She has a calm and relaxed air about her and is rarely seen without her crochet hook and ball of thread. The delicate art of hand crocheting is what Nilanthie Wijegunawardene specialises in. Her products range from pillow cases spreads, cushion covers, table covers and table runners to coats, christening gowns, and baby afghans. These days there’s a high demand for boleros, shawls, glass coasters and serviettes, says this veteran artist.
Nilanthie started crocheting 46 years ago, taught by her mother when she was only 19 years old. She proudly exhibits the first table cloth she made 44 years ago together with her mother which took two years to complete.
It’s been 10 to 15 years since she started doing it on a commercial scale and now it takes her only one month to complete a table cloth. She has four helpers who are equally dedicated to their craft.
Five years ago Nilanthie and a group of fellow crotchet enthusiasts had an exhibition called “Hooked on crochet”. Spurred by its success, they are hoping to have one this year too. She also sells at fairs but her main sales point is at her home at “ Nilanthie Crafts”, No 443/2, Malwatte Mawatha, Nawala Road, Rajagiriya.. Her products are also sold at Odel outlets.
Nilanthie buys the materials from Pettah and uses only hundred percent cotton in her creations. She advises her customers not to machine wash the crochet items as hand washing would make them last longer.
Recognition for this craft is lacking, she feels, mainly because the public don’t know about it and also because of the relatively high prices of the products considering the time and effort that goes into their making. Finding suitable sales centres for their products and getting trained labour are hard, she says.
But it’s a skill she hopes to pass on. “I hope my ten-year-old grand-daughter Noah will take over one day,” she says laughingly adding “I’ve told her you can take all my books.”
Nilanthie is encouraged by the support she gets from her family and friends as they always come to her to get birthday and wedding presents. Nilanthie can be contacted on 0112886055.
|
E-mail
