Saree designed with an old silk border

Last year I could  design very few  sarees. All the materials I have bought to design sarees are quitely sitting in the cupboard waiting for their turn,to get designed as saree. I could complete an order from my friend , designing Saree with screen printing . And another with paisley design.

And for myself I had designed a saree with patchwork of cloth with pritns of Jaimini Roy's paintings. Another as a gift to my sister in law, with Kalamkari Border. I have done saree designing with patch work or attaching of borders, as it is easy and takes very less time. Thinking of designing sarees with fabric painting , Kutch embroidery and Kerala Mural painting. Don't know when I can complete the designing of those sarees :)

Here is the one I designed recently:

This I designed for my mother in law. She had an old silk saree which was damaged all over the body. But the border is very beautiful and not damaged. Still the zari has the same luster.

To contrast the border I bought simple cloth in dark blue, with motifs all over in Banarasi weaving.

See how the border looks on the cloth:

Stitched the border along the length , using my sewing machine. This sewing machine is always my favorite. I have designed many sarees using this machine and made many embroideries too.

And little above the border attached  a small border made from the brocade cloth I had.
Here is my Chammak Challo ( the mannequin) wearing the saree.

I didn't have to design the blouse for this, already my mother in law had the same old blouse stitched. :)

Soon will design a saree with Kutch work embroidery. Hope I will complete that soon.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Motifs and designs used in Banarasi silk

In the previous post I have already shared about Banarasi silk.  In Banarasi silk designs the motifs add to the beauty of the delicate silk. Normally Banarasi silk is bright colored and plenty of Zari is used in weaving.  The motifs and designs are influenced by Mughal designs.
The use of plenty of zari gives  it very luxurious brocade look:

Paisley designs woven in a creeper and net style

The sarees are either plain with heavy zari border , or with buttas( motifs) all over the saree. The borders cantain bel (creeper designs), and the pallu jal (latticework)
Here in this saree you can see the creeper design at the border and the heavy zari work on the Pallu.

 This one is red saree with creeper design all over the saree, and floral motifs on the Pallu.

The motifs are geometrical, floral , animals or birds.Banras weavers have extended their designs and styles so that it caters to the needs of all.
Some are plain with heavy borders, like this one here: 

This one is very bright magenta color with heavy border ,pallu, and butta(small motifs) all over the saree:

And this one is very nice color with silver zari. This is very special design, as half of the saree has diagonally decorated creeper designs, with beautiful paisley designs  in between the creeper designs. This is also called as Adha Patli.

 

No wonder, these designs, colors , patterns and richeness make the these beautiful sarees " Dream of every Saree loving woman".:-)

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

 

Banarasi silk - intricate combination of silk and zari

Today I read a news that , the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, announced a huge financial aid to boost the textile industry in Banaras. I feel this boost is really required for the weavers of Banarasi silk.It is a good support to the weavers . Also this reminded about long pending post I had planned , to write about Banaras silk. (Already I have written a post about an atique Banaras silk here.)
 The bright colors, delicate silk combined with zari makes it dream of saree lovers like me :-). The elegance and beauty are effect of  the hard-work of the weavers. It takes 15 days to 6 months to weave a Banaras saree , depending on the complexity of the design. Here you can see a red Banarasi saree, with heavy zari work all over the saree.One can imagine the hard-work behind the making of this saree.

Banarasi saree is manufactured in Varanasi. Its a cottage industry, run majorly by Momin Ansari Muslims. The designs are influenced Mughal designs. In ancient time,  Varaasi was famous for weaving of cotton, gradually the weavers switched over to silk weaving. Recently when I visited Varanasi, I got a chance to visit a weaver. I could capture the image of  hand-loom machine used for weaving. As it was night when I visited there, so the weavers had stopped the weaving for the day. So I could not  see the  weaving :(.

 But collected some information about designing and making of the saree, and also gained some knowledge  on different kinds of designs used etc. I will share about the details in my next post.

Until then, 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana