Foliage in fabric and metal jewellery

copper leaf necklace

Vegetal and foliate motifs are commonly used motifs in textile design. Be it the arrangement of leaves on a stem in golden proportion or the veins in a leaf, Foliage, as a theme works well in print making, embroidery and even weaving. Traditional textile motifs of Tamil Nadu such as the veni or Kodi/Kodi visiri – creeper (not to be confused with the other meaning of kodi – a flag) and elai – leaf can be seen on sarees and dress materials. The same can be said of foliate motifs such as Kalga, Jhallar and Bel used in North India. Currently, I am working on my newest collection – Banjaran Dreams, which is fabric jewellery. Hence, I thought that would be great to examine the adaption of motifs of Foliage in fabric jewellery apart from metal jewellery in this post.

Foliage in fabric jewellery

First up is a zardosi necklace with painted connectors. I have further embellished the pendant with soft gold tassels. There is a repetition of foliate motifs throughout the piece, in the pendant, clasp, and the bails to reinforce the concept. The necklace is of looped beads and link chain. It has no earrings and is available for sale.

foliage zardosi necklace
Green Zardosi Necklace – for sale

Green Paisley set

The next is a piece that I showed on the post on pendants and earrings sets. I created this set in black and greenish gold specifically for this foliage challenge but revealed it before. The fabric used is a polyester jacquard woven with a greenish gold zari thread that has a subtle sheen to it. The earrings are one inch squares and the pendant is around three inches long. This set is also for sale. 

Foliage in fabric jewellery

Foliate jewellery in metal

After some Foliage in fabric jewellery, here are a couple of pieces in metal that I made earlier.

Copper leaf Necklace

This is a necklace of agate beads in purple garnet – wine colour. I have used stone studded metal beads, copper wire springs, Czech glass beads and crystals to add interest and variety. The pendant is form folded copper and is oxidised with liver of sulfur to get an aged look. Since I made this set on commission for the 10th wedding anniversary of a client, I wanted to make it special. I made leaf like headpins with wire and strung the barrel beads and agate on them. The clasps and ear hooks are hand made as well.

copper leaf necklace
Copper leaf Necklace – sold

Altered Perfume bottle

Last semester, I saw a student of mine wear three mini metal Attar bottles – Perfume bottles. When I told him that I really like them, he gave all three of them to me despite my futile protests. I altered two of them with patina inks but only this one turned out the way I wanted. This pomander is in the shape of a mango seed with leaf motifs on it. It came with a long chain that can be worn around the neck. While you can’t really open it like a pomander, you can open the lid and fill it with a liquid. I am yet to try it though. This is not for sale.

attar bottle

With that I come to the end of the post. I am glad to have such monthly challenges for they make want to really make an effort to create and blog about my work. So looking forward to hearing from you on what you think of my work.

I will write about the more embellished – festive pieces of Banajran dreams soon. In the meanwhile, if you interested in seeing the entire Banjaran dreams range, please do look up the shop page here.

This month’s Participants

This is a blog hop reveal for Art Elements’ September challenge. Please visit the other participants to see how they have all interpreted the theme foliage.

Guest Artists

(me) Divya Dawn Laurie  Alison Karen  Mary  Alysen Tammy  Anita  Cat  Jill Sarajo  Beth and Evie  Sarah Michelle Martha Kathy Hope

Art Elements Team

Claire Caroline  Lesley Niky  Cathy Jenny   Susan  Marsha
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers

46 responses to “Foliage in fabric and metal jewellery”

  1. Jill Egan avatar

    your jewellery is lovely, my favourite is the copper leaf pendant and earrings

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Jill, I loved making that copper leaf necklace. So even though I made it a few months back, I thought that I will include it in this reveal.

  2. Cat avatar

    Beautiful leaf jewelry, Divya!
    The altered perfume bottle is so pretty!!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Cat, altering objects can be so much fun. I am glad that you liked it too.

  3. Caroline avatar

    Beautiful jewellery designs, I love the perfume bottle and the commissioned set, I bet your client thrilled with your work! Thanks so much for joining us for the challenge.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks for hosting this challenge Caroline. Its been fun to work on it.

  4. Evie and Beth avatar

    Stunning jewelry – I love that first necklace with the tassels!
    The perfume bottle is so cool! I love how the color turned out with the patina inks.
    Beautiful pieces!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks guys for visiting my blog. I am glad that you find my pieces interesting.

  5. Karen avatar

    I love the deep purple with the copper leaf. It makes me long for autumn. It is going to be 90+ degrees here in North Carolina today!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      I do get you. Its still summer where I live. Autumns seem to be a thing of the past with all this climate change.

