Material Girl

We are living in a material world, my friends.  So when I was making out my lists of "must buys" for my India trip, material was at the top of the list.  I've bought some beautiful silks before, but I was looking for textiles with patterns.  Unfortunately, while I was in Surat - the textile capital of India - I did not get a chance to visit the factory there, but it is definitely on my list the next time I go to Gujarat.  However, just walking into a sari matching store is a treat for the eyes.

Most people don't know that when you buy a sari in India, that there is quite a bit of legwork involved.  First, you buy the sari.  The fabric for the blouse is usually attached to the sari so the store will cut the blouse off for you and keep the sari to add the "fall."  The fall is a length of fabric that usually matches the sari in color that is sewn onto the bottom inside edge of a sari.  It adds weight to the sari to help the sari fall well once it is draped around you.  When you buy saris here in the states, they usually have this already stitched on them.  In India, they typically do not.

So, you have to get the fabric for your blouse cut from the sari - which may take a few minutes or you may have to wait for a couple of days to pick up.  Next, you take your blouse to a sari matching store, like store pictured here.  This is for the lining for your blouse.  The man above was actually getting something matched when I snapped the pic. 

You may also purchase a ready made petticoat here (the third step) at the sari matching store, or you can buy the fabric for your petticoat here to have one stitched.  Pictured above are all the ready made petticoats that this store was selling.  A petticoat is a long flared draw-string skirt that is worn under your sari to give it shape and to act as a slip for thinner saris.  The sari is tucked into this petticoat at the waist and the remainder of the sari is draped and pleated around you and then over your shoulder. 

The fourth step is dropping off your blouse, the lining and or the petticoat fabric to a tailor to have a blouse stitched.  It may take up to 2 weeks to get your blouse back, depending on how busy your tailor is and how accurately it was made.  Often times you have to go back several times to get it to fit just right, but typically if it's just a blouse, the adjustments are minor and don't take as long.

The final step is going back to the store to pick up your sari with the fall stitched in. So basically, it is not just like walking into Nordstrom and picking out a dress.  However, the process is fun for me because I get to stare at all these lovely fabrics and colors.

 

Look how amazing these fabrics and colors are!  This was a vendor that had a small stall in a market. I've seen some of these fabrics here selling for up to $25 a yard.  There?  About $4-5 dollars. 

I got some gold blouses stitched for my friends at the stall above.  Just his little store had 5 different gold fabrics to choose from.  I kind of died and went to heaven.  Yes, my friends, I am definitely a material girl....

Lost in E-notion

I've always said that India is like Vegas.  Every time you go, it's a different experience.  My most recent trip was all about shopping.  For three weeks.  Dream.Come.True.  It was Mr. Bean's dream come true, too.  Three weeks of shopping with someone else's money.  It was a win-win. 

Ever since I met my friend Julie's life back in 2003, I demanded offered to go to India with her to shop for her wedding.  Because of that, if it had been up to me, I would have married her off a long time ago just so that I could have done this trip a lot sooner.  But, it was definitely worth the wait.  Having been to India before, I was somewhat prepared with what to expect.  If you've ever shopped in India, you know that it is also a roller coaster of emotions.  You leave here thinking you know exactly what you want but once you get there, you are flooded with options and opinions. Or you can't find what you want. Or you find something so amazing, you forget what you wanted in the first place. Or you just simply run out of time.  But, if you know me, you know that I love a good roller coaster.  Well, actually I don't.  I scream my head off on the real ones. Let's pretend my roller coaster statement makes sense and I'll move on.

The worst part about India, for me, is that I could spend my life savings there and never think twice about it.  But that's also the best part.

 

The moment I stumbled upon this gem - a stall filled with trims and notions for sari's - I wept a little.  It was so beautiful to see. This is definitely one of the top 10 craft wonders of the world. 

 

Each one of those spools is 9 meters of trim.  Those shelves are about a foot deep, too.  Do you see my dilemma here?  Having my craft room look like this store? Or saving for a rainy day and all that crap?  I don't know.  Too hard to decide.

This is also where I curse airlines and their 50 lb per luggage rule.  And now most airlines are only allowing one check-in.  The torture!!!  I could have bought that entire stall and still went looking for more. 

The colors and patterns were amazing.  I would just sit and stare and imagine all these lovelies in my craft room.  This guy clearly did not share my enthusiasm. 

Now, my friends, I've got to confess something.  And I'm not proud of it.  But I've made my bed and now I must lie in it.  The thing is, seeing all these trims and notions actually overwhelmed me to the point of not buying much.  Seriously.  If you've been in my situation before you know exactly what I mean.  My biggest issue was that the majority of the shops I stopped at were wholesalers, so I had to buy in bulk or 9 meter increments.  I knew I didn't have much room in my luggage to actually bring everything I wanted back.  And since I couldn't buy in small quantities or in one or two meter increments, I just left it there.  And now looking at these pictures I can pick out at least 10 that I should have told myself I can't live without.  I hope I can still maintain my street cred as a craft hoarder.

So, I had a bunch of other pics to post for you today, but I somehow deleted them.  So, I'll leave you hanging on the edge of your seats - humor me here - and I'll post some more pics on Monday.  Until then, I've got a long weekend ahead of me!  By the way, the title of this post is a play off this song.  That was one of my jams back in the day. Awwww yeah.....