History of Tapestries, how it all started

 

A tapestry is a beautiful form of textile art which is hand woven. This brilliant piece of artwork has all wrapped thread hidden. Each colour is interlinked and weft back and forth in its own tiny pattern. Tapestry is made using natural warp thread like pure wool, linen or cotton. Sometimes it may also include silk, gold, and silver.

Tapestry has a close connection to painting and is done in big scale. In fact, best Tapestries were created by renowned painters and artists.

History of tapestries

The Tapestries are alluring wall-hanging which enhances the overall beauty and interior of your home. The history says tapestries came into existence from the ancient Egyptians. It has been known for more than 100 years and it is said that ancient Egyptians and the Incas buried their dead loved family members in tapestry woven clothing.

In fact, the big civic building of the Greek Empire had walls decorated with tapestries. The French medieval weavers brought the craft of tapestries on large scale. During the middle ages, Tapestries became status symbols and was used in insulation for castle walls, covering tiny openings and giving privacy around beds.

Moreover, Kings and nobles choose to carry Tapestries during travels from one castle to another as a form of prestige. After King’s battle Tapestries changes hands and was with the one who got the victory. Tapestries were used to add more beauty to the victor’s door and window openings, it was used in all size and some Tapestries were cut up and joined too while using as a hanging to cover doors/windows

Lady with the Unicorn tapestries was created back in the 15th century in the Loire valley, more than 5,000 people were employed in medieval tapestry weaving and this piece of work remains immortal. The tapestry weavers passed their skills from one generation to another. A team of skilled father and son duo can weave 1 single square foot of tapestry in 30-35 days.

The Tapestries are made using pliable fibre and can be quickly rolled up and carried as compared to the traditional framed paintings. Every tapestry contains soothing colour, the medieval weavers extracted their dyes from plants and insects. They have more or less – different colours. Like the red shade came from madder, poppies or pomegranates, for blue they used woad. The weavers used their imagination and sometimes senses of humour to turn it into beautiful wall decors.

Creative uses of Tapestry

1. Home Decoration

People love to decorate their home and offices with wall tapestries hanging.

 

2. Covers

The alluring Tapestries can be used as a decorative cover for the bed, chair, and sofa. In fact, you can show some creativity and use it as a tablecloth.

3. Room Curtains

The Tapestries can be converted into beautiful room curtains. You can also use it as a sliding curtain next to the windows, add some sturdy curtains rings to it and attach them on the top of Tapestry.

4. Meditation wall hangings

The overall benefits of meditation are immense, meditation reenergize your body and soul. Use Spiritual tapestries for your meditation room, it will give you much-needed calmness entire day.

We would look forward for your comments.

Thanks!

Cheers!

Types of fabric printing in India

The printing process is an age-old tradition which is used to enhance the beauty of textile. India is a country which is high applauded across the globe for rich handicraft and textile arts. The fabric painting are unique for different regions.

The best part is almost every region has unique techniques and texture to provide a classy output. Every fabric painting has a unique style which is very much evident from the final output pattern. In India, initially block printing tools were used, but the area is very well progressed now and the concept of printing has seen a huge revolution. This is the reason, the handicraft industry is blooming.

1. Bagh

This spectacular printing technique has originated from Madhya Pradesh. The print got its name from Bagh district where this technique was originally practiced. Bagh is a hand printing technique where natural colours are used. The Bagh originated when the Khatri folks decided to migrate and make a living near Bagh River. The design is highly inspired by flora, mushrooms and spectacular paintings in and around Taj Mahal.

The Bagh painting also includes geometrical designs using bright colours. The shades are unique and it can be formed on cotton, silk fabric. The Bagh print looks drop dead gorgeous on chiffon and bamboo materials.

2. Ajrakh

The gorgeous looking Ajrakh printing is done in shawls, this is highly popular in western states in India. This block printing is done by stamps and it is said to be originated back in  Mohenjo-Daro civilisation.

The Ajrakh techniques in lovely woodblock printing, it includes eye catchy geometric shapes. Earlier vegetable dye and natural colors were used. In fact, Ajrak is an art form which preserves the locality’s rich culture and heritage.

3. Kalamkari

Kalamkari is one of the classy and tending design when it comes to hand printed materials. The beautiful pattern on cotton fabric looks fabulous and adds more beauty to the final picture. The art form originated from Andhra Pradesh. It is said that in olden days the singers and scholars used to paint part of stories from Hindu mythology, this has given birth to a beautiful art form called Kalamkari prints.

After the dyeing stage, wax is used to dye the blue part and rest of the areas are hand painted with bamboo stick brush. Majorly, Kalamkari art form replicates Ramayana and Mahabharata.

