At home and work: studio and home tour, Anek Designs

I had a coloful Diwali in 2013 thanks to the wonderful designer collaboration with Anek Design's wonderful Kanika Bhal (read the story here ). Kanika's ecelectic design sensibility that is a trademark of her line of decor products flows just as easily and copiously into her domestic and work spaces. Posting a few images from around her studio and lovely apartment in Mumbai.

Two words braced on top of a door ledge pretty much sum up her work for me

And here, in a small but dear little studio in Goregaon Mumbai,  Kanika creates her label Anek Designs..

"It is a very functional space. We were lucky to find neat and clean nook right at the edge of a basti" Says Kanika describing her workshop and it's neighbourhood.

I am amazed at the neat organized interiors encountered within..

The small yet  airy and organised space takes me back to anpther space..

 Barely a few hours back , I had sarted the morning at  Kanika's  airy and charming apartment in Malad.

There is hints of Kanika's love for textiles every where in the house. The space brims with color and craft in every corner..

A  humble sweet platter  very cleverly used as a trivet  for serving snacks on the coffee table.

Or a long kalamkari cushion in earth colors on a stark blue sofa.

Kanika's chunky potli neckpeices adorning the top of a cupboard in her study..

A key organizer  at the entrance of her home..

A simple arrangement of objects and fruit  top a dining table.

Shadow puppets hung on a string..

Or a simple yet stunning curtain made out of  colorful scraps of left over fabric..

(I have a good mind of returning to this beauty here in an upcoming post, but more about that later)

Infact colors and weaves are abundant in this home..

And getting back to the workshop, there is piles and stacks of colour and more weave!

In Kanika's signature potli and scrap key chains..

In scraps of kantha materials. ( Kanika has been working with kantha since 2010, and in the time to come, she intends to offer all textile craft traditions from India and a few from abroad.)

In a wide variety of natural textiles Kanika likes to work with..

In the kalamkari range that she launched recently. ( Anek's  kalamkari  based patterns are commissioned from a national award winning weaver  based in Andhra Pradesh)

And last but not the least in a bunch of yummy cushions I splurged on in while a visit to her workshop!

It has been enlightening and inspiring knowing  Kanika. There is much  she will offer via Anek in the time to come, starting with a range of pure silk and woollen products. Do keep an eye on her facebook page.. I  have mine glued too!

Designer Diwali!!

I am in the mood for color. Lots of color.   Fuchsia, orange and turquoise, that's how much color.  Throw in sheeny shiny mirrors and a dose of vintage fashion and the festive is already added to the festive season!
Only this time it comes with a twist. It is among the first of what I am hoping will become designer collaborations.  How to up cycle an old garment you cannot bear to throw away?

Kanika Bhal of Anek designs shows me how ... 

Spring cleaning a while back I came across this funky kurti I was very proud to posses a few years back. Now a bit frayed and a little weathered it has been in retirement for sometime. Only  I could not get myself to give it away.

Looking for ideas to do something with the garment, I  thought of Kanika. A textile designer and entrepreneur who's work I have been in love with since I first saw her inventive work with traditional textiles.

A phone call, a quick trek to her cute little design studio in Andheri, Mumbai  and restless wait!
Until just a few days back, right in time for Diwali,  I receive this package of a kurti transformed as if by magic..

Then snazzy ethnic top ...

Now, fun funky accent pillows!!

The garment has come a long way indeed.

Five pillows, one batua and it does not end here! I have been kept waiting for a surprise which is till in the making ! How much fun can one sqeeze out of a single garment ?

Kanika explains her choices of color and detail, " I picked Rani ( it should be the Indian national colour) as the main colour and added orange and teal to compliment. Rani was present in the original printed kurti as well, so I just picked up on it. I used my signature potlis along with traditional Gujarati triangular trims 

to add detail and an element of fun. I made the cushions in assorted sizes so that they can be used in various settings."

And  here are three ways of glamming up a corner of the house, vintage fashion style then:

Against a neutral crisp white..

Cool boho turquoise love...

  Warm and punchy festive splash..!

The limitless goodness does not stop here. There is also a delightful little pouch made from left over fabric. Set against the warrior princess tray from another powerhouse of talent, Vineeta Nair it makes quite a picture. Non?!

