Precious things I

In August 2012 Kate Fletcher of Local Wisdom invited people to share the story of a garment or wearable that is special to them. There were two sessions in the San Francisco bay area. I had to pick one garment for the project, which was hard. On the very day of the shoot, I decided to wear one of my favorite handmade kurta. I have been wearing it for more than six years. It has faded a little bit over the time. It was purchased   at a lovely textile boutique in Colombo owned by an Indian lady. The kurta has kalamkari work all over it and is dyed with plant dyes. This kurta makes me happy, calm, and composed every time I wear it.  

Photo by: Paige Green

A few precious items from Fabindia:

Walnut dye

When we were looking for houses to rent in the North bay, we had a nice cabin surrounded by redwood trees to see. So we drove there one cold day to meet the owner and take a tour of that place. After all the talking and looking, the owner said that the Johnsons beach is five minutes from the house. We walked down there to discover that some one has suicided. That was good enough reason for me not to consider that house. The parking lot by the beach was empty except a few ravens. There were loads of walnuts on the ground. I was delighted. I thought of all the possible shades walnut dye could offer and what I'd be dyeing. I realized that we didn't have any containers to collect them. What should I do? I wasn't going to leave without them. My husband said he's going to use his baggy sweat shirt as a bag! 

I followed Rebecca Burgess's recipe from her beautiful book 'Harvesting Color'. I left the bucket sit in the bathroom tub. I observed the water turn dark. I could not wait to prepare the dye bath and put the fabric and a piece of garment hand sewn by me. I kept wearing the shirt for days. It is in one of the boxes, safe and warm in our new house waiting to be worn again. 

The t-shirt before it was dyed

Maple leaves

Dyed with tea, fenugreek and maple leaves 

Turmeric / மஞ்சள்