Year 7 students were given the following design brief

The set criteria you are required to meet is that your free choice fabric project:-

• contain some embroidery
• in some way reflects the country of India - with annotated research specifying the object or design from a particular region within India recorded in your Visual Diary.
• acknowledges the source of the help you received in the final review of your work.


To meet the time frame, you are strongly encouraged to work on the project at home – and to remember to bring it back every Thursday!!! Parents and or friends are more than welcome to help teach more elaborate stitches and to guide you in the use of a sewing machine at home. You may choose to source your own fabrics to suit the needs of your particular project. Calico, a variety of primary coloured cotton and threads will be provided by the school.

Grace W The stars in my design have an Islamic influence. The paisley designs come from the north of India. Mrs Devjani Roy first taught me how to do the fine chain stitch. It is more difficult to work with metallic threads. Maureen Ramsay helped me by machining the cushion at the end.	Sofia This design is one that I copied from a book. It is from the Rajasthan region. The lines through the animal were part of the design. I wasn’t going to add them in but then decided to. I am glad I did as it looks just like the book now.
Oliver My cushion design was influenced by the appliqué technique which you can find in Rajasthan. Simple shapes are appliquéd in cottons to create cushions and also large hangings. Mirror work is also a very popular decoration in this region. I had help with machining the cushion together.	Nattu I really liked the mirror work that you see in the embroidery work from Gujarat and Rajasthan. My embroidery work is based on a circular running stitch design on a cushion cover that Mrs O’Brien brought back from the Gujarat region of India.
Pearse I chose to make a toran, which is hung over a doorway as a sign of welcome. These are especially found in the Gujarat and Rajasthan regions. I have used mirrors and applique.	Katie I have used the sun motif as it is a design idea that we have found from a number of different regions in India. Classmates helped me with the stitching and Mrs O’Brien did the machine work. The material frayed very easily so we had to leave large seam allowances.
Clara My combination of ideas was inspired by examples of work from the Gujarat region. My original design was even more complicated, but once I started embroidering, I realized that I needed to have less detail or it would look too crowded.	Nathalia
Toni My fabric project was influenced by designs and techniques from India. When Mrs Devjani Roy of Tagore International School, visited our school she showed us a Power Point presentation. One of the images was of a peacock, representing the harvest time in villages and also the national fauna symbol of India. I received help with starting and finishing the machining of my work, how to do my stitches tiny to make it look neat and the idea of using beads in my work.	Grace The symbol is a female sign with a heart instead of a circle, which represents the love and respect of females in India. I chose orange fabric to represent the heat in India and because it looked so good. I had help from my Mum who taught me blanket stitch and machined the pillow together.
Jessie My cushion has been done in an embroidery style from the regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan. My Mum helped me to sew the borders and sew the cushion together. The slippery fabrics were hard to work with.	Holly I chose to use silky fabrics and thread because the bright colours suggest India to me. The sun motif came from an example of Gujarat embroidery on a file cover. As chain stitch is one of the most common stitches used in Indian embroidery, I learned how to do it from my Mum. Mum also helped by doing the lining and machining as it was such slippery fabric.

We love the way our fabric projects have worked out, but Mrs O'Brien must have been dreaming when she thought it would only take us five weeks! Thank Goodness we had the holidays to catch up. They looked really special at the Access Asia Exhibition in the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre Boardwalk Gallery. It was interesting the way most of the boys tended to go for the applique style while most of the girls chose embroidery. People have even asked us how much we would charge to make cushions for them?

While Mrs Devjani Roy was visiting us at Beaconsfield, she took time before school one morning to work with any of us who were interested in learning some of her favourite stitches. She was impressed with the work we were doing and at how much we understood about the tribal arts of India.

Chain Stitch quickly became our favourite!

NB: The fabric on which the cushions have been photographed is a beautiful silk sari which Mrs O'Brien wore one night while she was in Delhi. Mrs Roy brought it out to Australia with her and gave it to Mrs O'Brien as a present. It is so soft and beautiful and the colour of peacocks.