Neues Handwerk: Kollaboration mit Pankaja Sethi

Earlier in the spring, Pankaja joined us for a visit to Shri Ramachandrapur. We immediately felt that her way of working aligned with our values, and that collaborating with her would be a true enrichment.

Pankaja is a textile designer, entrepreneur, artist, and researcher. With a background in social anthropology, she has been working for many years in the field of artisanal textile traditions, with a particular focus on handloom weaving. Through her label, she brings together these weaving traditions with embroidery, hand-rolled hems, and a range of other techniques, giving her a broad and diverse repertoire. You can learn more about her on her website.

Pankaja has supported many groups in building livelihoods through their work.

Embroidery Workshop - Stitch Library

Because textile craftsmanship can be used in so many ways and requires very little initial investment regarding materials, we had long hoped to offer the women’s group in the foundation house a training in this area. Together with Pankaja, and in alignment with the group’s interests, we set monthly goals. The skills were meant to be useful both for possible future orders and for their own personal use. During the first month, a stitch library was created.

Pankaja’s extensive experience is reflected in the way she designs her workshops.
Alongside decorative stitches for different embroidery techniques, the group also practiced the shell hem as part of the their stitch library.

Sewing Workshop - Personalized Bag

In the second month, the task was to first embroider a piece of fabric. The women participating could either draw their own motif or choose one of Pankaja’s designs. She thoughtfully incorporated the different strengths of the women into this process. In the end, the bag was completed on the sewing machine, where the participants also learned how to bag out the fabric and how to sew a French seam.

Pankaja explains to Tiki Nani how the bag is assembled, so she can pass it on to the other participants.
Some of the results of the second month.

Valuable Exchange and Next Steps

The feedback on the two-month workshop period, during which Pankaja spent one day each week in Shri Ramachandrapur, was positive from all sides. Some of the women turned out to be especially talented, and Pankaja has already given them their first small tasks to see whether they might be able to take on assignments for her label in the future.

Pankaja’s way of meeting everyone at eye level is, in our experience, not something to take for granted. Her wealth of knowledge and experience in working with groups of artisans is incredibly valuable to us—both in terms of hard skills such as embroidery and sewing, and also in supporting the group on their path toward greater independence. For Jill in particular, the exchange with Pankaja has been a great help, and her experience, paired with a fresh outside perspective has already brought about many positive shifts.

Jill says: “Every conversation with Pankaja brings new insights and is incredibly valuable for the project—thank you!”