Kantha Quilts-Fair Trade Artisans

Hello friends,

Me being the creative person that I am, I am always discovering new skills I want to learn so as to be able to execute new projects. My latest--sewing! To be honest, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to take action on this particular pursuit considering my grandmother was a fabulous seamstress and made almost every dress my sister and I wore as children. My interest isn't particularly in clothing (although I have no doubt it will come in handy now and again with a ripped hem or gaping hole!). For now, I just want to learn the basics on a sewing machine to make my very own Kantha quilt. I discovered them from Connected Goods and loved not only how beautiful they are, but also the story behind them. They are made in India, particularly Bengal, from sari scraps. The scraps are sewn together with a kantha stitch (hence the name) and are often used for children or for guests to make them feel welcome.

Unfortunately at this point in my life, I can't spare the high price for these beautiful textiles so I started to do some research. I found that you can purchase sari scraps straight from India on ebay  for about $7.99/yd of all places! You can check out the beautiful pieces they have for sale in their ebay store called Indian Royal Treasure. My next venture was to find a decent sewing machine for a decent price. I checked on Craigslist and voila! I found a classic Singer 457 Stylist for only 40 bucks. Now that I have all the materials, it's time to get the skills and therefore I have decided to enroll in an introductory sewing course where I work at Academy of Art University here in San Francisco.

Here are the materials I've acquired so far....stay tuned for the finished product in a couple months!

And here is my beautiful new machine:

Here is an image from Connected Goods of what a real Kantha quilt looks like:

If you can afford it, I would highly encourage you to purchase one from them as they are fair trade goods and support fair trade artisans.

Read more about the Fair Trade Artisans here

Here's a snipit from their website:

Each Sari Blanket sold benefits the men and women in one of the most disadvantaged areas of the world. We help create a better livelihood for both them and the families who rely on them. These people have been given the chance to rise above their circumstances and take back their humanity.