rupalee womens fashion- fair trade with style

rupalee fashion- sustainable tunic available for sale at http://www.rupalee.com

rupalee offers Fair Trade with Style for the Global Chic- Introduces fashionable and sustainable Women’s Clothing-  that fits and flatters!!! rupalee also has extensive collection of Handmade Christmas decorations ,  Intricate handmade greeting cards, Sustainable glamour with light weight Organic LAK Jewelry. Visit our collection at http://www.rupalee.com

All about Scissors- Heirloom Quality- Handmade- Fair Trade

These  scissors are heirloom quality, fair trade, and handmade by master artisan Mukesh.   His meticulous attention to detail ensures that the quality and performance of  scissors is unsurpassed. These high quality brass and steel scissors can be re-sharpened as needed, so they last lifetimes in use, not in a landfill.

Dress maker scissors make a great gift- even for the most hard to shop for people: men who have everything, co-workers, employees, eco-conscious friends and family, crafters, and of course, yourself.

Large Dressmaker scissors: 8 inch

• Handmade dressmaker style scissors
• Great household scissors for a variety of uses
• Use separate scissors for fabric and paper to prolong sharp edge
• Use to cut all weight fabrics of natural or synthetic fibers
• Bent scissors make cutting easy and allow for smooth and comfortable cutting over table.
• Thick, strong blades have a hand tuned knife edge to make clean cuts all the way to the points.
• An extra large handle is angled for a firm, comfortable grip across flat surfaces.

More information about these Dress maker Scissors:

• Fair Trade
• Hand made artisan craftsmanship.
• Sand-cast brass handles and hand-forged, tempered steel blades.
• Eco-friendly canvas packaging
• Comfortable in size and weight
• Great decorative desktop accent
• Hand ground knife edge cuts flawlessly all the way to the points.
• Used in garment production at our own facilities to produce rupalee and Ojasvy apparel and sleepwear. 
• Lasting quality can be re-sharpened-write them in your will!

   

  How to care for rupalee handmade scissors:

•    To avoid damage to the blade setting, do not force a cut if you feel resistance. This may be the wrong scissors for the job, or your scissors or shears may need sharpening or repair. 
•      Store scissors in dry place. 
•   Pin fabric outside the cutting area, to avoid encountering hard metal or plastic objects that might damage your scissors. 
•  Periodically wipe the inside blade surfaces of Scissors-  to keep them lint free; add a small drop of household oil at the assembly point to maintain smooth cutting action.
• You may want to apply a light coating of oil on the scissors’ blades and edges to prevent rust, especially if you live in a humid area, use the scissors in a humid environment, or want to store them for a long time.

We use these Handmade, fair trade, heirloom quality scissors in production of rupalee and Ojasvy apparel and rupalee christmas line.  Learn more at http://rupalee.rupalee.com/dressmaker.scissors.aspx, www.rupalee.com, www.rupalee.rupalee.com, www.rupalee.net

Mystery of the Green Vegetable dye- from fruits, vegetables and spices- Indigo-Pomegranate and Turmeric

The natural color green is a living color made with Indigo- Pomegranate and Turmeric and is an elaborate process.

 The fabric is soaked boiled and beating by wood sticks to clean and get it ready.  Carved Wooden block  is dipped into a resist paste which is mud like and is viscous.  The paste masks the design and prevents the dye from penetrating through the fabric.  Sawdust or wheat chafe is dusted on the paste throughout the block- printing process to avoid smudging.

 After the fabric has dried in the sun, it is repeatedly immersed in the indigo vat until desired shade of blue is achieved. Exposure to air and repeated immersion  in Indigo affects the intensity of the blue, which in turn, affects the tone of the green.

 A mixture of boiled pomegranate rinds and turmeric gives the dye its particular hue and brings about the change from blue to green.

 The cloth is then dipped in a solution of alum to strengthen the dye, cured in sun  and resist paste is washed off.

 As the garment is washed, the color gradually changes and becomes bluish and less yellow and softens in hue.  Because the indigo color is mechanical rather than chemical, the excess molecules are rubbed off during initial usage of the garment.  If this happens, the transferred color can easily be removed by normal hand washing. 

How to wash the garment dye with vegetable dyes:
We recommend that you hand wash your vegetable dye garments in cold water and line dry them.

How Natural Green Color is made for rupalee:
Information Source: Did you know how we do this at rupalee – fair Trade with style.  Learn more at www.rupalee.com, www.rupalee.net, www.rupalee.rupalee.com, www.Ojasvy.com

Understanding Sustainable and Ethical Fashion

Sustainable and Ethical Fashion :

 

10 ways apparel can sustainable and Ethical

 

We know you have a choice when purchasing clothing, we thought you should get to make an educated decision by learning more about how we’re different.

 

Rupalee founded and operates an outreach program that empowers women in India to financially support themselves in a creative, fulfilling and realistic manner. These female artisans create handcrafted ornaments, jewelry, and apparel in the comfort of their own homes. Each item in the Rupalee collection is an individual, handcrafted work of art. Rupalee promotes fair trade and strongly supports the cottage industry setting.

Fair Trade

Fair Trade is a system of exchange that honors producers, communities, consumers, and the environment. It is a model for the global economy rooted in people-to-people connections, justice, and sustainability. It is the opposite of sweatshop labor.

