Embroidered Sari from Bengal

I wanted to share with you this sari, which was bought for me by my friend. She is from a village in West Bengal. So when ever she visits her native place, she visits Kolkata (earlier known as Calcutta) where some of her relatives stay. She usually brings many saris, dress materials and accessories etc from there for all of us and I bought this from her.

I love cotton saris. This one is baby pink coloured  fine cotton sari embroidered with blue and green cotton threads. The fabric looks like organza. The threads are coarse and looks like dyed ones. All through Satin stitch has been used. You can see how beautifully the artisans from Bengal have embroidered the sari. Mind you, the embroidery is not perfectly done, yet it is beautiful.

 This the border of the sari. Simple vine with blue and green threads.

  

Another view of the border. The sari has borders both at the top (only the portion where it is visible) and at the bottom.

The small flowers  known as booties cover the entire sari.

This is the pallu heavily embroidered.

The vines have been embroidered accross the pallu.

A closer look.

In the corners of the pallu this design has been embroidered.

I love this sari because of its baby pink colour and good combination of the colours used.  It is simple yet attractive. But it is a bit difficult to maintain, because one has to starch it and then ironing requires more heat. This may result in fading of the colours with repeated washing and ironing.