Kantha - More Than Just a Running Stitch

 

my first Kantha Embroidery

I joined a Kantha Embroidery Online Workshop early this month. It was a 3-day workshop and I really had a great time learning. 

Brinda Ma'am and Nafisa are really patient with all of us and encourage us to take our time. I was pretty slow with my progress cos it was a busy week for me. 

We started making a sampler stitch on day one. It's amazing to learn that all the beautiful Kantha designs are done only with one simple stitch. The art of creating design with one stitch is really challenging. Creatively challenging! Kantha is an embroidery art which is originated in Bengal (West Bengal, Orissa, Tripura, and Bangladesh). 

The purpose of doing a sampler stitch is to familiarize us with the stitches and flow of work since it's different from regular embroidery. I have not done embroidery for years so the sampler really helped me. As I progress I noticed, my stitches are getting better. I used poplin cotton fabric and 3 strands of embroidery thread. 

Once we're done with the sampler, we moved on to work on a design. We were given 4 designs by Nafisa and I chose this one below.  Nafisa and Brinda Ma'am kept telling us to take our time deciding what stitch we want to use in our design. That way everyone will have a different result. It's really inspiring to see others embroidery even though we're using the same design but the end results are different. You can check others' works on the Moments of Quiet Facebook Page.

If you're interested to join the workshop, check out Moments of Quiet Facebook Page 

While Kantha is widely popular, it is also loosely interpreted as just a big running stitch in quilting, which is basically not. Kantha is more intricate than that. 

Nafisa showed us her 100 years old Kantha quilt belongs to her great-great-grandfather and also a few samples of Nakshi Kantha of Bangladesh. 

Nakshi Kantha (Source: ich.unesco.org)

Kantha tells the story of cultures and history. While the Indian Kantha has evolved in terms of design, including animal and intricate floral patterns, the Bangladesh Nakshi Kantta still sticks to the original Kantha with geometric patterns. 

I am glad I decided to join the class. Learning the history behind this ancient art is really refreshing. There are several books available on Amazon which I think I'll buy. Thank you Brinda Ma'am and Nafisa for the great workshop! 

Here's our virtual selfie moment! Learning and sewing with others are really fun! I'm looking forward to join in more online workshops! 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your visit to my blog.

Happy Crafting,

Elvira

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Few Small Wallets and new Etsy Search Algorithm

Black Cat Wallet!

I've been having a lot of fun making a few bi-fold wallets! I tried out different fabrics, from quilting cotton to linen and denim.

It feels good to finally sewing wallets and stuff after so many months making face masks. I'm still making a few for family and friends and also offer face masks in my Etsy Shop. The Trio Spacious Face Masks is quite popular and it feels good to get nice feedback from buyers! Thank you !!

Besides that, last month I was busy with getting my tax ID done. Lucky me, my dear hubby is a CA so he's been a great help. I am totally blank when it comes to tax! Finally, all those are done and there's a couple of things I need to do regarding my small business. After getting my GSTIN done, I feel like I'm doing a real business. It's scary at the same time! I need to learn more and get all my papers organized! Wish me luck!

Back to the wallet, I'm working on the pattern right now. It's progressing quite slow, I am about 70% done with the editing, I just need to edit a couple of photos and add them in the pattern! There will be a zipper version and a flap version. I'm so excited to share the pattern. It's super easy! Once I'm done with a few custom orders, I'll be able to sit and finish the pattern.  Hopefully, I can release it within this month. 

 Small Bifold Wallet

The above photo is a few of the flap versions that I made and they are available in the SHOP now. And here's the zipper version:

ETSY NEW SEARCH POLICY

By the way, last week in the Etsy Q3 report, they said they are going to implement Personalized search. WHich means Etsy is doing what Google and others are doing. What does this mean? This mean:

1. Etsy is showing potential buyers search results based on their search history. 

2. Every buyer will see a different result even if they search using the same keywords.

3. Etsy is showing more local shops. But if you sold one item to a buyer from a particular city, state, or country, your products might be shown in the search result of that particular city, state, or country. This happened to me several times last month, where I sold a few items to people in the same state in the USA within a week. 

If you want more in-depth analysis you can tune in to Kara Buntin Youtube Channel. She's the best! I learned a lot from her video series and her class! 

Now, what can we do as an Etsy Seller in India?

1. Do not change your keywords right now. Instead, observe your Etsy stats more and start working on your social media marketing. I shared about Basic Pinterest Marketing with Etsy India Sellers at our Monthly community meet last month. 

2. Optimize your listing, especially those which don't get enough views or visit. Etsy search trend changes every week or so. Optimizing old listing or almost expired listing, do help in boosting in search placement. 

3. If you're using Etsy ads, make sure to optimize the listing before put them in Ads!

I hope these little tips help! Competition is tough everywhere, but if you learn how to do it properly and hold on to your dreams, you will make it!

Thank you for stopping by today!

Have a nice day!

Elvira

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