Rupalee is a proud member of Fair Trade Federation- which is part of the global fair trade movement, building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.

Cottage industry setting

Fair trade and cottage industry settings are the opposite of oppressive sweatshops. Because so many parts of the production of our clothing is made by hand, Rupalee garments don’t look or feel mass produced, fitting your one of a kind self, while honoring the dignity of the producers.

Artisanal Craftsmanship

Hand Block Printing-Our printed fabrics begin life as a carefully carved block made by an master artisan. Then the fabric is printed by hand in an elaborate multi-stage process. Not only are the results beautiful and unique, they are also completely energy efficient, because there is no machinery involved.

Keeping Traditional Arts Alive

Many of Rupalee’s garments are intricately hand embroidered using traditional techniques such as Chikan work. Utilizing these talents keeps these artforms alive for future generations in individual communities and for the diversity of skills available to the global setting.

Eco-Friendly Dyes

We at Rupalee are proud to use high grade, Azobenzene-free and vegetable dyes in our fabrics. They don’t pollute local water sources or poison fish, and produce gorgeous, safer clothing.

Acid Free: 

At rupalee we Steam Fix or Salt Fix our dyes and prints instead of Acid fix.  The Acid form apparel industry is a major source of change in pH of streams and water resource. This cause the ecology of water resources to change and cause change in flora and fauna.

Steam Fixing and Salt Fixing of dyes and prints is a more eco-friendly option that is being used at rupalee.

 
High Quality, Natural materials

All you have to do is feel a Rupalee garment and you know there’s a difference. We use only high quality luxurious fabrics from India (mostly silk, cotton, and cotton/silk blends). Natural fabrics not only look great and breathe well, they are a far more sustainable choice to synthetic and highly chemically intensive- processed fibers

Sun Dried- Zero Energy:  During manufacturing of fabric for our apparels, we dry our fabric in sun instead of dryers. 

Strong Attention to Great Fit

Rupalee knows our clothing will only look great if they fit well. Many of our styles come in standard and relaxed fit ensuring you look great and feel comfortable.

Learn More at:

www.rupalee.com  www.rupalee.rupalee.com  www.rupalee.net  www.Ojasvy.com

Ojasvy Spring 2009 Lookbook

Rupalee is proud to announce our latest collection Ojasvy- for the woman with a glow.  Find out more about us and how to order at www.Ojasvy.com

rupalee Hand Block Printed Fabric – Made 5 yards at a time

How Hand-Block Print Fabric is Created for rupalee – 5 Yards at a Time

The Block-  
The intricate process of Hand Block Printing starts with the making of Butas– the wooden blocks used in creating block print fabrics. Buta designs are carved onto seasoned teak wood by skilled artisans.  Each Buta has a wooden handle and two to three air vents that release excess dye. 

Printing- 

Cotton fabric is washed and dyed before printing. It is then stretched onto a long printing table and pinned. The printer uses a wooden trolley with an upper rack for trays of dyes and a lower for printing blocks. He moves the trolley along as he works through the length of the fabric. The printer starts by evening-out the dye in the tray with a wooden wedge. He then dips the block into the outline color and prints from left to right. The block is pressed hard on the fabric to ensure a good impression of the print onto the fabric. A notch on the block is used as a marker to guide repeats of the print. The master printer usually prints the outline and leads the printing process. For multicolor designs, a second block is dipped into a different color and then a third block is dipped into the third color etc. The colors need to nest in the pattern to make the complete pattern. A two or three color print takes more time to make than a single color print.

 

Dyeing-  
Dyes used in silk printing are different from cotton dyes. Indigo sol and pigment dyes are cotton dyes that have to be used the same day they are mixed. Black, red, orange, brown and mustard can be stored for a longer period of time. It is difficult to gauge consistent shades of color while printing.

 

Fixing and Drying-  
It is only after the fabric is processed with a salt wash that the final color shows. To fix the dyes into cotton fabric, the cotton fabrics are dried in the sun. They are then rolled into sheets of newspaper steamed in boilers. Printed Silk fabric is also steamed after printing for fixing the dye. After steaming, the fabric is washed thoroughly in large quantities of water and dried in the sun.  Finally, the fabric is ironed into single layers and the printing process is complete.

Learn More at
visit: www.rupalee.com   www.rupalee.rupalee.com   www.rupalee.net  www.Ojasvy.com

Upcoming Holiday Events for Fairtrade clothing, jewelry, ornaments and more!

Come join us for all your handmade fair trade holiday shopping needs from the Rupalee and Ojasvy collections.  Ornaments, home goods, jewelry and apparel will be on display for sale at the following events and you can always check us out at www.rupalee.com and www.ojasvy.com:

 

Fair Trade Event

Friday December 12, 2008

4:00-7:00pm

Joe Coffee

1100 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

 

WinterFest: Annual Artisan Showcase

Saturday, December 13, 2008

4:00-7:00pm

Mugshots- Manayunk
110 Cotton Street

Philadelphia, PA 19127

 

Fair Trade Workshop

Sunday, December 14, 2008

2:00-5:00pm

MainLine Unitarian Church

816 S. Valley Forge Road

Devon, PA 19333