Last year, six women entrepreneurs who are behind handcrafted brands in the city came together to create the Busy Fingers group. Having met through common friends, and their shared love for all things handmade, they went on to host their first pop-up, and are now gearing up for its second edition this weekend. The entrepreneurs include Lesley Scen of Mels Jewellery, Namitha Charles who crafts soft toys, Madhu Mehra of She Who Knits, Ravinder Kaur of Rangmalang Studio, Ramona Patel of Little Stitches, and mother-daughter duo Purobi and Shivani Kagti of Pickle Project.
Chilli pickle by Pickle Project | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“We had friends in common, and some of us have known each for quite a few years as we are in the same field,” says Shivani. “While we already have an existing customer base, we decided to host another event given the good turnout last year.”
Shivani says, they have all been working on the pop-up for the last few months. As for the pickles, she explains how when they first started out in 2016, Pickle Project had six types of pickles. “Now we have 10 variants including tomato, brinjal, cabbage, lemon, chicken and pork. We are bringing a few bottles of both our sour mango pickle and the murabba-style sweet mango pickle, and a small batch of mixed vegetable pickle that is being introduced on a trial basis.”
Namitha Charles’ soft toys designed with upcycled fabric | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
All set to showcase new designs in her sterling silver jewellery collection, Lesley says each piece is one-of-a-kind as they are all handcrafted. “I started with handmade chains, and after doing a course in wax carving, I branched into creating sterling silver jewellery. I have two jewellers who work with me who were carefully chosen keeping handmade designs in mind,” says the designer who will bring assymetric hammered bangles, mother of pearl on hand-carved leaves earrings, finger rings with semi-precious stones, among others.
Lesley, who also retails hand-embroidered apparel and home linen under the label, Sew Much Love, will bring linen tops, table runners, and more. “I owe the brand to my mother who taught me hand embroidery from the age of 11, and I have always been doing little pieces of home linen with embroidery. During the pandemic, I pursued my passion full time alongside my jewellery. I reuse all the small pieces of material for patchwork,” she explains.
A fabric-lined neck warmer by She Who Knits | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While Ramona will retail her hand-embroidered, smocked clothing, former banker Madhu is excited to showcase a new range of unisex scarves, and adult footwarmers. “There will also be new prints in the fabric-lined neck warmer which has been my show stopper since its launch in 2016.”
June 14 and 15 from 10 am to 7 pm. At Raintree, Sankey Road, opposite ITC Windsor
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