September 1, 2019
This tunic top was worked in 2013.
The tunic fabric was bought to match with the ready to wear Patiala salwar pant.
A simple pattern to be incorporated with gold beads.
The embroidery with beads, sequins and mirrors.
Detail
The sewn tunic.
June 19, 2017
The story of this yoke starts with this striped cotton fabric.
Thinking all these colours can be used for embroidery on a cream base, a cream cotton fabric was chosen for the tunic. This cream mangalagiri handloom cotton fabric was given to the tailor for marking the front and sleeves.
And a simple border design was embroidered on the sleeves.
The pattern for the same.
The embroidery for this mirror work started with green colour skein. The mirror outlines were worked n chain stitch, the curls were worked in stem stitch and the leaves in leaf stitch.
The second stage was to work the orange colour skein. Chain stitches and buttonhole stitches were worked with this thread.
Next in line was the antique violet colour skein. The triangles around the neck were worked in buttonhole stitches and the second mirror outlines were worked in chain stitch.
The last outline around mirrors were worked in polyester gold colour thread.
The diamond shaped mirrors were outlined with variegated polyester thread.
The remaining chain stitch outlines were worked in yellow colour skein.
The same yellow skein was used for working all the mirrors.
Oval shaped gold bead was the last detail to be worked on this embroidery.
The pattern for this yoke.
The completed tunic.
This was the story of this tunic in 2014. After two and a half years, the same yoke became a part of another tunic. Which will be narrated later.
April 12, 2017
I have been working on this sewn tunic this week.
The kutchwork pattern was traced onto the tunic with white carbon. Not a very bright idea.
The pattern-
When a time was conducive I started with brown thread. The design was very light after so many weeks. The brown thread in Chennai sunlight did not match so well as in Muscat indoor light. Still eager to start the project, I started with the basic stitches with brown thread. While working on it bought red and yellow threads. After ensuring the points are covered with brown thread, started with the yellow thread.
The basic stitches in brown are interlaced with red thread. This looks much better than the dull brown. Controlling the urge to work mirrors.
The four motifs below the neck was worked in red thread.
The pattern is now is worked with yellow thread.
The centre and other spaces are worked in half white thread. By this time the design from white carbon has completely vanished. This pattern was also drawn on 2mm graph paper.
The project is completed without mirrors.
The embroidery detail-
The tunic looks nice even without the embroidery. An outline stitch around the neck would have been sufficient.
The 17th stitch on SSS challenge seems like an easy stitch. Started working on the sampler today.
July 13, 2015
The tunic fabric is mangalagiri cotton with maroon and yellow stripes.
yelmarmirt-fabric
I came across a geometric border on a tunic in a shop. This was a printed border. I wanted use this design idea for embroidery on tunic. This inspired pattern had both mirror and kutch work elements.
yelmarmirt-pattern
Starting with metallic thread and small kutch elements.
yelmarmirt-1
Chain stitch outline in green thread.
yelmarmirt-2
The same green thread is used for continuous kutchwork design.
yelmarmirt-3
Medium square mirrors were stitched on this embroidered border.
yelmarmirt-4
It was hard to take a straight picture of this tunic, because of the mirrors.
yellow maroon mirrorwork tunic
The detail of the sewn tunic with embroidery.
yelmarmirt-det
This being a geometric design, it also was an inspiration for this black work border. I have not used this pattern.
yelmarmirt- blackwork pattern
May 5, 2015
This embroidery around the neck of this cream and yellow printed cotton tunic was done in the fourth quarter of the year 2013.
creyelneckt-fab
The embroidery was on bright yellow cotton fabric, which was also the salwar fabric. The pattern had two parts, a medium size kutchwork border and a curved design. Both were worked with cotton skeins. I tried to bring an assissi effect, by working the background with herringbone filling and outlining with back stitch. The tunic-
cream&yellow neck tunic
The embroidery detail-
cream yellow neck tunic detail
The pattern.
creyelneckt-pattern
March 17, 2015
This mirror work yoke was done in 2012. The idea was to have a filing pattern made of mirrors. I had small and big square mirrors which were ideal for drawing the pattern on 2mm graph paper.
100 mirror yk-pattern
The tunic was deep red with block printed yellow motifs. Deep red fabric was chosen to work mirrors. Two colours were based on the tunic- deep red and yellow. Green colour was also added to give it and full Indian ethnic look. The outlines were done in chain stitch. The detail.
100 mirroryk-detail
I wear a yellow leggings with this short tunic otherwise called short kurthi. The tunic-
100 mirror yoke tunic
when I counted the number of mirrors on the pattern,it came to 100, so the name stuck.
February 3, 2015
This type of tunic with simple embroidery is always in fashion. The tunic fabric is handloom cotton.
beimarstrit-fabric
I had another handloom [mangalagiri] cotton fabric with zari border. The pattern was drawn on that.
beimarstrit-1
The embroidery was worked with cotton skeins, metallic thread and stones were added as embellishments. Herringbone filling stitch was done in red thread.
beimarstrit-2
The same stitch was used with the beige thread too.
beimarstrit-3
The outline was done with gold metallic thread, worked like this it looks like Aari work. This I have to learn one day.
beimarstrit-4
The last part of this piece was completed with stones.
beimarstrit-5
The tailor did a good job of sewing this tunic, again I love the neck line. The extra zari borders were sewn on the sleeves.
beige maroon striped tunic
The pattern for this embroidery.
beimarstrit-pattern
The detail –
beige maroon striped tunic detail
This tunic is worn with maroon jeggings. The fabric feels very cool in summer. I feel the zari border played a big part in this tunic project.
