The Pins and Needles of a Thousand Years...: December 2010

I love big, billowy things. This tends to affect my designing in my classes, unfortunately. Or not-so-unfortunately. Anyway, I was recently seized with the NEED for a pair of patiala salwar pants (that was probably really redundant, but I don't know exactly what those words mean... ). I modified the traditional pattern to be a little less full at the hip, and I designed in a couple of pockets on each side for practical functionality (I love pockets, everything should have pockets) AND to bring the bulky width of the pant a little farther down from the waist. I still have no idea what to do about a closure... I also modified the traditional Indian salwar pattern into something a lot more like a traditional Turkish pant (check out the links at the bottom of this post). My fabric is a relatively heavy, patterned fabric (I have no idea what type of fabric is). I'm not sure how it will drape, as it is a lot heavier than the muslin that I'm using for my mock-ups.

I whipped up a few mock-ups yesterday. I'm in my undies for the first couple, so they are not posted here, but below are pictures of Salwar 1.3. I always feel a grand sense of accomplishment when I manage to recycle a mock-up (this was made up of the remains of Salwar 1.1). Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with it. I think the centre piece is a little too wide, creating a bit too much of a 'diaper' effect... but I will cut it out that way, and if I can't handle it in fabric, I'll just trim it down.