Saurabh Devadhe’s short and sweet positive affirmations with embroidery on leaves, jewellery and other décor items are sure to brighten up your surroundings and belongings. Check out any of his reels and videos on social media and you will be tempted to pick a needle and thread spool and get going.
A mindfulness practice that flourished into a business idea
In the year 2020, when COVID-19 brought us to our knees, Saurabh Devadhe, who was pursuing his Textile Diploma in Gujarat, was quarantined in a government-run facility on his return to his home state Maharashtra. On one such lockdown day in May, he sat under a banyan tree with a bed of yellow leaves around him. He picked up a few and pondered on embroidering them. As the leaves were not dry enough, they did not reap desirable results. He then pressed them between the papers of a book and once dried, began dabbling with embroidery. Being a textile design student, embroidery was a natural choice to keep himself occupied when he was away from the company of his loved ones. Using uncomplicated stitching patterns, he would practice sewing messages of positive affirmations that were simple, sweet and short. It was basically his way of uplifting his spirit during those testing times.
What initially started as a mindfulness practice gradually transformed into a brand, Bespoke by Saurabh. The business idea developed around Saurabh’s tryst with embroidery onto cotton, linen, denim, felt, and watercolour paper. He also skilfully uses the different stitching techniques to adorn jewellery, stationery and home décor. His embroidery on leaves from banyan and rubber plant trees makes for cute little keepsakes. Today, with a team of five people, who handcraft various home décor and jewellery products, he also conducts workshop online and offline workshops. He has trained more than 180 people till date. He had also put up a stall and conducted workshop at the recently-held festival of handmade by A hundred Hands in Bangalore. Check out any of his Instagram reels and YouTube videos and you will be instantly tempted to pick a needle, thread roll and a tee that needs an interesting little twist. It’s the sheer simplicity of the embroidery that will motivate you to get going.
Gender notions never deterred Saurabh
This 23-year-old enjoys doing floral embroidery in particular and mostly draws inspiration from the natural beauty of his hometown. So, does this young man face the curious look on the faces of many people who believe “embroidery is only for women”? Well, very often! In fact he tells us that many who respond to his reels assume the embroidery is primarily being handled by a woman and often address “Ma’am” in their direct message queries. Many of his well-wishers also initially cautioned him that embroidery “may not be a practical choice”. But such assumptions did not deter Saurabh who believes, “Follow your passion and don’t brother about anything else. In fact, today I am able to make a good living out of it.”
