When Tree Walk Trivandrum, a forum of environmentalists holding regular programmes to create awareness about the green cover in the city, met at Aristo Junction last Saturday, the members were delighted to get cute badges. Made of cloth, read textile scraps, the badges were made by Medha Bhatt Ganguly, an innovative designer who creates magic out of textile waste.
“I just love the whole concept of tree walk. I have been part of a few events organised by Tree Walk and I wanted to give my share to the initiative. That’s when the idea of tree badges cropped up. Since I work with waste and trees being one of the repeated motifs in my works, I decided to come up with the badges. I distributed around 70 badges that day,” says a beaming Medha. She has been using traditional patchwork appliqué art to create products such as jewellery, stationery, accessories and wall/door hangings under her brand, the forest floor.
An alumni of National Institute of Design, Medha is excited to have created the badges, “a concept which just came out of a brainwave. The canopy comes with a jute lining on to which I’ve stitched pieces with block prints or kalamkari prints. For the trunk, I used fabric pieces with red or brown shades,” she says, adding: “The myriad shades of the textile scrap lend a kind of vibrancy to the product.”
