Pendet Dancer

I have finally finished my pendet dancer cross stitch. It was quite a challenge using metallic thread. I thought I was experienced because I did the metallic stitches on Lesley Teare's oriental Peacock and Peonies. But still, I went through a tangled and knotted yarn. But I enjoyed every stitch and observed the shape of the dancer appeared on my Aida.



Then, I will need a suitable frame for this, with a traditional touch perhaps ;)

Now, I'm getting back to my postponed tablecloth... :)

Aug 3, 2010
I was just googling around and I found out that the original designer of the pendet dancer pattern is Mrs. Aryati from Crossstitch Point, Jakarta. Well, it's too bad that the Hobby Craft shop doesn't mention it in the kit :(
And here's the preview of the complete set from Buletin Bisnis Website about Crossstitch Point.

Traditional Pattern

I always feel envious to see traditional cross stitch patterns published in the magazines or sold in the craft shops. There are lots of geisha, washi doll, matryoshka doll, hungarian motifs, dutch windmill, african dancer, you name it. I had never seen a cross stitch motif or theme of Indonesia. That is why I fell in love with this Balinese Pendet Dancer cross stitch kit since I first saw it.

Pendet is a traditional dance from Bali, Indonesia, in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance. Pendet can be thought of as a dance of greeting, to welcome the audience and invite spirits to enjoy a performance.

Here's the result so far. Two things left : gold stitches and backstitches.


Actually, there are 6 patterns available. But, I need to save some money first to buy the other 5.

(Pendet dancers photo from Wikipedia, courtesy of Christopher Michel, San Francisco, USA)

Mayday...mayday... Running out of floss...

I'm nearly halfway finishing the tablecloth, but I'm running out of floss #938..!! Ouch.. I'll have to do some shopping tomorrow...


In the meantime, maybe I'll stitch the Pendet Dance of Bali which I already have in my stash.

Cross Stitch Tablecloth

Belasan tahun yang lalu, saat aku masih sering bepergian untuk urusan pekerjaan, hal yang paling aku suka adalah mencari oleh-oleh yang khas dari suatu daerah yang dikunjungi. Entah itu makanan ataupun kain khasnya.

Satu daerah yang dikunjungi tahun 1995 adalah Sumatera Barat. Tempat yang sempat dikunjungi waktu itu adalah kota Padang dan Bukittinggi. Waktu itu aku survey mengenai fungsi jembatan timbang di daerah pinggiran kota Padang. Bukittinggi memang gak bisa dilewatkan dari daftar kunjungan. Selain tempat wisata dan masakan khasnya, buat ibu-ibu yang menarik adalah bordiran khas Sumatera Barat untuk oleh-oleh.
Tempat yang sempat dikunjungi waktu itu adalah Ngarai Sianok dan Jam Gadang.






Untuk urusan oleh-oleh, dicarilah bordiran khas setempat dan jatuhlah pilihan pada kain pink untuk baju kurung. Tapi tanpa disadari, memang cross stitch sudah jadi kegemaranku sejak lama. Begitu melihat taplak ini, tanpa aba-aba aku membelinya juga... Cukup menarik buatku..


Makanya kemudian aku terinspirasi untuk bikin taplak meja dari cross stitch juga. Setelah dapet polanya, mulailah dibuat taplak dengan kain dan benang yang aku mau.





Years ago, when I traveled frequently for working, the thing I like is the search for unique souvenirs of a region visited. Whether it's food or signature fabric.

One region that is visited in the year 1995 is West Sumatera. Places that I visited at that time was the city of Padang and Bukittinggi. At the time I did some survey on the use of weigh stations at the suburbs of Padang. Bukittinggi is a must-to-visit city, besides the tourism places and foods we can also find unique traditional embroidery of West Sumatera. But I could only visited Ngarai Sianok (Sianok Canyon) and Jam Gadang (Gadang Clock).

And it's time to look for some souvenirs. I chose this pink fabric with embroideries to be made into a tunic dress. Unwittingly, cross stitch has become my favorite since a long time. So when I saw the tablecloth, I also bought it without a prior plan. It was quite pretty...

So then I was inspired to make a cross stitch tablecloth as well. After I got the pattern, I started to pick the color that I want and started to stitch it before I lost my anxiety.