Beautiful Borders/Laces-2

Velvet Laces

My previous post on this topic is here. 

http://summersofindia.blogspot.com/2010/08/beautiful-borderslaces-1.html

I have so much to show you in laces but did not have much time. OK now here is one more of the laces used as borders for saris, dresses and odhnis or chunris. These days we find a lot of variety. One of them is the velvet lace or velvet borders.  These are available in two or three widths. I think one inch to three inches. They are just plain and available in many colours. 

The laces are available in 9meter bundles, which is required for one sari and blouse. The wholesalers buy in huge quantities and package it like that. So we need not bother how much to buy for a sari. But some of them are also available  in lesser quantities, cut according to our requirements. 

Here is the plain pink one. they are available in such beautiful and unbelievable shades of, pinks, lilacs, black, cream, blues greens etc.This would look good as a border(edge) to plain contrast coloured sari -cream, black, blue shades or even printed one which coordinates well with this colour. 

Here are two laces- thinner in width and with gold stripes. They do look pretty. There are different shades available.

I heard that fringed laces in velvet are also available. But I have not yet come across any in my daily beat. But then it has been some time since I visited my suppliers. May be this week if I visit I will see what else is new in the market.

I bought these so that I can stitch on to some of my saris or dupattas or my niece's frocks. I dint buy the wider one.  One can use the thinner lace (same or different colours) on either side with some other lace in between as a border to sari. 

Well I have not found any suitable sari for these laces. But do have a look at these. Explore and enjoy. Just give it a thought. We can also use these on cushion covers or kitchen linen, kids clothes etc. But one thing is they may not stand heavy washes and wear and tear. Gentle hand wash in mild liquid soap or dry wash may be best. I have not tried to wash it yet. 

So ? How do you like them? do let me know please.

Blouses In Fashion-Benarasi-2

I have one Cotton sari- a very fine cotton, hand woven with zari border- a broader one at the bottom and a very thin line on the top for three fourths length and then broad border for the pallu. Its pallu is also very simple. But its colour is unusual. I loved it the moment I saw it. We call this as Kankambaram colour or Crossandra (flowers) colour.  

This is from a place called Venkatagiri in my state. That is why this is called as Venkatagiri sari. The place is famous for hand woven, very fine, cotton and Seiko(cotton and silk mixed) saris with thread or zari motifs.

I prefer hand looms as each piece is unique and beautiful as also natural.

Generally blouse in matching colour is worn with many saris. If it has a border in contrasting colour, blouse of that colour looks good. But here I did not want to wear a gold coloured blouse.

Wearing a matching blouse would have been perhaps too simple. So I searched for something different or unique. Then I saw this brocade blouse in contrasting colours.

This is the actual colour. In  the other pictures i could not get the colour right. This is the pallu with two zari stripes. At the bottom you can see the big border of zari.

This is the blouse I thought would be very beautiful with it. I am sorry I am not able to capture the real colours of the blouse or the sari  in these pictures. The blouse is shiny because of the silk thread. So getting it right was not possible. The blouse looks more brighter than what it appears here.

Have closer look. See the stripes in gold, red and purple-it is looking like blue here. See the different designs-flowers, paisley. 

So by choosing some thing a bit different we can make the entire dress very unique and different. Had I teamed this with ordinary same coloured blouse, it would have looked boring and monotonous. 

These blouses are available in different colours-single multi, stripes etc. you can team it up with plain saris. So why don't you try one?

Learn With Me- Making of Necklace-3

I did not post much on making of jewellery. I have made many and gifted to my friends and relatives. I have lots of friends and relatives with Birthdays in September and October -Virgos and Librans.  :) :) :).... Well they appreciated a lot and when told them I made it and asked for their critical comments. But they assured me my jewellery was very good and looking like as if made by a professional.

Any way I have a long way to go. I am only trying out simple things. But I have lots of ideas on complicated designs too. I am also making bangles, ear rings, bracelets, anklets etc. to go with them. I will be posting tutorials in my coming posts.

The problem is many a time I have to make them at a very short notice- like some one's birthday engagement or some occasion and in all my hurry I forget to photo graph them. Well I will be making many more.

Here it is


Required:


Red beads
Gold (Matte finished) beads
String or wire
Clasp
Pendant set


Before Starting...


The Red beads are I think Garnet- not of very costly variety. I am not so sure because I have bought some different types in red colour and I am not too familiar with the names yet. I have used 24 on one side-total of 48 numbers.


Gold beads which I have used in between the beads are available in various sizes and varieties; mostly round or somewhat oval. They are available in plain, matte finish, cutting designs etc. In this necklace I have used matte finish. They do look dull but then they are in now. I have used 25 on one side- a total of 50 beads.


The pendant is pomegranate shaped with seed beads and matching ear rings. I have posted about it in my last post. I chose this because the white of the beds stands out in contrast to the red beads. It also has matching red beads dangling at the bottom both for the pendant and the ear rings.


I have used 0.45 mm wire. You can use any string that will hold the weight. Strictly speaking using same coloured silk thread is most prevalent practise.


Method:

• Decide the length of the necklace you want and cut the string accordingly after allowing an extra five inches or so for attaching the clasp. I prefer to string the beads first without cutting the wire or string. This way we can cut off the required length after attaching the clasp without any wastage. 
• The length of my necklace is 27 inches in total. 28 inches is considered to be ideal.
• First string in a gold bead then red coloured bead followed by a gold bead and so on...till we reach half way through.
• Then string in the pendant. Actually the hook of the pendant was too big. So I had wind the wire (to the back side of the hook) to keep it place, or else it would slide along the beads.
• Now string in the rest of the beads and attach the clasp.

Here it is.

This red coloured beads are very popular here. It goes well with many a silk sari-white, yellow, green as contrast and matches maroon shade saris.  But these days contrast coloured beads and jewellery are much in preference than matching ones. Red colour signifies, auspiciousness, prosperity. So Indians prefer red coloured saris or jewellery. 

I have used a very simple design. But one can use more gold beads. Similarly, I have used both gold and red beads of the same size. Actually both are available in different sizes and shapes too. Red beads are of different shades too. Suitable pendants can also be used-made of gold (polished if not of real gold), pearls, kundan, meenakari, glass, fibre etc-either contrasting coloured ones or matching ones.  

Hope you like it.