Some variations in Kerala Kasavu sarees

I need not write anything about Kerala Kasavu sarees. Most of the saree loving women , own at least one Kerala Kasavu saree in their collection. This is also known as "Mundum Neriyathum". This is traditional saree of Kerala.Fine cotton handwoven sarees produced by weavers of Balarampuram near Tiruvantharam.


It has two pieces, Mundum  and Neriyattum, which is in white color or very light cream color.This has combination with Kasav( silk thread covered with gold or silver plated threads). In Raja Ravi Verma's paintings, the women he painted are mostly wearing Mundum Neriyattum.

Raja - Ravi Verma's painting- Woman wearing Kerala Kasavu saree
Image Courtesy-Pininterest

Variations in Kerala Kasavu saree

Though Kerala Kasavu sarees are beautiful, with elegant combination of white and gold, nowdays we can find many variations in Kerala Kasavu. The plain one looks very elegant and good option if anyone is planning to embroider or paint on a saree.

Plain Kerala Kasavu saree:

Plain Kerala Kasavu saree

Kerala Kasavu with Screen Printing:

As I have written, Kerala Kasavu saree is perfect for embroidery or painting. I have used screen printing on one of my sarees. Here it is :

Kerala Kasuvu saree with screen printing

This one is Kerala Kasavu , with embroidery:

Kerala Kasavu saree with embroidery

Kerala Kasavu saree with colored threads and motifs

Weavers also coming up with many designs. To make the borer and Pallu look little colorful, nowadays color silk threads are also used with golden color threads. Here are some variations with color threads:

Kerala Kasavu with motifs

Kerala Kasavu with motifs

Nowadays, Kerala Kasavu with Kerala Mural painting is in trend. I'm planning to paint a Kerala Mural on a saree. Soon share about Kerala Mural in coming posts.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Quick way to design a saree with a lace

Saree can be designed with many techniques like hand embroidery, machine embroidery, painting, printing. I have tried these techniques to design saree for my customers. The easiest way I found is screen printing the saree. It is quick also. Though hand painting, hand embroidery and machine embroidery make the saree look very elegant, these techniques are time consuming.

Another easiest and quickest way to design saree is attaching the lace/border to saree.

Nowadays different kinds of saree laces are available in the  market. I designed this saree using one such lace. The client wanted very simple  , party wear  saree. I got the material dyed with two colors  in the shop.

As she wanted very simple and I selected thin lace in antique gold matching both the colors. Here it is:

 

Within an hour I attached the lace long the border of the saree. And the saree in ready! 

The designed saree on Chammak Challo

 I have designed a blouse in raw silk which is in border color. My client is very happy to see this. Hope you also liked.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Kalamakari border- on Chanderi silk

Often this happens with me. Once I pick up one craft or art, I will make 3-4 projects in that particular craft/ art continuously. Like if I pick up decoupage, for 4-5 days I will be making projects in decoupage etc. One way it is good, I can complete the many projects , but cons are I cannot practise other kinds of arts and crafts in that time. This is what happening, designed 2 sarees one after the other , that too with Kalamkari border :)
Last week I had posted saree designed for myself with Kalamkari border

Here is the saree I have designed for a customer:

Chanderi silk with Kalamkari border

 This is an order from one of my customers. She wanted Kalamkari border on pink color saree. The choice of cloth and the border she had left to me. I chose Chanderi Silk in pink,

The Chanderi silk cotton I have chosen

and  Kalamkari print border, in peacock design.

The Kalamkari print border

  Attached the border on sides of the saree, using sewing machine.

Sewing Kalamkari Border

Just attaching the border on saree is very easy and takes very less time. She didn't want any zari or extra border for the saree, it took hardly 1 hour to complete this saree.
To design a blouse I picked up raw silk with stripes on it, in contrast color.Hope it looks good with the blouse I have chosen:

With Matching blouse in Raw silk

The customer is very happy with this. Please share your opinions too.

