Sari Draping
They’re beautiful but how does one wear them?
Our volunteers will demonstrate how to put on a traditional Indian Sari dress.
In India, majority of women wear sari. The sari is a long piece of cloth about a meter wide and 5 to 51/2meters long. The sari is draped over a long skirt.
Saris of different designs and materials are available in a variety of colours. It is made out of cotton, silk and other synthetic materials. The cost of the saris varies according to the quality. The outer end of the sari or Pallu is most attractive especially on silk saris.
Saris are woven with one plain end (the end that is concealed inside the wrap), two long decorative borders running the length of the sari, and a one to three foot section at the other end which continues and elaborates the length-wise decoration. This end is called the pallu; it is the part thrown over the shoulder in the Nivi style of draping.
In past times, saris were woven of silk or cotton. The rich could afford finely-woven, diaphanous silk saris that, according to folklore, could be passed through a finger ring. The poor wore coarsely woven cotton saris. All saris were handwoven and represented a considerable investment of time or money.
Simple hand-woven villagers’ saris are often decorated with checks or stripes woven into the cloth. Inexpensive saris were also decorated with block printing using carved wooden blocks and vegetable dyes, or tie-dyeing, known in India as bhandani work.
More expensive saris had elaborate geometric, floral, or figurative ornament created on the loom, as part of the fabric. Sometimes warp and weft threads were tie-dyed and then woven, creating ikat patterns. Sometimes threads of different colors were woven into the base fabric in patterns; an ornamented border, an elaborate pallu, and often, small repeated accents in the cloth itself. These accents are called buttis or bhutties (spellings vary). For fancy saris, these patterns could be woven with gold or silver thread, which is called zari work.
Tagged with: Base Fabric, Block Printing, Cotton Silk, Decorative Borders, Different Colors, Different Designs, Finger Ring, Long Skirt, Loom, Piece Of Cloth, Silk Saris, Silver Thread, Spellings, Synthetic Materials, Tie Dyeing, Traditional Indian Sari, Vegetable Dyes, Warp And Weft, Weft Threads, Wooden Blocks