Fabric Selection

A few photos I found weeks ago that I never posted but really should have. 
Below is a border design like piece on
a dress styled kameez (tunic top), which is a detail I love.
The whole suit puts purple alongside orange,
and then the touches of brown on the embellished
areas help when it comes to looking for matching jewelry and shoes. 

Just brilliant, two colours rarely worn in my opinion that are brought together.
The trim uses pink, white and brown shiny rayon like threads,
looking into damask like designs that
surround the flower shapes.
Lotus like blooms horizontally lined up.
The light plays with the shiny thread;
creating areas of shade, of light and dark.

The embellishments to the above neck area of a top are quite interesting, using thick black thread to create this beautiful leaf motif
and these splodge like flowers drops,
alongside swirls with sequins dotted around the shapes.
Leaves venation in gold thread – lush!

Newcastle Mela, September 2011

Photos from Newcastle Mela 2011

Ooops...bad photography skills results in an
interesting incredibly motion blurred image, 

the pattern lost, but perhaps a new one made.

The Mela in itself, is an amzing show of diversity and culture in Newcastle,
it's a celebration of what makes Newcastle a fantastic and amazing palce to live
and of course is a perfect oppotunity to eat good food (with or without the spicy kick).
It has an amazing lineup of performers and live music
that would gurentee to make you stop, take a seat and listen.

The photos coming up are simply of the kurtas there.

Kurtas are tunic like tops,

like a kameez (the blouse/top part of the shalwar kameez),

they are worn with trousers like jeans or actually suit like trousers.

The above pattern comes from a red kurta I bought.

The sun or flower like motifs really attracted me to it in the first palce.

This kurta is in the currant style of a dress.

 Like any clothing styles vary season to season,

at the moment the dress style is..well in.  

ORANGE! Hah bet you didn't see that one coming.

Meticulouse beadwork again,

I don't think I've seen orange beadwork in a while.

Seems to be a colour not often used on clothes.

Hopefully next year I can get more photos,

might include some of the actual music, and costumes worn too.

Shisha (also known as abla) Embroidery

An old kameez which I adored for the
embroidery and especially for its mirror work,
a traditional technique in India and Pakistan 

and other countries in which small pieces of mirror
are secured onto fabric and embroidered around

The simple grids of light pink thread, as seen above, 

are cleverly couched down with the actual thread
making up the material of the kameez (a tunic like top).

The two large mirrors above are
embroidered to look like mirror flowers.

 

Blue and pink make an amazing colour combination.
A play of colour fused with that of light and mirrors.

The unique bead work uses small wooden like tubular like beads.

Shisha Embroidery TIY (Try it yourself) with clear photos and instructions
There is a bit of information about Shisha Embroidery on 

Wikipedia but so far I haven't found much on the web or in the local library.