Hello my dear sisters ! Happy monsoon . Today I am going to tell you the story and history of early Shantiniketan leather crafts which started around 100 years back. At that point of time vegetable tanning of leather which means the processing of lea... Read more

Hello my dear sisters ! Happy monsoon . Today I am going to tell you the story and history of early Shantiniketan leather crafts which started around 100 years back. At that point of time vegetable tanning of leather which means the processing of leather using lime and salt was there. However the main issue was vegetable dying to color the leather . Today we use Indigo , Lac , Haritaki , Turmeric , Hibiscus etc to color the leather. But all those options were not easily available to the early artisans ...more so because Shantiniketan is not a town ... but a tribal land. Moreover Shantinetan has extreme weather condition and is not suitable for different kind of plants. Also around 100 years back all these color options were not known . At that point mostly bags and jewelry cases were made with Shantiniketan leather. So at that point of time the local artisans started making the vegetable dye with a local flower called Palash (English Name Flame of the forest ). This flower is native to Shantiniketan and is available in abundance . We use this flower to make red , orange and yellow dye. I am attaching a photo of a bag using mainly Palash flower vegetable dye. The design and color is same as the early Shantiniketan craft ... a little matte finished. Initially elephant and floral design was very common in Shantiniketan leather craft which you can see in this bag. I guess certain things have a timeless appeal ... because till now many customers specifically look for this type of designs .... Read less

Hello dear sisters. Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. Today I am going to share details about leather batik using gum. This is a resist dyeing technique similar to traditional fabric batik . But here we use a brush to carefully apply a thick,... Read more

Hello dear sisters. Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. Today I am going to share details about leather batik using gum. This is a resist dyeing technique similar to traditional fabric batik . But here we use a brush to carefully apply a thick, even coat of the gum paste to the areas we want to remain the original colour of the leather. Then we need the it to completely dry. Once the dye is completely dry, wash off the dried gum under running water. The natural tendency of gum to crack as it dries is a hallmark of traditional batik and it creates a beautiful design. Monsoon weather is not ideal for drying the leather. Similarly too much hot weather is also not suitable . Here I am sharing the photo of one of our newly made leather batik spectacle cases. In the middle portion you can see the cracked batik design (The cream colour middle portion with cracks on it ) . Leather batik typically takes time and expertise to make. So unfortunately this art is getting rarer day by day. Read less

Good Morning sisters. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Please check out few of our vegetable tanned and vegetable dyed non toxic leather spectacle cases. We have used natural colors like Turmeric , Palash (A local flower namely the Flame of the F... Read more

Good Morning sisters. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Please check out few of our vegetable tanned and vegetable dyed non toxic leather spectacle cases. We have used natural colors like Turmeric , Palash (A local flower namely the Flame of the Forest ) , Black Tea , Henna , Lac , Babool etc to color the items. Read less

Good Morning sisters ! In my place today it is a sunny morning in monsoon season and I am enjoying the weather . Let me showcase something . This is a newly made leather purse with a zipper pocket. Please check the floral design all over it. This is... Read more

Good Morning sisters ! In my place today it is a sunny morning in monsoon season and I am enjoying the weather . Let me showcase something . This is a newly made leather purse with a zipper pocket. Please check the floral design all over it. This is totally hand embossed and very intricate design . The color is vegetable dyed. We have used Acacia Nilotica (Babool ) and Lac Dye for this purse. This is totally non toxic and sustainable. We have used vegetable tanning process using lime and salt to process the leather which is common for all of our leather articles . Read less