Working on some Kutch work designs for saree as well as Kurtis. Will share more about those in coming posts.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Saree design- with Kalamkari border

I never get satisfied with designing saree or dresses with Kalamkari designs. From my collection of patches I had designed a  saree with Kalamkari patches. Nowadays there are many colorful Kalamkari borders  available in market. With one such border , I had designed a black saree which I gifted to my sister in law.
This saree I have designed again with similar border, but in red color.

Here it is:

Saree with Kalamkari border

While designing a saree, the color combination becomes very important. I had the red color Kalamkari border. I avoided a bright zari and chose an antique look blue silk. And a zari cloth for the border.
Here are the cloths I chose, blue silk cloth with circular motif, border ,red silk for blouse and zari cloth:

Cloths used for designing saree

Zari cloth strips

Attached Zari border first, the red color cloth strip and The Kalamkari Border. Another side of the Kalamkari border attached another lace. This highlights the Kalamkari border.
Here is the closer view:

Closer view- Kalamkari border

As the border is very wide, I used it on only one side of the saree.

Red color border goes well with blue color cloth. Hope you too liked the color combination. :)
Designing another saree with Kalamkari border, without any zari. Will share about the same in the next post.

Until then,  

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Chikankari Sarees- from Lucknow

Lucknow - state capital of UttarPradesh,which is famous for its Moghal tradition, known as city of Nawabs, also famous for its chikankari embroidery. There may be very few who don't know about chikankari embroidery.

Origin of Chikankari:

It is a similar to schwalm embroidery (white work). The embroidery is made using white thread on white linen.Nowadays its is done using colored cloths with color threads. Chikan is derived from Persian word Chikin meaning cloths made with needlework. This was originally introduced by Mughal empress Noorjahan.

The motifs in chikankari are majorly flowers, paisley designs , vine designs etc.

Motifs used in chikankari

 Types of stitches:

Chikankari is said to consists of  40 types of different stitches. Among them a very commonly used is tepchi -running stitch. Other few commonly used stitches are Phanda-small circular dot, Jaali - which forms a type of net, murri- knotted stitch,  and bakhia - which is similar to herringbone stitch, used for shadow effect.

Chikankari Sarees: 

Chikankari embroidery has been  influencing fashion industry from ages. Earlier it was a court craft, which were practised in Kolkata, Bangladesh, Delhi, Gaya , Varanasi etc. It is used by most of the designers now, may be it is a kurti, salwar kameez or a saree. 

There are many varieties in Chikankari sarees available. Chikankari sarees are normally in light or pastel shade, and the cloth is fine muslin, cotton, organdy , Georgette etc.

 

 Here is one such saree in light green color and paisley designs

Another is in  lavender color with paisley and florsl design all over:

 Nowadays many  have worked with dark colors like black, blue and red etc. Here is chikankari saree in black and white combination:

In 1980 , the Bhakia stitch which gives shadow effect, dominated and traders flooded the markets with coarsely embroidered chikankari sarees and dresses. Many handicraft organizations worked to bring back the intricate and fine designs involving stitches like murri, phanda, jaali etc. This has improved the quality of the embroidery. This also made chikankari  enter into international fashion market, thereby improving the livelihoods of crafts-persons.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

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Saree blouse design- Kamalkari embroidery

For me always saree is the most beautiful outfit. Saree coupled with properly designed blouse will make saree look more attractive. Nowadays there are several saree blouse patterns available. Normally the saree blouse is designed with either with embroidery, painting on back neckline etc.
I designed this blouse for the Dakkai Jamdani saree , I have.
The saree has geometrical and floral design weaving on it, with black background. I thought of embroidering geometrical designs on the back neckline.

