The Indian sari impresses with its wealth, grace, rich colors. It is created manually only by men. One product takes seven months. It is woven, painted, painted, embroidered, decorated with stones. A quality sari is expensive, but it will last more than one decade. And even today, most Indian women prefer it to modern types of clothing.
Legends of Indian Clothing
Despite the fact that the sari is a long piece of matter, there are many legends about its origin. According to one of them, this is the creation of a lover weaver, who, during his work, was seen and wove long matter. And since he was thinking about his beloved, the fabric turned out to be of unimaginable beauty. From this moment on, sarees are woven, painted, embroidered only by “hereditary” male weavers.
According to another version, the sultan lost his state, himself, all property and even his wife to his enemies. Enemies decided to publicly mock at the wife of the Sultan, but could not. Women's prayers were heard by an Indian deity, her outfit turned into an endless sari that enemies could not unwind.
Scientists simply explain the appearance of Indian traditional clothing. This is an “innovation” from the femoral dressing of primitive people. At the same time, sari is mentioned in ancient chronicles. That is, while some nations flaunted in animal skins, the eastern princesses showed beautiful Indian saris. Photos of Indian women from different classes only confirm the diversity and splendor of traditional clothing.
What is a sari?
This is a long seamless piece of fabric from 5 to 12 meters. Initially, there were two pieces, one wrapped around the hips, the second on the chest, like a topic. Over time, the sari was a one-piece fabric that wound around the skirt and moved upstairs, covering the head and shoulders. At the same time, part of the fabric hanging from the shoulders is most richly painted and decorated in order to show all the richness and beauty of the clothing.
Under the influence of European colonists, girls without a topic and skirt did not wear a single Indian sari. A photo of traditional Indian clothing shows how modern the sari is rich in colors, stylish and elegant. There are costumes consisting of pants with a shirt or a tank top and harem, covered with sarees. Moreover, it can be long, short, transparent. A classic sari has one or two borders on the side (this is the edge with a pattern).
The early sari was distributed by color value. For example, brides wore only a red sari with a gold pattern, a woman after childbirth wore a yellow robe, a widow wore white, lower classes in blue. But now color symbolism has lost its meaning.
Types of Sarees
So, the Indian sari is a wide long cloth of one or several colors, on the sides it has one or two borders and a palla (one edge covering the head) with patterns. In India, the place of production of the sari has its own characteristics and differences. So, Benares sarees are created for solemn occasions. Embroider them with gold and silver threads throughout the silk fabric. The pattern is very rich, decorated with stones.
In Orissa, the ikat technique is used; its color resembles Tajik or Uzbek patterns. The essence of such weaving is that first a pattern is applied to the threads several times, drying each strand individually, and then the material is woven. Sambalpuri robe depicts religious symbols (flowers, wheels, shells) in honor of the god Jagannatha.
Indian Chess Saree is produced in Bargara district. In Sonepuri, clothes are painted in ikat style with bright colors on a religious theme. Baptist sari is characterized by the presence of silk and cotton strands, dyed in gold. Depending on the pattern, labor costs, material, a sari can cost from 13 to 666 dollars.
Indian sari as a costume
Under a sari put on a skirt and a topic. The skirt should be straight cut seven centimeters shorter than the sari. It is combined with the color of the stole in color, regardless of whether it is a transparent or dense fabric. The skirt should be on a belt or lacing so that it fits snugly against the body and does not slip under the weight of a five-twelve-meter sari. In addition, the edge of the canvas can hide under the belt of the skirt, which also requires a snug fit to the body.
The topic is called "choli." Not a single Indian sari is complete without it. The photo of the blouse shows the diversity of the neckline. In this case, the front looks to the maximum closed. A blouse can be with short, long sleeves or without them at all. Choli should also be in harmony in color with the entire ensemble.
Indian sari: how to dress
- The classic way is nivi. Fill the edges of the sari from right to left in a skirt in a circle. Then the folds on the left side of the belt are refueled, but not on the side. Their width is 5-10 centimeters, not less, otherwise they will be lost when walking. At the other end, the sarees cover the back, chest and throw the palla over the left shoulder and cover the head. Sometimes it (palla) is fixed on the shoulder with pins. With proper draping, the pall should be longer than the elbow, in extreme cases, cover the hand.
- Gujarati style. Everyone does the same as in the above method, only after the formation of folds cover the back and immediately throw it over the right shoulder in front.
- Maharashtra women otherwise wear Indian saris. How to wear a twelve-meter canvas? The Indian women let the long end between their legs forward and tuck in the belt.
- If the folds are in front, then this is the style of Kurgi, and if the sarees drape without it, then this is the Bengal way.