Here are Kanika's  tips  to use when taking on a project like this :

When working with old textiles:

Be sure that the base fabric still has some strength left, else it will tear soon. 

stitch reinforcements may have to be added.

The pieces must be dry clean/ spot clean only to make them last longer.

Its a great way to recycle your favourite pieces so go ahead and raid your closet now!

So there, the hoarder in me is punch drunk at the moment. Do check out Kanika's incredible work  here. Still to come on the blog, a home tour and a  morning spent at Anek design's studio. Until then, please leave your comments and stay with me!!!

Featured : Hindustan Times Mint

Part of a blogger feature carried by Live Mint this past weekend... Ways to use and display old textiles bags.  I convert a few into cushions, putting them to use when I am not using them as bags.

Mirror worked, appliquéd, hand dyed,  traditional cloth bags are a ubiquitous fashion and practical accessory from every where.  Most of us  have a few lying about the house. Sometimes even the textile shopping bags one gets at cotton clothing stores these days are so hard to ignore !  (Anokhi, Fab India and Cotton's Jaipur dole out lovely eco-friendly , reusable, fabric shopping bags).. Here is a way to  use  them all - heirloom, high street or plain free.

Above: appliqued indigo dyded bag from Vietnam gets used as a head rest stuffed with old Tshirts and random scraps. The roughly put together stitches can be ripped open in a second, when one feels like putting the same to another  use, like as a  real bag perhaps?!

An old shopping bag from Cottons Jaipur, stuffed with a filler and embellished with pom poms and ghungroos..

An old  beauty from Kutch that used to be my Go to bag while in college,  used as a cushion somedays :)

The whole ensemble of cushions and textiles displayed in different  corners of the house. A casual seating area  in the living room in the above instance.
Hand made things are usually easy to throw together, as  even drastically different styles tend to work well together.   It is a good idea to balance the  scheme by combining solid coloured textiles with patterned textiles. Usually using different patterns used creating  different techniques- weave, embroidery, and prints  helps create a rich and attractive end result.

A big thank you to Komal Sharma from Mint for the feature :) ..Its particularly exciting to share the same space as Bhavna (of An Indian Summer) and Rajee (of  Rajeesood )  

More from Diwali around the house

Diwali enthusiasm is  running  riot around the household. 

This is among the very few occasions in the year I am focused completely on the house, spring cleaning, painting and changing things around.

Posting a few pictures of the little things  done so far this year.. The little notes on the images should tell all that needs telling..

I like to create contrasting pools of colours and textures around the house, achieved by mixing and matching different materials.

Wood, metals, silks, cottons, weaves, embroidery and clay-  used in varying proportions and combinations without any particular  method. Only I do tend to unify the overall look with one predominant element: for example colour.

In the meanwhile, painting of diyas, chowkis and old furniture is underway- Just because we are not painting walls, does not mean no painting this year! I have my kids to thank for active and enthusiastic participation in all  the painting and housekeeping,  there is no where on earth I can do this without their love and enthusiasm !

I have a few more things to share on the subject, but that comes later.. Until then, Happy decorating!!

Design in focus: A labour of love : UDD

Yuti and Atul: the heart and brain behind UDD

The name Udd meaning `fly’, evokes many images. That of soaring the skies,  to venture where most people resist, unshackling and taking flight.. It does not surprise me in the least that the name of the label under which husband and wife duo—Yuti Shah Edward and Atul Edward - decided to float their new venture a year and a half back was Udd.

For the incredibly talented Yuti and her adventurous husband Atul, Udd has meant crossing crucial boundaries and breaking quite a few chains in the pursuit of a dream.   "I had had enough of deadline based design,’’ says Yuti, a graphic designer by training. This was also around the time the couple had decided to tie the knot.

"We both quit our steady jobs, with very little idea about our future was going to be " adds Yuti.  It was on the couples many travels that Yuti’s constant doodling struck Atul as something they should take on for a new venture.

It was with this germ of an idea and little else that Yuti quit her four year old job at Freedom Tree Design  and started to draw in all earnest. Important learning from an exhibition later, Udd came into being.. A label that boasts Yuti’s folk art based graphics digitally printed on to fabrics with bold, primary colours.

The array of dupattas, scarves, skirts and sarees Yuti designs , speak volumes on her strong sense of colour besides  her expertise at drafting her designs.


