A few years ago I got a couple of t-shirts for my sister and me from a store in Bangalore called 'Tribes India'. I'm a big fan of the store because it was set up with the noble aim to showcase and market the art and craft of tribal people in India. Tribal crafts are just so steeped in tradition and richness and have a captivating raw, earthly quality. Needless to say, the store is filled with contemporary treasures.
Take the t-shirt I bought for example. It features the print of a 'Gond' peacock painting which is an art form of the Gond tribal community of central India, characterized by the use of dots and lines.
Much as I love the painting, the collar had gone wonky and the t-shirt clearly was begging to be retired after years of service, but there was no way I was just going to throw it away.
So I cut the peacock out and found this fabric scrap in my stash that I though might complement the painting someway.
I decided to make a circular purse, positioned the fabric scrap to one side and using a mixing bowl to cut out a round shape.
Then I sewed the fabric piece to the t-shirt cutout and used fusible interfacing to slightly stiffen the front.
Next I cut out another circle for the back and bias strips for the final binding from the remaining t-shirt material. Also 2 circles from some off-white cotton fabric for the purse lining.
Then I used a 7" all-purpose zipper to put the purse together after first cutting out the portions at the top to have a straight edge for the zipper. I only wish I'd cut a larger circle because the scalloped edges of the peacock feathers on top got knocked off somewhat while attaching the zipper.
Finally, I created the bias binding by sewing the two bias strips together and attaching it all around the purse. I haven't yet decided what to use it for - probably a travel pouch to hold socks/ toiletries or maybe for craft supplies. But either way, as my sis put it, 'the peacock lives on!'
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