Interested in crafting your own clothes? Here’s a round-up of websites that offer the coolest tools for you to be atmanirbhar
This picture has been used for representational purpose
Weaving lessons
It’s not an easy job to keep kids engaged at home during a time like this. If you’re running out of ideas, the Funskool Creative Weaving Factory (R899) is a mini weaving machine for children above the age of eight. Tune out of screen time and get weaving and crocheting with your kid with this machine that also comes with colourful wool balls and cotton yarns. If you’re open to calling their friends over, make it a weaving party.
Log on to: firstcry.com
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Adding colour
We’ve all had those summer vacations looking for old, worn out clothes and colouring them up with fabric paint and sketch pens. This set of 10 fabric paint pens (R290) are ideal for kids to draw and colour on old shoes, pants, shirts and bags without making a mess with liquid paints.
Log on to: igp.com
Tie-dye fun
This age-old technique of playing with colours never gets old. With online tutorials flooding the Internet, get your hands on acid-free alcohol dyes of different colours (Rs 809 for a set of three) to try different tricks such as shibori, bandhani and lehriya. Tie-and-dye can be used to salvage faded or stained clothes, too.
Log on to: itsybitsy.in
Stick and stitch
Cross-stitch embroideries may take a while to learn, but they make for an ideal way to calm the mind; besides, it never goes out of style. This website offers cutesy European cat-themed embroidery kits (Rs 460 onwards) that come with instructions for beginners, and pack in the base cloth, needlework card, drawings, threads, hoops and other necessities. Once done, stitch the embroidered cloth on the back of an oversized denim jacket, or a tote bag, or just simply use it as wall art. And if you’d like to add some glitter to the piece, or jazz up an old top’s hemline or a pair of sneakers, look out for a rhinestone applicator wand (Rs 800 onwards).
Log on to: wish.com
Prints on the block
Pic Courtesy/Getty Images
Block printing is one of the easiest ways to glam up totes, basic T-shirts, dupattas, dyed handkerchiefs and the likes. The Nestery offers a kid-friendly block-printing kit (Rs 920) that comes with handcrafted wooden blocks in contemporary designs, four fabric colours, a natural wool colour pad and tray. If you’re looking to set your hand at the craft, try Zwende’s dupatta (R710) and T-shirt block (R630) printing sets that come in quirky designs like Superman and Spiderman logos, footballs and elephants.
Log on to: thenestery.in and zwende.com
Loom up
A charkha for home. Pic Courtesy/Indic Inspirations
It’s not just handloom sarees, dupattas and stoles that are pretty; the looms that help churn these pieces out can make for statement pieces at home and help you get creative with your clothes, too. From foldable wooden charkhas (in pic) (R5,425) and rigid heddle looms (R18,200) to vertical and horizontal weaving looms (R11,720), Indic Inspirations has a range of textile tools that you can use to weave fabrics, tapestries, floor mats, etc. And they make for a conversation starter, even while sitting pretty in a corner of your home.
Log on to: indicinspirations.com