Dress 283, How to make a top from a sari - Something New, Blue, Sari
Angela Lansbury in a blue outfit made from a sari. Selfie. Photo credit Angela Lansbury. Waist tied with ribbon.
Dark blue chiffon sari with coloured border in red and brown. Photo credit. Angela Lansbury.
The wedding day saying is something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Here is something old make into something new, and it is blue. You can borrow my idea.
The top picture shows the sari top worm over a patterned caftan. This does not work well, because the roses on the green caftan show through. Since the sari has a straight or lined edge, now close to the underlying pattern, this confuses the eye and brain. A better choice would be blue, red, brown, white or black.
How long is a saree length? Wikipedia says 15 to 30 feet long. However Quora says much less, about six feet to nine. I must measure mine.
I remember going into an indian dress and fabric shop in Little India in Singapore. I fancied the sari in the window. The price was outrageous! Everything in the shop was expensive. I asked, "Have you anything cheaper?"
An assistant bought out another sari, much cheaper. I nodded.
The owner hastened to point out, "That is not the full length traditional sari. That is much shorter."
I don't know whether he wanted to kindly protect me from a mis-sale, or to protect himself from an outraged customer bringing it back. Either way, it was useful information.
I did not need the longer length sari. I was not interested in tradition. I am a tiny person and don't need, or want, to be mummified like a Michelin man in umpteen folds of fabric.
I might never look like an Indian. But at least when in an Indian restaurant, or a street, my clothes don't need to look so western that they scream from half a mile away, tourist, foreigner, westerner, come and look, touch, obstruct, stare, pickpocket, fondle.
How To Convert A Sari
How do you turn a sari, which can be 15 to 30 feet long, into a a lightweight dress? How do you securely fasten the dress?
Why Not Tie It Sarong Style?
I tried cutting the sari shorter and wearing it like a sarong. But saris and sarongs don't work for me. They always come apart and fall off.
I tried to tie one behind my neck. But that was uncomfortable. Besides, it looks like you are on the beach or washing your hair.
Short Top
My system is simple. Cut a short A-shape piece for the top. (Alternatively, for a full length sleeveless tunic or short sleeve caftan dress.) Then, cut a short straight line for a neckline.
Caftan or Tunic Style
A conventional dress or caftan from a pattern has a back piec and a front piece and front and side seams. But the saree is worn over a little bolero. All you need is a loosely hanging top, no need to worry about shoulder seams or side seams. You just need to get your head into it. For me the solution is to cut a simple, straight neck hole. What could be easier!
Concealing Scarf Option
If necessary, conceal the uneven or untidy or unfinished neck hole with a scarf, made from the matching material. You could sew on the scarf at the back of the neck to hold it in place if you want it to be permanently attached.
Cutting The Sari For A Dress Length
I put this off cutting my sari for several years, until it became obvious that I would never wear the sari as a sari and it was simply taking up space. I needed fabric for a new outfit, enough fabric to make a long skirt, or a two piece outfit, or even three pieces, or four - and I already had a huge amount of fabric!
Selecting The Size For A Top Or Dress
1 For the top, you cut a piece of fabric long enough to cover yourself from your waist to your shoulders. Don't cut yet. That would be just the front. You need the back piece. Why go to the trouble of seaming up the shoulders, when you can make it just one piece. So you need enough fabric length to go over your shoulders and down to your waist at the back. That is twice the length, plus a bit more for the shoulders.
Tee-Shirt Templace
As usual, your own tee-shirt or favourite blouse or shirt will suggest the ideal length for your size and shape. Allow for the top to hang lower if you want it to be like a tunic.
Mid-Calf or Maxi Dress Length
Or you could be inspired by the cover-up but figure-hugging yet flowing and elegant, Asian shalwar kameez. You could choose a long tunic style dress with matching or contrasting long trousers. The trousers can be fitted or wide. Alternatively make a simpler wrap around skirt
Width for Sleeves
Regarding the width, it must reach at least from one shoulder to the other. How long should the sleeves be? If not from wrist to wrist, at least around your shoulders. I prefer around the top of my arms, just above the elbow to allow you to bend your elbows, or just below.
The Neck Hole
Prepare to cut a hole in the neck horizontally. Fold the fabric right to left. Cut a small triangular notch. Using scissors, snip from here in both directions. Make sure you are going horizontally, not vertically! Remember the old saying for seamstresses, tailors and she-makers and carpenters, measure twice, cut one.
You could copy the neck of a tee-shirt. Or make tiny snips and keep cutting a bit more. Constantly checking. However, tiny snips are likely to reult in an uneven neckline. You could mark the end point with a dressmaker's pin. (What is a dressmaker's pin? Just a pin with a coloured head so you don't accidentally leave it behidn in the garment and scratch yourself or your customer.) I always end up poking and scratching myself with pins, so I prefer to use a safety pin. However, safety pins are often large and make a hole in the fabric. An alternative is to use dressmakers' chalk.
I am impatent. I just cut. If I am lazy, and just wearing the garment at home for breakfast, I leave it unfinished.
For dinner out with friends, or distant family, I would go to the trouble of edging the neckline with ribbon.
Waist Tie
To keep the top in place, like a tunic, use a ribbon tied around the waist. Pick a piece of ribbon with a matching colour to part of the fabric. The ribbon goes under the back piece of fabric. So your arms are free. You have the front tight to show off your bust and waist, your curvy figure. However, the back is loose and flowing and elegant and eveningy.
Top Undergarment
If you have a see-through sari fabric and don't want a bare midriff, under the top wear a tee-shirt or plain colour top, matching, or of contrasting colour.
On Nov 8 2021 I found that one British pound was 100+rupees. So, by my calculation, the sale price on one Indian sari website for sarees starting at 1299 was one hundred and twenty nine pounds, which sounds a lot to me, but you are getting up to three garments in the set and a lot of fabric.
Sarees I saw on Amazon were from 35 Singapore dollars. But they warn that you have to sew up the edges of the sari, and border patterns might not be the same as shown in the photo. Also the so called art silk is polyester. I don't mind that. I love Thai silk which is synthetic. So long as you know that it is not real silk, and that real silk may cost more. You might be better off going to a big deparment store, (in Singapore Mustaphas on the edge of Little India, near Farrer Park MRT).
If you buy a kurta / kurti, make sure you are buying a set with skirt and dupatta (bolero0 included.
Useful Websites
Wiki sari
Simple wiki sari
Only a sentence or two, unlike most simple wiki articles.
Currency Conversion
About the Author Angela Lansbury
BIOGRAPHY
Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5
The Author of several books including Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.
Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com
dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com
Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President
Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time
Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;
Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;
Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.
More details from Toastmasters International find a club.
Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.
Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.
Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.
Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.
Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.
Language and speech workshops in Singapore.
Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.
Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.
Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.
Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.
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