- There are more than a dozen ways to drape sarees, which differ in the number and direction of the folds, the length of the pall, revolutions around the waist, throws over the right or left hand.
Sew Indian Saree
It’s quite easy to sew an Indian sari for a girl for carnivals and dances. It will take five meters of crepe satin and ten meters of braid with a beautiful pattern. Choose the width of the fabric so as to immediately sew the skirt, or fold the fabric.
For example, an atlas eighty centimeters wide and five meters long. Without cutting off the fabric, from two meters sew a skirt on an elastic band. The remaining three meters are sewn on the sides with braid. This will be the sari. The top can be taken ready-made or sewn from a T-shirt, decorated with the same braid.
Such an Indian costume is very convenient for dancing. The sari does not fall off while moving, and is fixed with a pin on the shoulder. To along, pick jewelry on the head, arms, legs, as well as sandals.
For girls, you can sew an analog of the Indian sari. Separately, make a straight skirt to the ankles. The top can be remade from a T-shirt. For a sari, you need a transparent or dense fabric from five meters. Please note that the material of the skirt, blouse and sari should be combined in colors. As a border use braid with an unusual pattern.
Another Indian costume option
For sewing, choose satin, satin, chiffon, silk, thin cotton for the top, if you want to emphasize lightness and femininity. More dense fabrics do not hold the desired shape well. How to make an Indian sari for carnival? Sew a half-sun skirt from crepe satin, sew the bottom with an oblique trim, and decorate the belt with a ribbon. In the same cut, sew two lower skirts from kapron, which are ten centimeters longer than the satin tier.
Sew them with an oblique trim. Sew the blouse on any pattern of the top, in which the bottom, sleeves and neck need to be processed in the same style. Sew a guipure veil over your head. Just sew a two-meter cut, pick it up and decorate it with a decorative flower.
The skirt can be sewn with a straight cut with side cuts. Decorate the skirt, top and sari with sequins, braid. Organza sari in this case, short as a veil, serves as a headdress. By this type, you can sew a short straight Indian dress, sarees.
For dancing, you can sew a skirt from wedges in two or three tiers. The lower skirt can be transparent, but long. And the subsequent tiers are shorter, but from satin fabric. You can tie a belt with coins on top. Sew harem pants (wide trousers, narrowed at the ankles) instead of a skirt.
Sewing Salvar
Pants like bloomers are called salvars. They are worn with a long tunic of a straight cut, which is called a kamiz, and a stole (dupatta). Bloomers can be flirty, wide and ordinary. If you are going to sew an Indian sari with your own hands, then pay attention to the “unusual” patterns of any part of the clothing (pants, blouses, tunics).
For sewing salvar, measure the thigh circumference and the length of the product. In fact, you will need two coquette and sidewalls, four potassium (internal parts), two parts on the bottom flap. Coquette in the form of two rectangles in size of the belt. Due to its width, salvars can be lengthened.
The sides are also represented by a rectangle along the length of the entire product. Kali resembles a connected rectangle with a triangle, in which the top is cut off, that is, the yoke is at the top, and then one edge gradually tapers towards the opposite side. That is, potassium and sidewalls are connected, which are sewn to the yoke. At the same time, several folds are made on the potassium. And to the bottom of the pants sew up the gates.
Sewing a chididar, choli
Before stitching an Indian sari, you need to find out what to wear with it. Young girls prefer a tunic with a chididar (these are pants that taper from the knee). In fact, they resemble jeans with narrow trousers, only folds go at the waist (almost like a breeches). Indian tailors cover at once two details of the right and left half of the chididar.
This requires a large consumption of fabric, but less time is spent on sewing. Beginning seamstresses can find patterns of trousers with a narrowed leg at the ankle. You just need to slightly change the pattern, increasing it by the size of the folds and stitching.
Choli is a blouse with a long or short sleeve. The pattern is similar to the shirt style, that is, the sleeve has a large length and a small height of the okata. For the top, choose elastic fabrics or thin cotton. Measurements of the chest, sleeves, shoulders, product length, and waist will be required. Although there are short tops ending under the chest.
Indian tailors offer patterns of various shapes and cuts. They differ from the simplified patterns of topics, so the product with a deep neckline on the back sits perfectly.
Brief Summary
It is difficult for beginners to sew Indian sarees according to the original patterns. A photo of choli with unusual cutouts confirms the professionalism of Indian tailors. Please note: despite the different “petal”, “wave-like”, “oblique”, “curly” lines, the blouse does not puff and keeps its shape perfectly.
Therefore, it is better for beginners to find similar models with patterns in “Burda”: translate on fabric and sew choli, pants, dresses. For sarees, choose silk, chiffon, organza, satin, satin. To get a rich pattern, use braid, sequins, beads, beads.