We’ve spent some time sharing how the Community Collection tablecloths were made here, so…how were the Community Collection pillow covers made?
Great question. I would love to tell you. (Shoutout to Elyse Meyers…anyone else? We love a good storyteller!)
Like any good story, let me introduce the characters.
Analise (pictured below) is our resident artist who is our designer and creative mind here at the studio. She's also our co-founder and you can read more about Analise here.
Talented Mr. Laxmi Lal (pictured on the left) who is one of our favorite artisan partners and is so hospitable. There has yet to be one meeting with him where we leave with empty stomachs!
Our lovely friend and seamstress partner, Jyoti (pictured on the right) who is self-employed, operating her own shop just minutes down the road from our studio.
These folks, though not the only players in our story, are the main creative force behind the Community Collection Pillow Covers. So how did they take this plain handwoven cotton (an empty slate, as it were) and bring Embrace, Gather, Belong, and Connect to life?
It starts with Analise, who spends months dreaming up the designs and tweaking them until the prints and colors are finalized. Her designs need to speak of the heart behind the collection, to represent its meaning. She shares about her thoughts and inspiration behind the design for the Community Collection here. Check it out and get a glimpse in to the mind of a designer! We’re so glad to have the team we do.
A drive out to visit Mr. Laxmi Lal’s confirms what we were hoping: he can bring these designs to life in the form of wooden blocks used for dabu. Which means it’s just a matter of time before we have fabric with these designs on it! There’s nothing like a good meeting and a delicious lunch of roti (flat bread) and the freshest, seasonal sabzi (veggies) right from the garden.
Mr. Laxmi Lal sends the designs to his colleagues in Gujarat and the artisans spend hours meticulously carving blocks of wood in to the intricate designs you can see here. The detail that is achieved amazes us every time!
We pull up to his studio in Akola, a village an hour outside the city, just in time to see his team carefully pulling the handwoven cotton tightly over long narrow tables. Each table is six meters in length and once pulled tight, the fabric is fastened to the edges with pins and we’re ready to begin!
The wooden block is dipped in a special mixture of mud, pressed carefully onto the fabric in repeating rows. The artisan lines up each print with the one before, and after the first couple of rows, they fall into a rhythm and the pattern comes to life covering all six meters of cotton. Despite watching it many times, it hasn’t lost its appeal.
Once printed the fabric is removed to dry before dying. To read more about dabu check out our Process page here.
After drying, Mr. Laxmi Lal oversees the dying process. His studio artisans, using their cold indigo vat, submerge the printed fabric in a very careful and intentional way. The whole process is a science! Once dyed, the six meters of fabric is stretched out in the hot afternoon sun to dry. The fabric comes out a beautiful sea green and a few minutes after being exposed to the air, it turns a deep blue.
After a good wash, the fabric is dried, folded and packed. It comes our way by bus from Akola and we say: till next time Mr. Laxmi Lal!
Queue seamstress entry: Jyoti is busy at her shop when we stop by with the fabric. She’s excited to work with us on this project and is quick to jump in. She’s not just a great friend and seamstress, she has great connections too! In order to get the inside edges finished she uses her connections to have the seems finished with a serger.
Sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in our day and these pillow covers seem to follow us home from the studio for their quality check! Even though it is meticulous work, quality control is important and it’s satisfying to see a job well done.
Now the challenge of photographing in a way that does the color, quality and form justice. No easy task! Of course the week for our photo shoot is rainy and we reschedule a few times and then have a couple re-do’s as we aren’t quite getting what we’re looking for. Despite all the trial and error, this shoot is especially fun as it takes three of us just to hold the pillows for the camera. The more the merrier.
We bid adieu to Embrace, Belong, Connect and Gather as they begin their trip across the world to you. It literally took a community to bring you the Community Collection. How about that?
Bye for now!
Sarah
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