COTTON SUMMER TOP IN PINK

Crepe Dress

This is one more dress for Maria, my friend. Bought this crepe silk saree at a sale to raise funds for an NGO. Very sweet of her to buy this saree and donate to charity too. 

There was small printed border at the edge and a non descriptive print for the pallu. It had a sober print and colour, until I separated both the pallu and border. Suddenly it looked very attractive and fetching.

I must say, Maria has an eye for fabric and colour!

Because the fabric is crepe, it has a great fall, I gave a mild cowl neck. 

Knee legth, sleeveless, back zipper are the features of this dress.

Made a scarf to go with the dress, from the left over pallu fabric.

The fabric, print, and the fit are the main stay. Did it turn out well? What do you think, 

Handloom cotton Dress with border

This is my friend Maria. She wanted a few dresses made. She bought this brand new saree at a sale for a throw away price of Rs.150 ore close to $2.5. 
It is a cotton handloom saree, all of 6 m. long and 1.1m wide. Has a lovely zari border in multiple colours.
Though I made dresses earlier, had not done many with zipper at the back. So this dress gave me a lot of practice. Maria wanted a wide neck, 3/4 length sleeves. the border at the hem of the dress and sleeves gave the dress a formal look. The bodice is made out of the Pallu of the saree. 
One interesting aspect of this dress and Maria is that the fabric is semi transparent, which make it beautiful. It needs backing / lining, and since there was a lot of fabric left over from the saree, Maria wanted the same to be used for lining as well. 
I just loved that idea. What is better than to use the same cloth:

• Perfect colour matching
• Save money on buying separate lining cloth
• Reduce wastage
• Both shrink or not, bleed colour or not, at the same rate...  

Managed to achieve the fit she liked. She is happy. I am happy.

Cotton summer dress to die for

   

This friend of mine bought several sarees at a sale. She wanted dresses made of them. Since I love using what is already there, this turned out to be a very fulfilling experience for me. I encourage anyone who wants to refashion / reuse / re-purpose clothes and fabrics.
Not only she bought beautiful fabrics but also each saree was unique. This saree had delicate embroidery on it all over. The pallu (in navy blue), had very pretty floral motifs sewn on it. So, we used the pallu as the border on the dress. Since it is going to be a summer dress, better to have generous v neck and no sleeves. 
I gave armhole darts to give the bust a better fit. Took a 1" facing for the neckline and sleeve opening. 
First time I stitched zipper on these dresses. I am grateful to her for giving me this opportunity to gain some experience attaching zipper on dresses.
It so happened I saw a tutorial on how to attach zipper and the very next day I got these orders to make three dresses with zippers. I used to be petrified of making clothes with zips, I don't know why. May be because I hadnot seen it done.
Overall, the dress came out well, as you can see she is happy to be wearing and posing for the photos....

Tunic out of saree fabric

On a trip to Dharwad, I wanted to collect a souvenir. Not having much choice, I settled for a Dharwad saree. I didnot need 5.5 m of the fabric, so decided to share it with my niece. It was lying around in my stash for a couple of years before I was fed up of seeing it there and decided to make something with it. Then the hunt began for some suitable pattern  for the cloth. I must point out here that the fabric is semi transparent of cotton and silk mixed weave, silk border and zari design on it.

   Liked this pattern from internet

The drafting, cutting and trials were a long process. Initially I thought of making cap sleeves with the border, after attaching the front and back main pieces, it looked the border on sleeves would be over kill. So dropped the idea of the sleeves. 

           

 Rough sketch showing the borders     Under construction 

Should I use the full width of the border or only part of it, for a thin edging, was a decision I had to make. I decided to as well make it a bold statement. Attaching the borders on the hem turned out to be very challenging. By the time I attached the sides ie, front and back together, I realised I should left more of the border at the ends. I had to attach some more and not to make it look like a patch. The back hem is a straight line, instead it could have been asymmetrical too. Well next time.                                                 

  

   

Aired it a few times already. Get a lot of compliments every time.

Kurta in Moonga Kota fabric

Moonga Kota fabric is generally thing and semi transparent, but then, that is the beauty of that cloth. Since the fabric has some cotton in it, after a couple of washes, it shrank on the sides.
This is part of a set of Churidar / salwar in bright orange, kurta with border and butas and a multi coloured chiffon dupatta. The border design is woven in green, yellow and red. The butas are machine embroidered in matching colours of border. Very pretty fabric overall.
It is a self drafted kurta for myself. Since I made so many kurtas for myself, I get the sizes pat... Hardly need any alterations.
I like border designs, because you get more features to play around with. Instead of using it at the hemline, I took it across the chest. I used part of the orange churidar fabric for lining the bodice, and as facing for the neck and sleeve edging.
3/4 length sleeve, straight cut, side slit, round neck kurta is bright and my go-to dress for any occasion.

Tunic in stretch fabric

    

She is a friend of a friend; visiting Goa. Brought this fabric from Mumbai and wanted me to make a flattering garment for her. 

The fabric is mostly cotton but has considerable stretch to it. And it is thick. Would have been ideal for trousers or a close fitting skirt, because of the stretch. Since she chose the design, i went with it and did my best. The top has a 'V' in the front. The horizontal print of the skirt is attached along the arms of the V. The tunic / dress dips in the front centre. 

Short sleeves and round neck are other features. Took side darts to accommodate bust. it was a rush job or the finishing would have been better...