DIY saree finishing tips

[geor9ia_n]

I'm attempting a DIY for a friend's Indian wedding in December and I'm a little nervous. I bought a stunning pure silk fabric that's just the right shade of teal and a beautiful gold border separately. I'm having my tailor do the blouse, but I really want to do the finishing on the saree itself. I have all 6 yards and now I need to attach the cotton fall to the bottom inner edge, and finish the non-border ends with a pico edge. I've only done a roll hem on a regular scarf before, so I'm worried about snagging the delicate silk or making the fall noticeable from the outside. What are your best tips for machine-stitching a fall so the main stitches are practically invisible from the front? Also for the pico finish on the pallu, is a standard rolled hem foot okay for silk, or should I be hand-finishing it to avoid any bunching or puckering? Any advice on working with this much slippery silk is greatly appreciated. I really want this to look beautiful for the big day! Thanks in advance!

 

[ygritte33]

Try using a thin needle like size 9 or 11 and silk thread so the stitches stay small and don’t show much on the front. For the cotton fall, sew close to the edge and iron it first to help it stay smooth. A rolled hem foot can work if the silk is cut straight, but sewing by hand might be easier if the pallu has curves. Are you using anything to help the fabric move evenly through the machine? That can stop it from bunching up.

 

[Marla Sandridge]

A very long time ago, I worked in the East Asian Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and my immediate boss was a lovely woman from India. I did many rolled hems on her 6-metre-long sarees. They were all beautiful silk and I used a 65/9 or a 70/10 needle and a 1 needle rolled hem with polyester thread. Now, when I sew on silk, I usually use a 65/9 or 70/10 Microtex Sharp (these were not available in the late 80s when I was doing this). I would also use silk thread because it is the thinnest of all the threads I have used, except for embroidery thread, which won't work in this instance. If you want that pico edge, I would first practice on some scraps left over from your tailor. I would first serge the two sides of the saree with the rolled hem matching the border color as closely as possible; then I would do the rolled hem on the two short sides, again matching the fabric as close as possible. I would then crochet the Pallu with thicker matching S-Lon Tex 210 Beading Cord or Griffin Silk Cord thread, matching the fabric once again to get the pico edge you want. Or you could finish the Pallu edge with the same rolled hem but with gold thread, and then find gold thread to match the sewing thread. I don't suggest you try doing the pico edge on your sewing machine, that will involve you using paper under the pressure foot and the silk, and then tearing it away, which can cause a ton of stress you don't want! I have done enough edgings this way, and it is not fun, and I would never try it on saree silk, not even dupioni! You might get the Pallu edge stiff enough if you can find some old-fashioned powdered starch, dissolve it totally in water and make it super thick so when you dip the end of the saree into it after hem stitching it, the saree border dries stiff as a board, you might be able to do it on a sewing machine, to me it wouldn't be worth it. If you don't know how to crochet a picot stitch, it is super easy, and you can learn by watching YouTube or getting a book from the library that has step-by-step pictures. It is super easy to learn. I would call beading stores in your area to find if they have the above beading cord or something similar, tell them it has to be silk or polyester and shiny, then take your spool of thread and fabric scrap and try and get a close match. Good luck, I hope you send a picture when you are finished, it will be lovely.