Deepavali Sewing - my outfit ..

Lots of Deepavali Sewing this year.

Outfit for Adithi , One for me and Two for my sister.

Made Sister's outfit first and she is yet to mail me proper pics. so cant share them as of now. made them in a hurry , in a span of two days, one dress a day and managed to send it back home, just in time as surprise gift for her. love you little sis :)

Now let me show my Deepavali outfit, which got delayed due to impromptou Pirate costume. since i was running out of time and had to sew something up fast and had decided to use the Mysore Silk fabric i had been hoarding for 4 years now !!! I had to make a quick and wise decision, use a tested pattern and ensure that fabric is done justice with.

Decided to use the same pattern i had made for my sister's second outfit . It was manipulation of darts to get a yoke shape. Altered it to fit my measurements. so the pattern was ready. Next challenge was to get the right lining for the fabric as silk was very think as is the nature of mysore silk. Luckily got the exact shade of color, lining fabric and got started. Made bottom on a day and top on next day.

Bottom is simple Churidhaar with lots of extra length to give gathers at ankle. The silk fabric is so nice as it feels as if you are wearing nothing .

Top is the Yoke kameez, where in i used bottom fabric for contrast and added the zari which was available in the top fabric.

The zari is Original Silver zari !

This kameez is one i will treasure and hopefully give it as ämanat to my darling daughter when she grows up as one of the outfits that her mom was proud that she sew !

Added the zari to the side slits of the kameez as well as bottom hemline at the front of the kameez.
This was the most difficult part and surprisingly took more than an hour to sew.

One thing i wish i had changed in this outfit was that in  a rush of using the pattern i had drafted for my sister , forgot to alter the neckline depth at the front, it is too up for my liking, but still comfortable enough so no issues.

Funniest tid bit in sewing this outfit was, that in the mad rush i had forgot to make drawstring for the pant and on the day of deepavali as i was trying to wear it, i realized the folly and made one drawstring using scrap bottom fabric , and wore it hot off the sewing machine ;)

In love with this traditional Churidhaar Kameez, what about you?

Here is a sneak peak of Adithis Deepavali Dress, for which a separate post is coming up soon...

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Teal blue and mustard kameez & churidhaar set for Sister

Latest outfit for my sister

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Blow your blues away dear sis!

Latest outfit in blue, hope it blow away the blues (if any) of my sister!

Simple Cotton Kameez wherein zari border given in the edge of fabric has been used as C.F (center front); similar to the Simple Ethnic Kameez made last week! 

Tunic in Purple coming up next ...

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At Cross roads on new year!

I have called it the cross-roads, coz the pattern at the yoke and the bottom half of the top criss-cross with contrasting pieces to make it look like cross-roads, can you visualize the same are am i too much into dreamland, anyways i liked the design and it looks way better than how it would have if I stuck to the original print alignment along the lengthwise grain!

Sister gifted me the material for my b'day (which was 6 months back!) at last i decided to make an outfit for me. The fabric in lengthwise grain had the sand color print on top with about 6-7 of maroon print at bottom . Since i thought i will look ordinary design, decided to use the top fabric in cross-grain! kind of a risk as i am meddling with grain as some fabrics, notoriously lose their shape in cross grain and some crinkle, but decided to take the chance and wow, i am glad i did!

I had been to my Aunt's place to wish her a healthy, happy year of 2012 and as you can see was lost in thoughts during the photo-session!

Used the pattern draft for Sister's Pongal Outfit and altered it to my measurements. The toughest part was to use 2 contrasting bias strips and ensure that they connect the yoke neck at right places to get the complete contrast look.

Pants are churidhaar pants, oh the fabric is pure cotton, so comfy and perfect for chennai weather (even in winter!) Phew! Cyclone Thane brought down the temp a week back, but now things are back to square one and we are having yet another warm winter!

Petal sleeves in the kameez add more zing to it and the fact that i have put on more weight helps the fit of the petal sleeves, i must be on the other horizon where there are few people, who are thrilled to bits and are elated when they pile up some kilos!

Here is the story behind my added kilos:  I went for my DD's vaccination for DPT booster dose and while we were waiting for the doc, decided to check the weight and to my pleasant surprise it showed 50kg! yay! at last ... i went up to 55 during pregancy 5 years and came down to 42 for long time and then about 3 months back hit it up to 45 and now ... thank you god! I wanted to be 50kg ever since i heard the song from Movie : Jeans - picturised on Aishwarya Rai (only Rai then!)... 50kg Taj Mahal enakke enakka (means 50kg Taj Mahal is all mine?) oh i actually did sang that one to my hubby dearest yesterday? Don't get me wrong, i am NOT comparing with or aspiring to be Aishwarya Rai Bachan! but have always wanted to look bit more fleshy than skin and bones that i have been all these years!