Here is the saree:

As it has floral designs also, then changed my decision to combine both geometrical and floral design. The best one is Kamalkari embroidery, which looks like geometrical flowers :)
 Then what else can stop, just traced the design along back neckline and embroidered with Kamalkari. This took very less time, as Kamalkari threads are thick and filling is easier.
Here is the completed design:

Closer view of the embroidery:

Kamalkari embroidery can also be used for dresses and Kurtis.Its very easy to embroider with Kamalkari. Will share tutorial and some more designs in coming posts.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

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

Kalamkari border attached -Saree

I'm designing a saree after a long gap. I have collection of Kalamkari patches and borders. One such set of  patches ,I had attached to a silk cotton saree .Recently added  a black color kalamkari border with elephant design. I'm fan of Kalamkari designs and elephant designs. So both together!
Lovely border here :

Kalamkari border

I tried matching this with  different sarees, but I liked it on a black saree, which I had

and also the thin border in gold , which I attached along with Kalamakari border

It did not take much time for me to attach the border. I just had to keep the  Kalamkari border and the zari border and stitch . So the saree is ready:
The  saree looks like this now :

Kalamkari saree border

Kalamkari saree Pallu

And on my mannequin ( its name is chammak challo :) ) , it looks very nice :

Saree  on Chammak challo

I liked this saree. But I can't wear it on casual day. Waiting for an occasion to wear it :-)
Recently started learning Kalamkari painting on canvas. Soon will share about the same.

Until then,  

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Tant sarees of West Bengal

Tant sarees are another form of handloom sarees from West Bengal. These don't have intricate thread work like Dhakai Jamdani or beuatiful embroideries like Kantha Sarees. But these sarees are very popular because of the bright colors used and unique color combination. 

"Tant", means thread. Tant sarees are hand loom sarees. These are manufactured in West - Bengal of India, especially in Hoogly and Mushirabad area in West Bengal and Tangail region of Bangladesh . 

Tant sarees are woven to create some stripes or motifs. The borders are woven with zari or simple threads.Here are some Tant sarees.

Traditional Tant saree

Traditional Tant saree

History: 

The industry of manufacturing Tant sarees flourished during Mughal era. The Tant weavers started weaving Mughal designs and motifs in the sarees, which  termed as Tant Jamdani. The motif weaving gave richness to the saree.But during the British rule, Tant saree manufacturing was almost destroyed.

Tant saree with motifs

Zari woven border of Tant saree

Zari woven Tant saree

Now the Tant sarees are woven by power-looms. Still the sarees have not lost the beauty and charm.Now the weavers are using different techniques like embroidery , patchwork , hand painting etc to make it more beautiful. Here is a tant saree with applique work:

Tant saree with Applique work

As I know, almost all Bengali women own Tant sarees. Tant sarees are worn during on special occasions in West Bengal. These sarees are very economical and the fabric is comfortable. These factors make Tant sarees very popular.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Latest saree designed- with Jamini Roy paintings prints

Now a days digital prints on cloth is a trend. The digital prints are also used in latest designs of sarees. Even I wanted to design a saree with digital prints. Fortunately I found a cloth with prints of Shri Jamini Roy's paintings.
(Shri Jamini Roy was an Indian painted. He brought new style in paintings. He followed folk style. You can read more about Shri Jamini Roy and about his paintings here. )
Here is the cloth I found.Actually  this was a salwar top. I thought with this I can design a saree. It has prints of all the famous paintings of Shri Jamini Roy. Obviously the designer in me was very excited to design a saree with this cloth.

The saree has 4-5  main colors, I had confusion to select the saree color. Anyhow I had decided to use the printed cloth with print as saree border. Mango yellow color  is very prominent , so went ahead with that color as saree. Here is my selection of cloths, Mango yellow jute cotton, and blue and green for the borders:

 

As decided , used the printed cloth as border, cut the cloth into stripes, so that each stripe covers longest print :

And attached it on the border , and on the either side attached the Blue and Green cloth along it. Here is how the saree border looks:

And here is the saree designed, worn by my Chammak challo( I have named the mannequin as Chammak Challo :))

 And the printed cloth was left out, so designed a simple blouse with that.

I liked the final outcome of this design. Hope you also liked. Any other design you can suggest me with the same kind of cloths?

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana