DIY (Design it Yourself) Sarees

DIY (Design it Yourself) Sarees 

Text by: Aalia Giri & published on The Corporate Weekly

Photo by: Rukesh Shrestha (Photographer)

Teej just passed by with its glare of red and green, leaving us weary of the colours by now. Don’t be fed up of the saree yet - there is more to this garment than colours devoted to the longevity of men. The saree can express female individuality just as much, given a little creativity and time.

Ever looked at designer sarees and wondered when you would get an affordable deal to don one? Well, don’t just look at magazine covers and TV channels in endless longing when you can get up with the DIY spirit and design it yourself! Inspired by a friend who ran a start up saree-designing company, I suggest to you in this new column that you need not fly to Delhi or Kolkata to purchase the latest look in the yard-long garment. Instead, you can scroll through some websites and get inspired by the works of high-end designers to create your own adaptation at a cheaper rate.

Consider some tips below in making your DIY saree:

Experiment with georgette more than any other fabric as it can hold embroideries better than chiffon and it definitely beats cotton, silk, net or tissue in holding sequin designs, which are still in vogue.

Now that you have your fabric, opt for a simple design that your tailor easily achieve on the cloth. Take a look at some simple works by Satya Paul, Tarun Tahliani, Manish Malhotra or Sabyasachi Mukherjee and improvise on it. It may be as simple as adding a sequined border along your garment, and laying out small sequined floral patterns in the body of the saree.

Get creative in the colours you choose. If you are dark or light skinned, anything between midnight blue to sky blue, or fuchsia pink to red would work when it comes to sequins. Just make sure your patterns and sequin colours go well with each other. Don’t pair a sky blue saree with bright green sequins, for example. Usually, it works when the sequins are a shade lighter than the fabric itself.

Mix and match your blouse and don’t stick to the conventional manner of matching your blouse with the same colour as the saree. Maybe a white saree with a pink blouse? Or a light blue saree with gold-coloured blouse? Whatever befits your personality.

 Finally, once you have your saree in hand, acknowledge the inspiration that produced it – which designer’s work caught your eye? And how did you add your personal touch? The saree will be truly yours and a reflection of your individual taste.