Thursday, February 01, 2007

 
hey, what would you do with a whompingbig length of sari silk? I mean, if some beautiful soul whom you adore halftodeath* gave you an entire sari, gloriously purple and gold and orange, and said "go nuts", what would you do?

those things are huge, man. they're - what - six meters? eight meters? that's what-the-hell in yards?

I could learn to wrap it, I guess. but then I'd be a white girl in a sari. cool and all, but I don't think I could leave my living room for fear of being crushed under the weight of my own cultural thievery. I think not.

But I'm afraid to cut it. I'm afraid the magic will run out.

*to be completely accurate, she didn't give it to me. she said "here, this is for your sewing machine."

my sewing machine gets better presents than I do. is there no justice? I ask you...

Comments:
ooooh! Got windows? Drape it across the top! I have always wanted a length of sari silk...eyeballed it hard on e-bay.

I tell you tho- only dark skinned women with incredible eyes look right in a sari. IMO anyway. Same with nose piercings...

(I'm making pretzels today, while I wait)
 
over the window?
huh.
I might, if my sofa wasn't greyish-green.

my husband says I oughta make a dress out of some of it.

I'd love to. and maybe pillows, pocketbooks, random odzanends, doodads, gifties for my pals with the remnants.

but the cutting! oh the angst! oh the internal struggle!

blame belle, the lizard, for my existential sewing crisis.
 
Cutting it is painful, yes. Maybe a wrap skirt sarong sort of thing, withi minimal cutting and maximum border use. google "what can I do with a sari" and see what happnes.
 
so that's fucking brilliant.

and easy.

I could do that in an evening.

and have tons left over for other stuff.
 
A Pakistani friend of mine taught me to wear my Saris and took me to the store she went to to buy it, so I just decided to wear it and deal with any outrage if it showed up (on her advice). They are LOVELY in the summer time, especially since the drape over the shoulder serves double duty as a sun screen. So far I've gotten the odd hairy eyeball, but nothing much beyond, and most of the hairy eyeballs weren't from women in Saris.
 
so you wore it out in the world and didn't die?

huh.
 
here's another thought:

here is this object of cultural identity.

is it disrespectful to cut it up?
 
or is it just cloth? just clothes?
 
it's just cloth. you're supposed to cut it up.

maybe a shawl of some sort?
 
i have a, whatsit, salmar kameez?...fuck, i can't remember how to spell it and too lazy to lookit up right now. the pants-and-tunic combination. in yellow-green. it is gorgeous but i've never yet had the courage to wear it. i do use the scarf it came with, tho.
 
Cut it. You'll be fine. Really.
 
cut...cut...cut...
 
ok. so I cut it. I grabbed a beer and my scissors and marched my tail downstairs and started hacking.

the world seems to still be turning, and the sun did rise this morning as usual. I didn't wreck anything.

I have one cute dress in the works, a six-gore skirt still in the planning stages, and still a buttload of extra fabric for other misc. stuff.

thanks for the encouragement!
 
yay! possible project pictures in the future?
 
maaaaaaaaaaybe.

it depends on whether I suck or not.

and whether I can make the camera work.
 
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