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Wedding outfits - Day 2 continued ...

After the wedding ceremony was complete, we changed to our casual self!

Both the outfits were sewn by ... me! 

Sister's Outfit: 

Features

• Kameez with curvy yoke with piping (used leftover fabric from my mom's Deepvali saree blouse! god aren't the left over fabrics worth their weight in gold!)
  
• Puffy sleeves and piping at neckline as well !
  
• Churidhaar bottom

My Outfit:

I loved the fabric the first time i set my eyes on it during our fabric shopping for Deepavali! 

Features are just the same as my sister's outfit 

• Curvy yoke with piping
  
• Neckline piping + Puff sleeves (this fabric holds the puff a lot better than my sister's , fabrics are always tricky, you never know (for sure!) as to what you will end up with, however i am pretty pleased with the Puff effect!)
  
• Churidhaar for bottom and oh yes the bottom fabric was to die for, similar to glass tissue and that too in dual shades!

Oh yes! bought these sandals during Deepavali shopping and guess what they were the exact match for this outfit! i am getting it right with my footwear these days! yay!

And the bag belongs to my sister, just bagged it during the photoshoot! 

Have i fallen in love with the outfit ! YES! I wore the same outfit , (the same evening ofcourse!) to meet the fabulous Magda. I have blogged about the meeting over here,

Would you like to Bag this? Enter this Giveaway!

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Dance Class Uniform for DD !

I am back to normal (kind of, atleast do not have a runny nose anymore!) so its time to share few things , lets start with the Dance Class uniform i made for DD !

It is plain simple Salwar Kameez (This style of of Salwar tutorial coming up, the pattern draft which is so easy!) She was quite excited as there is no uniform in her school (Montessori methodology!) and hence this would be her first ever uniform!

Took the photoshoot in a hurry as we were rushing for her Dance Class (its been a month now! phew! god she loves each session!)

Salwar is semi-patiyala style and has elastic cuffs at the bottom so that it does not bother her while she is busy with her Dance moves!

Kameez has small keyhole at the back neck (Sorry no snap of that!) with ties (so that it accommodates her as she grows!)

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Kameez Draft - Tutorial

Salwar Kameez / Kurta Draft has been pending for quite sometime now, with the availability of scanner, i find it lot more easier to draft patterns by hand (yes i belong to old school of using paper, pencil, eraser & hand ofcourse to draw and prefer that to modern drawing s/w!!) , the draft is ready to be shared

Please note that this draft is for a loose fitting kameez without any darts , the tops which can be worn with Jean or leggings!

Also note that the neck depth affects the shoulder width and the deeper the neck, shoulder width should be reduced accordingly!




Please Note: The draft includes

• 1/2 inch seam allowance on shoulders
• 1 inch seam allowance on sides

Add Hem allowance as required

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Teal N Red Salwar Kameez

Teal N Red seems to work as color combo?! what do you think? I would never have believed until i finished sewing this salwar kameez. Used the border portion and sewn them up together to form yoke of the tunic.

Front and Back View

The fabric was gifted to me by a relative at a family function. I had a look at the bottom fabric and did not quite like it, so left it in stash and suddently happen to saw, while searching for fabric to test Dhoti pant pattern with, made dhoti pants using them, then guess what ....

I saw the top fabric and fell in love with it, had to make a tunic and used the pattern drafted for sister's b'day dress and tweaked it a bit to add pleats at center front at waistline instead of flared hemline as i had narrow fabric at hand!

Tried cowl sleeves (less fabric, so limited cowl only possible!) and voila the tunic was something i fell in love with and flaunted it hot off the sewing machine.

Here are the snaps...

Cowl Sleeves

Dhoti Salwar (I wish i had sewn churidhaar with lot of gathers at ankle as that would fit this tunic perfectly, never mind will buy a red knit churidhaar to go with this top!)

Meanwhile Tutorial for Dhoti Pant / Cowl Pant is getting reading, will post it soon, hopefully by tomorrow.

Teal N Pink Salwar Kameez

My Sister's Friend had given me 2 sets of Salwar Kameez material and i had finished the cotton one some 2 weeks back remember!

