When visiting Amber, a royal fortress near Jaipur, I was really impressed by the “Zenana” part of the Palace where the women used to live.

Surrounded by gardens and running water, the beautiful Indian Architecture was embellished by a lot of small mirrors and paintings.

Using one of my  picture I’ve created “Zenana Mahal” or the princesses’ Palace. The silhouette of the woman is also drawn from one of my pictures.

Material : chintz for the background, hand dyed fabrics, scraps of silk, lamé, satin, damassé …

Fabric metallic paint, gold thread, nylon monofilament.

Technique : Fabrics are cut in stripes first, then in squares and rectangles of different sizes. They are fused on the background fabric.

The sandwich is prepared, and the squares are appliquéed with a zigzag stitch and nylon monofilament taking the 3 layers (a quilting)

The Arch is fused on the top, and made with white satin printed with a lino block and gold paint.

Finally it is embellished with fabric paint ; It is quilted using my picture on tracing paper.

Close up View: