Indian Inspiration

For those of you who don't know, I used to be part of a belly dance group. ( And for those of you who are giggling right now, shush! You haven't had a good time unless you've decked yourself out in glitter and sequins and let all your jiggly bits have a good old wiggle around!)

 

I loved dancing in that group, and my Momma still does. And although I used Indian patterns as inspiration for this piece, I like to think that the lovely ladies I used to dance with provided me with a greater source of inspiration in the wise eyes of the owl. Strong women, who dance and have fun and don't care what other people think. The best kind of women.

 

Without further ado here's my strong, wise owl.

 

 

I used traditional style henna patterns as inspiration for the patterns.

 

 

Worked it all on white cotton, with embroidery silks using my grandmothers embroidery hoop.

 

 

I mixed it up a little a the bottom, I didn't want it to be too symmetrical. sometimes you've just have to ignore the balance of things.

 

 

I tried to stick to quite rustic colours and jewel tones, (I'm going to post on how I keep my colours balanced and even in a later post.)

 

 

Those scalloped edges look pretty, but boy they took me ages to sew!

 

 

I thought I was finished until I thought about those lovely ladies again, and realised it needed some sparkle! So that's what I'll be doing tonight, squinting at tiny beads trying not to spill them all over the floor!  

 

Much Love

 

And

 

Have a giggle have a wiggle!

 

Frankie

 

xxx