sewing goodie bags for my daughter’s birthday from muslin cloth(after dyeing it pink) and then doing a block print on it. After just dyeing a test fabric, I realized how time consuming it was going to be. So, I bought ready made linen bags from oriental trading, and used those for dyeing.

For block printing, this is what you would need:

1)      Fabric paint, Rits Dye or Block Printing Dye

2)      Cardboard

3)      Brayer

4)      Fabric to paint on

I used both fabric paint and Dye, and would prefer dye, as its easy to go on the blocks and easy to remove as well. I had a tough time removing the fabric paint off the blocks.

Step 1: Put a cardboard behind or in between the fabric

Step 2: Pour the paint on a cardboard and roll the bryer on the paint.

Step 3: Use the brayer to get the paint on the block

Step 4: Press the block to the fabric with some pressure.

Warning :  It can be addictive.

Once I was done with block printing, for some bags I removed the thread those bags came with, and replaced it with the thin strips from runner fabric. I don't have any picture of those bags. Hopefully, the photographer from the party must have got it.  Not left with any golden print bags either. Those were the first ones to go at the party.

Now Block printing the Runners

My brain must have exploded thinking about some ideas for cost effective runners. After wracking my brain for what seems like eternity, I settled on the crushed panne velvet fabric from Joann’s. I liked its crushed look and thought it would look good all by itself.  But when I dressed it with burlap(which was to be the table cloth), the runners looked too plain to use as is. On top of that, tables at the venue were not wide enough to use the runners length wise. But I had already purchased the fabric, so there was no going back. I decided to use it width wise, 3 per table.  And for dressing up the runners,  the idea of block printing the runners hit me. I was little worried if block printing was doable as the fabric was synthetic. But, the print went on it like that’s what the fabric was made for.

Added a border on both sides.

Some in orange as well.

  

I can’t wait to make some block print drapes. Maybe I can go back to my canvas drapes, and add this block print to it.. hmmm

Happy Block Printing!

Crossover Pinafore Dress and Barefoot Sandals

 

I thought I will never get around to posting any of the dresses I made for my little Miss M. This is the first dress I had sewn for her, right before she was born, and so its size was a little off. It did not fit her until now. So I could get her to model for me only recently.

 

The pattern and tutorial of this dress is from smashedpeasandcarrots. As its a reversible dress, here is the other side.

 

 

 

We were visiting our friends for Kentucky Derby, and I thought, even though she won’t be able to keep a hat on, she still needed to dress up a bit. So, from the fabric left from the dress, I made matching barefoot sandals for her using fold over elastic. Check out the tutorial for the sandals here.

 

 

Now, I need to pull my old pictures for all the other dresses I had sewn and find time to post it. Maybe I need to wait until Miss I (my niece) can wear the same dresses and so I will have 2 beauties modeling for me.

Happy Sewing!

Yummiest Chocolate Cake Ever!

For my hubby's birthday last week, I baked this chocolate cake, which as per him and my kiddo, is the best chocolate cake I have ever baked. And I I totally agree with him. This is going to be my go-to recipe for a dense chocolate cake.

The recipe for this cake is from one of my favorite cake blogs Call me cupcake. The ingredients at her blog are in dl(decilitre). 1 dl = 0.42 cup. Below is the approximate conversion of ingredients in cups:

Chocolate cake Ingredients

•1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
•2 cup sugar
•1/2 cup cocoa powder
•1 tsp baking powder
•2 tsp baking soda
•2 large eggs
•1cup dl strong coffee
•1 cup buttermilk
•1/2 cup vegetable oil
•1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Chocolate fudge frosting

•300 grams butter at room temperature
•2 cup powdered sugar
•1/2 cocoa powder
•200 grams dark chocolate, chips or chopped
•1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
•1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Hop over to her blog here, to get the entire recipe. I cannot wait to make this cake again. The thick and creamy chocolate fudge frosting goes very well with the cake.

Happy Baking!

Playful Stripes Cardigan

I have finally managed to finish this stripes cardigan I started for Maya/Inaya, before this winter season ended. So, Maya will get to wear it few times before it gets packed and shipped to my sister for her new baby(Inaya) which is on the way. Its made from a Alana Dakos pattern : Playful Stripes Cardigan. 

As soon as I started knitting it, and got stuck forever on the picot edge, I realized I would be lucky if I could  finish in time for Maya to wear it even once before the winters were over. But then my sister's baby girl is on the way, and this project quickly turned from just Maya's to Maya/Inaya project. This does not mean that Inaya won't get her share of sweaters knitted just for her. Can't wait to start using more of the pink wool from my stash. 

As soon as I got all the infinite loose threads in and the buttons were sewn, I did not want to waste even a single winter day, and put it on Ms. Maya immediately. She did not want to smile much for the camera that day.

The buttons are from lotsofbuttons website. 

I like the fitting of the sweater. It looked a bit on the smaller side, when I was knitting it. My husband was convinced that Maya won't get to wear it even once because of the size. But it turned out just fine, and I like the fact that it does not have a loose fitting. 

Happy Knitting!