They made it in shrot order without much customs hassle! Yeah! 800 new pieces!
Unfortunately one carton was broken open and resealed. I hadn’t gotten too many chanderi sarees this year, that is naturally what was missing! I will be busy for the next few weeks.
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It was nice to meet everyone and hear the oohs and aahs. I will be getting back to San Diego this winter. If you are interested in attending a trunk show, please let me know.
The first model from a beautiful Orissa red ikat pallu and cotton lunghee for the lining. It was amazingly warm. My friend Jude now has it.
Since the last post the jacket population has dwindled! There were a dozen jackets a few weeks ago but people just keep wanting them – half have gone as gifts or sold
In May I A hired a young girl, a graduate in fashion design to sew for me. Boy was that a bad idea. Sewing with sari silks is challenging, as is the gusset placement, which the graduate didn’t grok. She was fun to have around though – I am somehow indebted to her as it made me focus on things. I finally made a few jackets myself, of course they came out alot nicer, and if the jacket costs more it’s because I made it and it is worth more in my opinion!
Also I got to see how the pattern works for a very beginning level seamstress so this is helping me greatly in working out the instructions and tips. A great help recently came from Shelley Muzzy who offered to test the pattern for me. Her recent email said:
“I did take an afternoon and put the cholo together. WOW! What a great garment and what a good pattern! If you follow the directions exactly, it comes together so neat…I especially love the gusset…what a wonderful gusset!!!! Indeed, it does allow easy and excellent arm movement”
Shelley must be a fast seamstress if it only took her an afternoon first of all, but I am very happy to be able to proceed to the final stages of getting the pattern together. I am a perfectionist about these things and so far the instructions are about 12 pages of text. I have to edit it WAY down. I’m also making some line drawings to illustrate some of the finer points, so the pattern production is taking MORE TIME. Sorry.
SOLD
Tomorrow I am going to take the bus from PDX to Eugene and ride down past Cottage Grove and up to a friend’s place on a hill overlooking Dorena Lake. The perfect hot day. It will be mid 90s and I will be riding in the heat of the afternoon. What better than a sari to wear!
The perfect drape for the ride in the hot up to lake Dorena.
The drape is made by folding the sari in half lengthwise. Then it is folded about 60/40 of the width. The top border is folded over so now the “top” refers to the fold. Drape the pallu across your left hip and tie and knot at the top and the end of the pallu.
My first try I put the pallu under my choli – a novel idea I think will keep it from flapping in the wind and from having to fuss much with it. Well this little drape lends itself to warm summer rides and since I am wearing my handkint cycling shorts underneath I don’t mind if it is opening in the front.
Messing around with this drape this afternoon I happened on a cool trick. After you secure the closing, you can again wrap the end around your waist and to the front again and then at the center fold of the sari length put your left arm through the two layers of sari and arrange it on your left shoulder.
At some point you will have a twist of the sari cloth where the center fold is. It looks like a flower and the drapey flow of the cloth when you arange it like this is so pretty.
You are putting your left hand through at the top border. This cloth forms a bag at the side too. good place for the trail mix.
There are endless possibilities with these folded drapes – it’s like origami you can put your self into. The doubled sari fabric and then again the doubling at the width on this method makes it opaque enough to wear without petticoat. This is a tant that has an original bomkai pallu. I’ve never seen anything like it again and I hope I can someday find out the story. Well it’s the perfect match to my cycling shorts so off we go!
In Feb. of 2009 I took a little side trip to Nepal. It is breathtaking and so not like India in so many ways. There is an interesting fusion of cultures in this small nation at the top of the world.
The atmosphere at higher elevations is so peaceful. There are hardly any roads for motorized things in the high hills, just quiet meandering stone steps and paths over the hillsides.
The women are always carrying fodder, water, sometimes rocks around in large baskets hanging from a head strap. Life in the hills is rugged and cold and the people wear beautiful traditional clothes that suit their way of life. The women wear a very tightly fitting jacket made from wildly geometric patterned cloth. At some time this traditional cloth must have been made of natural fibers, now sadly almost everything you see is poly / cotton blend.
I had some tailor women make two blouses for me in Pokhara. The Nepali’s have a very unique way of draping their sarees, most of it is bundled up around the waist and always worn with a shawl. The traditional sarees of the Newari people are red with black borders or vice versa. I tried the bundled sari look while I was there and it is really nice and warm.
When I brought them home to Portland I just kept wearing them They are so flattering with a tunic top and especially with skirts. The fit is interesting, and is made from surprisingly simple pattern pieces that render a a very form fitting silhouette. Underarm gussets let you lift your arms up and back and the jacket stays put. Very practical when you are constantly lifting things up and carrying them on your head, or riding a bicycle.
This spring I took a trip through California with my Brompton folding bike. It was nice to stop in a few places and visit friends and have my own wheels with me. The cholo was the perfect cover for cooler mornings and evenings and I wore it every day for two weeks. I looked forward to putting it on and got compliments every day on the jacket. The Nepalese fabric has a crazy ability to fit with anything of any color or pattern. I have to get my hands on some of this cloth to offer in the sarishop at some time.
The Nepali Cholo pattern really intrigued me so I have spent the last month drafiting it from the originals and sizing it for small medium and large. I made a bunch of sample jackets to test the patterns. I really tried to stay as true to the originals as possible. The jacket design is fabulous with a sari, the tricky side slits allow the pallu to flow up nicely from the waist to the shoulder and the length skims the hips and flares out from the side vents in the most flattering and flattening way at the waist. The fit of the jacket gently lifts it up at hips and it seems to float over the pleats.
In Nepal you see many blouses made out of heavy flannel also, and mostly in pinks and reds, the favorite color of Nepali women it seems. I would love to have everyone own a few of these so that you can stay warm in your sarees and still look elegant.
The lovable scoundrel Mr. Bawa has supplied me with a large lot of damaged silks and I used some beautiful silk sarees to test out the patterns. I’d like to share the images with you, there are about a dozen jackets made so far. They have silk linings as well, all made from vintage Varanasi and Kanchipuram silks.
The Art of Sewing with Saris
Sewing with saris has some special challenges, but what comes from it is so incredible. I have been having so much fun making these blouses. They each have their own personality. You have to pay very much attention to the layout of the ornament to try to balance it on the garment when you cut the pattern pieces out. The gusset – an ingenious addition is also a fully bias cut triangle that tends to shimmy itself into different sizes. You have to proceed gently as they silks are delicate and very slippery. Much pinning is required. Some of these sarees were not really damaged, just grungy so I threw them in my front loading washer on the delicate cycle and they came out nice and fresh. A few were not color fast but most of the ones I tried washed up very nicely. I ironed them while they were still fully wet so they iron smoothly. Even the brocade pieces turn into buttery loveliness after washing. The lose their preciousness through washing and become something much more wearable and easy going.
For a few blouses I have used the pallu for the front and backs of the jacket, which looks absolutely stunning.
In the next few weeks I’ll be putting the whole collection of blouses on line as well as the patterns for sale so you can make your own! thanks for reading.