SummersofIndia

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Appliquéd Sari

Machine Appliqué

I am back home for a short time. Its cooler here and very cloudy. It seems that it rained here day before yesterday-a torrential rain for a few hours causing water logging and traffic jam. Well India is India. We have to live with all this. Its called LIFE.

Oh now coming to the point, I wanted to share with you this machine appliquéd sari. Every year during Jan to March, we Indian women buy cottons in preparation for the Summers ahead.

OK. This is once again a cotton sari from Bengal. Well I love the cotton saris from Bengal. They are very soft yet stiff, come in pastels and dark shades, good colour combination, beautiful borders. The range is also very good, a measly Rs.150/- to Rs 3000/- and above. They are also available in plain or with butas or other designs- hand woven. These designs can be small or big. But what I like about these saris are that, they are adorned with embroidery, appliqué, bead work or crochet- something new each year.

Alas I dint have much time to go through the latest new arrivals. So I missed out on some real new creations. But I bought this machine appliquéd.

This is a creamy yellow coloured sari with a maroon striped border and pallu. It has flowers and vines appliquéd on it as you can see. The cloth used for appliqué is Organdy cloth. Mirrors have been used for the center of the flowers. The appliqué work has been done by machine embroidery.

Machine Appliquéd Sari from Bengal

Just go through the pictures. See how they have appliquéd the flowers, leaves and the vines on the sari, border and pallu.

Would like to know about your comments and suggestions please...keep watching

Friday, February 25, 2011

Friday-Free Patterns

A New Year Tradition

Its Friday again. I am not able to post one of my patterns this week. But here is something for you. As I was browsing through some sites, this one held my attention

http://hubpages.com/hub/New-Years-Traditions

Its so nice to read about these traditions. The author- Patty Inglish MS wrote about the tradition of making pillow cases for New Year in her home and also gave the simple method for stitching the cases. However the reason/story behind the tradition could not be traced by the author.

I loved to read about it. It touched my heart. It made me remember the tradition my mother followed for New Year. She rearraned the furniture as we didnot have much money to buy lavishly. She made new drapes, furnshings and bed and kitchen linnen out of scraps, used saris or other material. But she made them so beautifully emblished with embroidery and chrochet that no one could make out that they were made from old and used clothes.

What ever be the country or the race or religion we are all humans and are similar in many ways. We all have customs and traditions. Following them remembering them is fun. This way we can learn about each other and about our countries, culture and life styles.

You too read this....and let me know.....if there is a story behind the tradition of making of pillow cases for New Year...