4. Dabu

Dabu is another spectacular type of fabric printing which originated in Rajasthan. The hand block printing follows mud resist printing technique. Dabu is time as well as labor consuming printing technique, but the final output is ravishing.

 

It is said that Dabu originated in China as it is similar to “batik” printing style. The beautiful block printing form replicates plants and flowers.

5. Bandhani

Simple and elegant Bandhani dyeing technique is dated back and came into existence from the Indus Valley Civilization. Folks go gaga over this simple yet magnificent printing technique. The beauty has grabbed its place in ancient texts of Harshacharita.

The Bandhani fabric involves cloth plucking by fingernails and then the tiny binding is dyed. The primary design is made with dots of various size and the background colour is usually bright and gorgeous.

6. Leheriya

This is again a magnificent masterpiece which is extremely popular in Rajasthan. The graceful striped textiles are available in gorgeous bright colours. The strips are usually printed on cotton and silk cotton cloth. Earlier 5 distinct colours were used along with natural dyes.

The fabric printing pattern is called Leheriya because it is in the form of waves. The colour is dyed only in a particular pattern which is similar to waves.

7. Sanganeri

Sanganeri is popularly used as a home decor material because of tasteful handcrafted block printing. The beautiful printing technique is migrated from Gujrat to Rajasthan. In this fabric printing technique, the material is placed on table and blocks are used to print the artistic designs.

Sanganeri design includes beautiful flowers, mangoes, jhumkas, leaves on the fabric which is placed in such a way that symmetry of design remains constant.

8. Gold and Silver Dust

This is an age-old fabric printing techniques which uses zardosi and the sparkle of gold. Now affordable metals like mica and chamki are used on the fabric. Gold and Silver Dust is famous in Rajasthan.

The work is done on already printed and finishes fabrics. A gum paste with castor oil is used so that the gold and silver dust remains permanently on the fabric. The dust adds a fabulous amount of shine and glitter to the final material.

9. Batik

A batik is a form of printing which involves soaking of cloth in a colour dye for a while. The form originated in Egypt and has migrated from there to India. The technique also involves some variations like soaking the clothing, beating it and forming different patterns on it. The final step is to apply wax, it is applied to the entire cloth.

10. Bagru

The Bagru printing technique originated in Jaipur and provides breath-taking results. It is a 100-year-old technique, the technique involves washing, hard dying the fabric and sun drying it. The block patterns are formed from left to right and later sun dried. Finally, it is washed and boiled to achieve the final alluring product.

These are some alluring fabric painting techniques practices in India. The creativity, excellent craftsmanship and detailed effort makes these printing techniques immortal and trendy across the globe.

Do you know any other interesting techniques of fabric printing or any do-it-yourself ideas to print the cloth, do share with us in the comments!

Summers in Europe: Best Getaway

Folks, When is the best time to visit Europe weather-wise? Well… when is the best time to have a tempting ravioli pasta or a leisurely nap? The answer is obvious, summers!

Experience Tip: Summer in Europe means perfect weather. But it also means lots of crowds and an exodus of locals. The streets are full and everybody wants to bathe under the sun and explore the vivacious beaches all over the country.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The weather ranges from 20 degrees in May to a hotter 40 degrees in July-August.

The hottest day ever, happened to be on July 10, 1977 when the temperature reached 48 °C (118.4 °F) in both Athens and Elefsina, Greece, setting the official European record high. There’s also an unofficial record of the temperature climbing to 50 °C (122 °F) in Seville, Spain on August 4, 1881.

The best getaway in summers is beaches and Europe has the most beautiful beaches and they are vast in number. The most spectacular beaches are here:

1. La Concha Beach, San Sebastian, Spain

2.) Porthmeor Beach, UK

3.) Makarska Beach, Croatia

Just don’t go hoping for sand. Croatia is all about picturesque pebbled beaches, lapped by crystal clear water. Zlatni Rat is the best known, and adorns just about every travel brochure, so expect crowds, but there are gorgeous hidden spots on the mainland, such as Nugal, just south of Makarska.

4.) Eggremni Beach, Greece

5.) Cala Conta, Ibiza, Spain

If you are thinking to do exotic water sports and you are a nightlife person, then Ibiza is the best place for you. Ibiza is all about clubs, parties, boat parties, bars and performances by glamorous celebrities.