Having spotted her range for the first time at an exhibition in Mumbai, I was completely hooked!.. So when an opportunity presented itself to me, I found myself at the door of Udd’s Andheri based workshop, a tiny hole in the wall where the incredible range of clothing is put together.

With enough room for just three or four people to sit at one time, the tiny sun filled space was a pleasure to hang around at,  take photographs and listen to Yuti and Atul wax eloquent about the passion that they invest into their work.


Today’s is going to be a series of posts on the bright brilliant people I have met over the last two years. This one about Yuti has been a long time coming! Part of the trouble I had with writing this was how I was going to manage all that I wanted to say about Udd in one post !

Am taking the plunge today wholly knowing there is no way to do complete justice to her work.

Yuti Sporting a Udd Matsya Dupatta. The range features graphics of mythical half man half fish figures

The tailors

Sewing up the vibrant squares

The embroiderer at work

Devil in the finest details !

The Master Draft's Man, Islam Bhai models for the camera :)

Colour, colour and more colour !

A skirt bearing the peacock motif 

Buttons, trinkets and baubles

Textiles: Hill tribe weaves

Getting back to posting about Textile traditions from Asia. This one is  about the most vibrant, most eclectic and most lovingly preserved traditions one will encounter. The hill tribe weaves from Indochina. 

An intricate  flower Hmong blanket  with extensive embroidery ,

 applique and batik used as alternately a throw or coverlet in the bed room.

Indigo dyed Black Hmong clothing from Vietnam. The collar, belt and sleeves are worked in

  cross-stitch and applique and attached  to the main garment later.

The hill tribe people from the region are diverse- almost 50 from Vietnam alone.  They present a mind boggling diversity in attire, practices customs and traditions. It is impossible for the casual visitor to illustrate the whole gamut in a single blog post, it is more a subject for a serious ethnographer.

What unifies the vast number of ethnic people spread across Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and even China, to my mind is their love for textiles.  Each minority is easily identifiable with their dress Most of them derive their names from the particular style of clothing they wear - Black Hmong, Flower Hmong, Red Dzao or Yao, White-trouser Yao so on. 

One of the more vibrant tribes, Red yao, or Dzao clothing. Remarkable for their  detachable aprons and belts worked with embroidery, applique and liberal use of woolen and metallic embellishment.

Flower Hmong blanket used as a window runner in the study room

The garments are made by the women. Harvesting  and weaving the hemp,  breeding silkworms, applying indigo dye, producing the batik designs, embroidering  and sewing the garment and embellishing them with pompoms, shells and sequins, a virtually limitless  range of techniques go into producing colorful and flamboyant dress which are utilitarian, ecologically-kind and expressive.

Have posted illustrations of the Black Hmong and the Red Yao or  Dzao clothing from Vietnam. (Only I have not managed  to get the right shades of indigo dyes in the illustrations which differ from the original in that respect. )

An unusual Sin ton, or belt  and Plastron or Chap, of the Red Yao tribe

A lasting memory from my trip to Sapa, Vietnam is observing a Hmong household up-close. Ventured more by accident, seeking shelter from sudden rain- the  half an hour spent in a ramshackle hut told me enough about the love of textiles, for the small area inhabited by the Black Hmong family was rife with fabric dying and weaving paraphernalia. A pungent smell of indigo fermenting in vats permeated the mostly cane and bamboo house. The women of the house  had inky-blue hands - a tell tale sign that comes from handling indigo dyes.

The  prettiest  sight  one will encounter roaming the emerald rice paddies of this exquisite hill station in Northern Vietnam is the sight of  White Hmong  and  Flower Hmong women swishing voluminous skirts on the way to the weekly market. Called `skirts of thousand pleats' on account of  the painstaking hand pleating that goes into creating the garment.

Flat cushion made from a Hmong jacket

A visit to the weekly Hmong market in  Luang Prabang, Laos, was another occasion to arrest lasting images of a very colourful people out in their finery. 

Over all the trips I have come back with stashes of textiles. Posting a few pictures from around the house and a slide show of images from  Vietnam and Laos.

 A child's cap embellished with wool, metal, and old coins : Red Yao tribe

Besides the colourful flamboyant clothing, the hill people use jewellery and accessories extensively, a subject that will take up an entirely different post.