Now its time for the synthetic one ( i hate sewing synthetic fabrics for their 'don't sew me tantrums'!) This material was no different and gave me enough trouble while cutting and sewing. But i am happy with the end result! I had discussed the design for this kameez with sis's friend when she gave fabric and i hope she is happy with the outfit and it matches what we envisioned!

The kameez has ruffles across bodice to give mock cross-bodice effect and also has petal sleeves.

Pictures of the Kameez

Petal Sleeves

Bottom is plain salwar with pleated waist and interfaced bottom band

Salwar (Bottom Pant)

Dupatta or the Shawl for the Salwar Kameez

Simple Chic Salwar Kameez

My Sister's Friend had given 3 Salwar suit material sometime in January. Due to hectic schedule (he he) that i had (really i had been sewing like there is no tomorrow for sometime now; though it has been only for 3 musketeers - Darling Daughter , Dear Sister & Self!!!)

At last really felt bad that i had kept her waiting for long, so decided to finish her Salwar Suits off, and finished off the Cotton set in a day (the bottom material was very less and she is quite tall, hence had to do lot of patch bits to savor the bottom at the end)

Thought of finishing off her other set as well and as fate would have it, my DD's best friend's b'day is coming up and have to sew something up really fast, so my sister's friend would have to wait a little more for her next set. Hope to make it lot of designer to make up for the last time ;) Click here to view DD's Friend's B'day Gift - A Balloon Frock

Blast from the Past

I am yet to get the scanned images of the Cowl Neck tutorial sheets i had given to my sister. Thanks to Sprouting flowers, Thendral,Poornima, Tika,Megha for those encouraging words.

Meantime I thought of posting all those dresses which did not make the cut to my blog somehow. Either the Client (Read my little sister or even busier little darling daughter) or the Designer (Read Myself) were busy with other things.

Yesterday she was on leave and we had a blast making this collection from the past. Some date back to as old as 3-4 years old as well... yes God has blessed us with bodies that stay in tact and shape for years together(albeit lean but we are quite OK with it as long as we are healthy and happy)

Without much adieu have a look

Cowl pants

Tiered Skirt

Salwar Kameez / Kurtas 

First effort at Pintuck 

Actually there are more .. few of MIL Blouses, Mother's blouses, DD's traditional Pattu Paavadai (Silk Skirt &Top) will post them someday....

Chinese collar Salwar Kameez

 

Client had lots of fabric and didn't want to stitch top and bottom in the same fabric. Wanted to use as much as fabric as possible and requested for open type chinese collar(Not fully covered in front) and full sleeve.

Mid patch was my suggestion. She wanted to add fabric covoered buttons as well. Added a bit of embellishments to the button to give it the finishing touch.

The most difficult part was No Not the collar but the mid patch and aligning the two halves of the front fabric without disturbing the grain of the fabric. Add to the woes were the embroidery which was bulky at some places due to thick floral motif in between the lines.

For the collar i am bit unsure as i wish i had used a more stiff interfacing. God i do not want to touch that collar again. Since it is an open collar kind of thing hope its ok if it falls a bit.!!!! Hoping...seriously.

Have got 2 more kameez set to sew for the same client. Hoping to finish it next week and shall update you all soon.

Tomorrow the agenda is to finish off long-pending sewing assignments for my MIL. Her b'day coming up on 25th so this is the least i could do...

Got to catch on some sleep... c ya....

Oh yes the pics...

Front - can you see the button detail . Are you able to identify mid patch. at center front

Full View of the Front

Collar and the back

Bling Bling Salwar Kameez - Fast Track Project

Bling Bling Bling!!! Yes kameez with sequins work all through the front side of the kameez. This must make it to the list of fasttrack projects i had done so far. 4 hours in total to finish the complete outfit. Hope it fits well. This one is for my sister. She gave it to me yesterday night.

Outfit has Patch work detail in front and Back. Go figure it out in the front neck, its very delicate. Did you find it out?

Bling Detail

Now do you all agree to the title of the Post ...Ding Ding!! Bling Bling!!

 Patch at the Back Neckline

Kameez with Shawl a.k.a Dupatta

Bottom is Gathered Salwar with lot of pleats to add volume to slender body frame (we are actually blessed with slender frames, though people pass comments on being lean, i guess its advantage to be lean, coz you can wear anything and carry it off well!!!! )

Can you see How it drapes due to pleats?!

Action Shot - Excuse my daughter, as she wouldn't budge!?

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