  6. CraftyHope avatar

    I always enjoy seeing how you interpret the challenges. Each of your designs is so well-thought-out and special. The painted connectors in your first necklace are dreamy! And, the leaf headpins you made are fabulous! I love them!!
    I haven’t considered altering bottles with the Patinas, but it’s a great idea. Thanks for all the eye-cand and inspiration!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thank you Hope. I am thrilled that you like them. I have tried altering glass bottles and bigger metal tins too with patina inks but havent had much success. I guess the outcome depends both on the metal and the colours used. But do try it out sometime.

  7. Susan Kennedy avatar

    Divya, I always love your posts, they are informative and interesting! I love your fabric pieces, just beautiful! Your fold formed leaf is gorgeous! How sweet that young man gave you his perfume bottles!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Susan, that leaf was a class demo actually. I was pleasantly surprised to see how it turned out.

  8. Alysen avatar

    Divya, I love the colors and design on the altered perfume bottle. 2nd fave: the fold-formed copper leaf. And I always love the way you enlighten us about India & the customs and language :). Alysen

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      I am nuts about verdigris colour – I think everything looks better with it and its my go to patina ink as well. so glad to know that you like it too.

  9. Rozantia Petkova avatar

    The idea of using leaf patterned fabric is fabulous! As always, you didn’t stop there and made the designs distinctive! The perfume bottle is very intriguing – I hope you will share if it can be used for real 🙂

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thank you. I think you can use the bottle as its completely sealed. However, the cap is a little loose. so I am not sure if I want to fill it with perfume.

  10. Mary Harding avatar

    What lovely and elegant jewelry Divya!! I love that you are using fabric in your pieces. I especially like the first piece, the Green Zardosi necklace.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Mary, I enjoyed working with tassels in that piece and got to recycle some fabric in the process.

  11. Kathy Lindemer avatar
    Kathy Lindemer

    My favorite is the perfume bottle. I am glad that it can be worn and enjoyed by many. I love old findings.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Kathy. This was quite a find indeed…thanks to my student who found the bottles at a gypsy flea market

  12. Marsha avatar

    You have such a beautiful design sense and I love to see your finished work around these themes 🙂

  13. Jenny avatar

    Oh Divya! I so love what you are doing with the fabric! And your sense of color is wonderful. That first necklace with the tassels is my favorite!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Jenny. Fabric is one of my favourite materials to work with as it is so adaptable.

  14. Cathy Mendola avatar

    I absolutely love your zardosi necklace with the fabric. I love the designs on the fabric as well as the overall design of your necklace. The altered perfume bottle is magnificent! What a treat to have your student give them to you. Very generous of him! Your other necklace designs are beautiful

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Yes, he is generous that way. I am glad that you liked the fabric necklace as I put quite a bit of thought into it.

  15. Dawn avatar

    These are lovely works of jewelry art. The colors are so rich and the use of fabric is really clever and gives the necklaces a lot of visual interest. The perfume bottle is fabulous – how tall is the bottle? That must be a fun necklace to wear and I imagine you get a lot of comments when you wear it out and about.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      The bottle is only about 2.5″ in height – so its not very big and can be easily worn as a pendant.

  16. niky avatar
    niky

    You created lots of lovely pieces but there is just something about that Copper leaf Necklace that really appeals to me, its just so beautiful and a very special piece!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Niky. I feel elated hearing high praise from a metal smith like you

  17. Laurie Harmon avatar

    That is incredibly beautiful.

  18. Lesley Watt avatar
    Lesley Watt

    Lovely, original pieces one and all.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thank you Leslie for the high praise.

  19. Tammy Adams avatar

    Lovely designs and wonderful post, as always. I am especially fond of the copper leaf with purple beads necklace. My eye keeps going around the design.

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      haaa…thanks Tammy. I am glad that you like it.

  20. Michelle avatar

    These pieces are absolutely exquisite!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thank you so much, Michelle!

  21. Maya Kuzman avatar

    Wow! They are beautiful but the copper leaf necklace just stole my heart!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Maya. I am trying to incorporate a lot of textiles in my work these days.

    2. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Maya. I needed it to match my client’s vision and her dress and I hope it did.

  22. Anita avatar

    Your fabric jewelry is distinct and elegant, Divya! The commissioned jewelry is gorgeous – perfect for an anniversary. Like many others here, my favorite is the altered perfume bottle – there’s just something wonderful about the fact that it’s altered, the colors you’ve used, and that it’s wearable! 🙂

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Anita. I ma glad to get so many positive responses on my the bottle. I was initially skeptical about showing it.

  23. Alison Herrington avatar

    First, I love the poms in your new line, my favorite is the Ikat necklace and next favorite is the pink elephant necklace!! I always love to see your work, the color and style of your jewelry is so pretty!
    The foliage pieces are a wonderful addition to your new line, so glad you blogged about it!!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Thanks Alison, I am so glad that you like my new collection. I have been wanting to incorporate textiles into my work for so long and now it finally happened. Thanks for taking time and checking out the whole range.

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