I realize I'm squeezing this in on the very last day but of all the many colored saris I possess, the one shade I don't have is purple. Just the purple border and accents on this pink one from March is the closest thing. Although coincidently, next month will be the grand finale for Sari Style. My final and finest wedding sari is conviently a "neutral color" for August. In addition, I have the Boy's traditional outfit- so a little extra something as well.
So I was thinking what more can one do with these besides gazing at them, specifically in a craftier vein. Obviously, the sari's I've been sharing have tremendous sentimental value and I wouldn't dream of cutting them up but there our so many beautiful saris to be had for a pittance for that very purpose.
You can make some great looking pillow covers like these. Or fashion a whole bed set- like this one on Craftster
Even simpler, draping saris as curtains is very effective- like here.
They also make really neat looking fabrics for remaking into western-style clothing. If you possess more sewing talent than I, you can do this yourself or check out this really cool site. Who's sari now? I particularly love this Gypsy Skirt.
So why not go out and find your local asian market and browse through all the textiles? This site - www.eknazar.com has tons of local listings for different areas. In Dallas, there are over 60 apparel yellow page listings. Of course, there's also always eBay, which has lots of inexpensive options too.
With all this sari talk, that of course brings me to the lovely recycled sari yarn.
I was lucky enough to procure this from Cookie's stash sale after much coveting of said yarn. I love this yarn. I love the idea behind it, the ingenuity and good cause, love the randomness and vivid colors. If you haven't seen this yarn in person yet I encourage you to pick up a skein- it's way cooler looking than the photos. I've had to restrain myself with my self-imposed binds of project limiting on this. I have bag idea in a starburst pattern all worked out in my head and rearin' to go.
In another, somewhat, related topic- I finally got to recoloring my henna inspired bleach design shoes.
They're better, at least close enough for me to be happy. Fabric paint pens are what I first checked out but they all seemed to be in really vivid reds that I was wary I wouldn't be able to blend to a more subtler shade. Next I compared some different fabric dyes and ended up with good ol' RIT dye as the most versatile. I just mixed up a little bit and painted it on with a regular paintbrush until it reached the closet shade I could get. Viola!
ETA: I forgot that I uploaded a scan of my dorky doodles for these bleach shoes for anyone who's intrested in making a pair. What I ended up doing is a more simplified version then the sketches but it could serve as a jumping off point. Click the image for the full-size version.
Gauge: 20 sts and 26 rows = 4" in Stockinette Stitch
