Photos courtesy of Shruti Dandekar(^) in the
SPOTLIGHT
Shruti
Dandekar
SANGLI, INDIA
“
I believe everyone is born with a purpose in life. It could
be as simple as being a wonderful mother to a bunch of kids to
changing the world. I had always thought my purpose was to design
buildings. I wanted to be an architect from the time I was eight
years old. I had big plans with my career, including a master’s and,
later, maybe a doctoral degree—defi nitely nothing to do with a
sewing machine that would cost more than a car!
My plans changed in 2009 when I contracted chikungunya, a mosquito-borne
viral disease that left me with painful joints for six months and forced me to take a
sabbatical to heal. It was during this time that I started to sew things for my home
using my old maternity clothes for fabric. There was a lot of interest in my upcycled
wares and soon people started asking me if I would make things for them, so I
started a business.
Eventually, I employed about 40 women from the slums in Sangli who sewed in
their homes. Unfortunately—or maybe it was a blessing in disguise—the venture
wasn’t successful, but it left me with a large stash. I inherited my grandmother’s
sewing machine around the same time and started playing with fabric. My cook
was my fi rst teacher. She used to thread my treadle machine and adjust the tension.
If the thread broke after she had gone for the day, I actually had to put the machine
away and wait for her to return!
Then, I stumbled upon Elizabeth Hartman’s blog and was totally smitten by
her work. I tried a couple of her tutorials and there was just no looking back!
I upgraded from my grandmother’s treadle to a series of machines until fi nally
purchasing a BERNINA® 710 last year.