Meet The Women Creating Timeless Pieces From Old Clothes Using Patchwork, Applique And Quilting Methodologies

In the foothills of the Himalayas, lies Dehradun, a city known for its scenic beauty and tranquil environment. Amidst this picturesque landscape, an initiative called 'Project Purkul' aims to uplift and empower the local communities in the region while protecting the environment.

The women of Purkul are artisans, skilled in applique and patchwork. But COVID cost them their jobs and they were struggling to make ends meet. That's when Sunita Tyagi and Neetu Rana decided to do something about it.

At Project Purkul, the women use their skills in applique, patchwork, and quilting, a dying art, to upcycle waste clothes. Their design process has at its very core the purpose of sustainability.

Detailing on the designing process, Mallika Roy, Head of Design, Project Purkul said, in some ways, it is limited by the materials that are available. When it comes to upcycling, often clients come to her with material that they have a vision for or that they are very attached to.

The little scraps of fabric left after a textile product has been made, the katran, your local tailor discarded are all pre-consumer waste. Project Purkul is using every bit of scrap it can get its hands on, including its own. One technique that they use is called 'crazy patch'. It is about using small little pieces of fabric that are left over, laying them out on really thin fabric and then doing rows of stitching over all of those scraps so that becomes a textile in itself with a kind of mosaic of different fabrics that have been used in the last few months.

Project Purkul aims to uplift the underprivileged sections of society by providing them with opportunities for skill development, and entrepreneurship. The project has opened new doors for these women by making them independent and self-sufficient. While some women work at the workshop, some take the material home and bring back the final product.

Donating clothes is perhaps the easiest thing one can do to recycle them, but some clothes hold emotional value for us and are hard to give away. They are clothes we want to hold on to because of the memories attached to them. Project Purkul knows how to give those clothes a new meaning and purpose for you - by converting them into a memory quilt.

As Project Purkul creates new memories from old in Dehradun, close to 2,500 kilometres away right across the country in Bengaluru, so does Sweet Root. Farah Ahmad is honouring old memories - happy and sad - with Sweet Root's Soul Quilts.

Sharing the idea behind memory quilts, Farah Ahmad, Founder of Sweet Root said, "The first time I thought about memory quilts was back in 2013 when I gave birth to a child and I started hoarding clothes day in and day out. I didn't know what to do with them. That is when I thought about doing something which creates an impact just not for me but for other parents and caregivers and that is how the idea emerged and Sweet Root was born."

Most of the clothes that arrive here to be upcycled are baby clothes. But Farah and her team make other kinds of quilts too - bereavement quilts. The clients send items of clothing belonging to someone who has passed away. This is a growing demand, and for Farah, it began on a very personal note. She made one for her mother and that kicked off the journey of bereavement quilts.

The cost for the quilts starts at around three and a half thousand rupees and is based on the work involved. But the work goes beyond being just a business for Farah.