These are the major clubs on the island of Ibiza:

• Amnesia- located in the middle of the island, near San Rafael
• Benimussa Park- also known as ‘the Zoo’, open-air venue outside of San Antonio
• DC-10- located near the airport on the road to Las Salinas
• Destino- located at the end of Talamanca beach
• Es Paradis– located on the waterfront in San Antonio
• Eden– located on the waterfront in San Antonio
• Heart– located very near the Ibiza Town Marina
• Hï Ibiza– located on the main Playa d’en Bossa strip, opposite Ushuaïa
• Ibiza Rocks Hotel– located in the centre of San Antonio
• Ocean Beach– located along the Bay of San Antonio
• Pacha– located very near the Ibiza Town Marina
• Privilege– located in the middle of the island, near San Rafael
• Sankeys– located in the heart of Playa d’en Bossa
• Ushuaïa- located on the main Playa d’en Bossa strip, directly on the beach

6.) Nissi Beach, Cyprus

7.) Rabbit Beach, Italy

8.) Elafonissi Beach, Greece

Greek beaches consistently place in the top ten for best European beaches and best beaches overall, and for good merit. Each island has its own unique characteristics, so I encourage you to visit as many as you can. Some have crystal blue waters, while others are more turquoise in color. You might come across a beach with soft billowy sand, yet another with be covered in small pebbles or even seashells. The weather is perfect for beach outings from May through October.

9.) Navagio Beach, Zakynthos, Greece

10.) Zlatni Rat Beach, Croatia

11.) Tresaith Beach, UK

Hope this gives you a quick guide of how well you can spend summers in Europe.

P.S: Don’t forget to take a look at our handloom products to take along with your summer getaway:)

 

 

Hand-Knotting is real craftmanship

Let me introduce to you an indispensable process involved in the manufacturing of our hand-loom products – Hand Knotting. 

Hand-knotting is the process of manually knotting the edges of a textile product viz, bed sheet, rug, pareo, beach throw, table mat etc. to impart a beautiful shape to the whole product.

If we see the origin of fringes, they were used to prevent a cut piece of fabric from unravelling when hemming was not used on the fabric. The use of fringes is ancient but now this process has evolved so much that the people have discovered multiple ways to make knots or braids by hands.

The hand-knotted fringes or knots or tassels that you see at the ends of our products display real hard work and intricate craftmanship. In India, in general, more women are highly involved in this process of hand-knotting. It requires an ample amount of time and precision to perform such craftmanship.

These are few of our products with fringes/knots/tassels

 

#fouta #yarndyed #hand-knotted #pareo

#fouta #handknotted

#fouta #yarndyed #pareo #handknotted

#yarndyed #pareo #fouta #handknotted

#yarndyed #pareo #fouta #handknotted

#pareo #beachtowel #picnictowel #handknotted #handprinted

#bedspread #bedsheet #wallhanging #tapestries #beachthrow

Hope you also like the tassels and fringes as much as we do!

Cheers!

Process of ”Tie-Dye”

The term ‘Tie-Dye’ is simple to define but it is a process of various steps that requires tenous and extensive craftmanship. This is almost a daily process that takes place at our factory premises but we do it with utmost care as to make sure the effects of Tie-Dye are clear and look appropriate to suit with our printing designs. We do customise the effects according to the dye color and the designs.

So let me take you to our factory premises and show you the way how we do Tie-Dye on raw fabrics. First of all, the raw fabric is folded, twisted and pleated in such a way that it looks like a small bag(aka Potli), now this is fully prepared to get tied up with the help of rubber bands or a thick thread. 

And it would look something like this.↓

Tie-Dye shows different effects depending on the way you tie the fabric, it requires deep understanding of patterns and takes many hours to do so. 

The next step is to mix the dye colour in the big water tank. As we have a larger quantity, we do it in multiple water tanks. We tie at around 1500 pieces at one time and let them dip in the water for one night.

After keeping them in the water tanks overnight, it is time to take them out, untie them and let them dry in the sunlight. Few colours should not be directly exposed to sunlight as they loose their texture and the effect of Tie is not properly seen. The patterns are best seen when the fabric is perfectly dried, have a look at some of the patterns formed here:

This is just a glimpse of what we have in store under the Tie Dye section of our bedspreads. We customise as per the requirement and focus on the kind of place where the bedspread is going to be used, whether it is a beach, living room, yoga centre or dorm room.

Till next time, Cheers!!

Mandala Designs

Mandala is defined as a circular figure that represents the universe and we all know the universe is never ending. This word Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism and many of our bedspreads and wall hangings are inspired by Mandala.

