Baby Toy

In a tiny Rabari village of round houses on the coast of Gujarat we purchased this baby toy. It is perhaps supposed to be a parrot, though that is just a guess based on other triangular type motifs that are labeled as parrots in some of my research books. Typical of Rabari "stuffed" objects, it is very stout and heavy. The stuffing is tightly rolled fabric sewn into the desired shape then covered with the decorative outer layer. We were informed by our guide, and the gestures of the Rabari woman who sold it to us, that it was a baby toy similar to a mobile.

The stitches:

The yellow lines are Chain Stitch.

The white squares are Back Stitch.

Yellow and orange square and rectangles are in Satin Stitch.

The mirrors are held on with an incredibly tight Cretan stitch and surrounded by white Running stitches. Two of the mirror on the top of the triangle have cut through the stitches on one or both sides.

The white zigzag holds the triangle together down both sides and tiny tassles of orange and yellow have been sewn to all three corners.