To continue my Festive collection 2016 here are four pieces that I made with fabric beads. Fabric Jewelry has fascinated me since my early jewelry making years. In 2012 I conducted a week-long workshop for design students on making fabric jewelry and accessories. Maybe the fact that I was a fashion designer once upon a time with textiles being my bread and butter has something to do with it. 
I have a box full of fabric swatches and bits which I full out time to time to touch, feel and sometimes make a thing or two out of. A few years back I had made two necklaces with fabric tapes (borders used for embellishing hems) one of which you can see in this post on Sari ribbon. I had later hoped to make a full collection based on that, but the idea never materialised until now.
This range started out as a time pass exercise when I started rolling length of fabrics and hemmed them to make beads. I added small religious charms to them to keep up with the trend of talismanic and cultural jewelry. I have explored 3 different color harmonies here – 1 & 4 are complementary, 2 is analogous and three is monochromatic.
Srujana – Fabric bead necklace in magenta, peacock green, and gold with a geometric flower pendant. The Padmam (meaning lotus, here just a flower) is representative of sacred geometry and is indicative of a place occupied by a Female deity (usually Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth or Saraswati – the goddess of knowledge). The word Srujana means creation
Thalaipu – the word refers to something that is bold, attention-seeking and often grand. It could denote a pallu on a saree or half saree ( reminiscent of the Roman Palla) or it could mean heading or headlines (in news). This necklace is made using an old- grand saree pallu and has a Sri yantra pendant. Sri yantra is also symbolic of the sacred feminine and is used to absorb positive energy, wealth and prosperity 
The variation of the above fabric necklace is a sober dull pink option (though it looks quite vibrant in the photo) fabric bead necklace with copper beads and the same Sri yantra pendant
Thaveez – Amulet necklace with Fabric border beads with paisley motif and Paper foil amulet pendant with afghan coin.
An amulet is supposed to be an empowerment charm that protects the wearer from harm. In India, rectangular amulet (often procured from a Dhargha – mosque after prayers) is said to protect the wearer from evil spirits. Unlike other protective charms, amulets are usually worn high on the neck in the form of a choker or tied on the upper arm. Very rarely (in times of the Hyderabad Nizams) women of royal families wore them as lagniappe or on their hair.
In my design I have used assesmblage technique to create the amulet seen and strung it saree border beads to throw light on the royal interpretation of it.
All fabrics used in the beads are made of Poly-cotton blend. Excepting the pink and the Tahveez necklaces, the other two are available for sale, please contact me to buy.
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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