Peacock Feather Mandala Bedspread

Coins Mandala Bedspread

Piuma Mandala Bedspread

Floral Mandala Bedspread

Margherita Flower Mandala Bedspread

Trip to Sanganer, Jaipur

I recently went to Sanganer, Jaipur – The Pink city last weekend. Everything is so overwhelming in Sanganer, Jaipur – The castles of  the Emperors, historical monuments, the temples, the local markets  which are full of vibrant handmade products and not to forget,  especially the people there. The very famous Pink city of India will  make you fall in love with it and you would want to visit it again and again. Sanganer is a small town, just 16 km away from Jaipur and the Jaipur airport is situated here in this town. The printing designs of our bedspreads are inspired by the Sanganer prints which are unique and famous all over the world. The Bandhej, Bandhani or Chunri designs are an epitome of handmade Tie & Dye designs that are produced here in Sanganer, Jaipur. I clicked this picture in the Albert Museum, Jaipur. The history of Bandhej designs dates back to medieval times when people were fascinated by this creative tie and dye effect that looks beautiful in true sense. We have many bedspreads that are inspired by this Bandhej effect. Have a look: Paisley Chunri Based Bedspread   Margherita Flower Chunri based Bedspread       I went to click more pictures in the Albert Museum and happened to see the Puppet show as well. Wow! The next was Bapu Bazzar on my list. This is a tourist hotspot as you can get the most unique and handmade products here, the Jaipuri bedsheets,  jutis (bellies), ready made suits, lehanga chunni, pottery, decoratives and the list never ends. Few of my picks from the Bapu Bazaar are these: Rajasthani Wall Hanging                                                           Cotton Printed Dress                                                                    Handmade Cotton Bag Jaipuri Cotton Bedsheet

Some of our bedspreads that can be used as Wall hangings are:

 Good morning Sun & Moon Wall Hanging

Round Elephant Wall Hanging

 

 

After visiting Bapu Bazzar, I packed my bags and started recapturing
the moments of the two days which I spent here in the Pink City.

This is an awesome place to visit and to learn about handicrafts more deeply.
This trip was as an awesome experience, wish I had more days to stay here.

I’ll come again for sure!

Cheers!

5 unique ways of using our Handloom Handprinted Bedsheets

 

5 unique ways of using our Handloom Handprinted Bedsheets

 

Our wide range of Bedspreads can be used as these:

a) Wall Hangings/ Ceiling 
b) Beach Throws/Picnic Sheet 
c) Dorm Decor
d) Table Cloths for large tables
e) Fancy window treatments as Curtain 
f) Room divider
g) Furniture Cover
h) Handmade and unique gifts for your loved ones.

Check out 5 unique ways among the above here:

1. BeachThrows/Picnic Sheet

We have inculcated the beauty of deep blue sea and its creatures in our Beautiful Coral Designs bedspreads. You will be overwhelmed by the brightness of the sun and the freshness of the sea when you go for your holidays and carry along these Aqua beach throws with you. 

You can select an Ocean Paradise beach Throw or a Life with sea creatures Throw Bedspread or an All over Coral Throw Bedspread from here http://goo.gl/j0EJdE and use them as your picnic sheet. Best for your holidays!

 

2. Wall Hangings

               

 

You can hang them in your backyard or in your living room to beautify that area and relax in the evening!! The uses are multiple and these wall hangings look great in everyway.

3. Bedspreads

This is the conventional way of using our handloom handprinted bedsheets with fringes on both sides. Bring them home and experience the calmness of these cotton bedspreads this summer.

 

 

4. Room Divider/Dorm Sheet

 

 

Another way of using this, is as a room divider. It will bring colors to your bed room and lighten it up. You can choose among Mandala, Horsocope, or Chunari designs here https://goo.gl/S1cxly 

 

 

5. Tapestries 

 

 

Wow, such a lovely way to brighten up your living room when you use them as a Tapestry. Try it and share your pictures with us.

Any new ideas are welcome!!

Cheers!!

 

Bhatnagar Textiles Pvt. Ltd. INDIA

This is a video that depicts our workplace showing all the processes starting from manufacturing of grey cloth till the packaging of bedsheets.

New Collection

Coral Beachthrows,,,,, So Wow!! Take a selfie with these coral beachthrows and become popular as they are so in trend and also feel relaxed when you rest on them under the sun near the sea;)

Exclusive collection of  Customised & Handcrafted Tapestries The image here shows the handprinted design of presentation of peacock feathers in beautiful Mandala creation.

Our marvellous range of Wall hangings   One of them is this Turtle Wall hanging which is very popular among coastal areas in all over the world.

Shown here is an amazing Black and White Tree of Life Elephant designed Bedspread The bedspread is first of all dyed black in colour and then the white colour is screen printed over it that makes it an eye-catching Tapestry, a perfect curtain for your living room or a beach sheet for your vacation.