Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai? (part 3)

It's been a busy weekend. So busy I haven't had time for pictures, which is a must for this blog, given the whole "costuming" aspect of it.

Even the project itself, costumes excluded, is heavily about aesthetics. So there was no way this post would ever go up without pictures.

So I'll try to pick up where I left off.

Trim, wasn't it?

I know I said I wasn't going to line this choli right now for various reasons, but it's looking to be a very stupid idea to wait to do it. After all, lining takes minutes.... And this damn thing is going to need it with the wear it will be getting.

Also, I'm quite tired of seam-ripping, and not putting the lining in now just means that I'll have to seam-rip the entire length of the binding and ties when I do eventually get around to it.

So I will be lining this thing like I should have done to begin with.

Lining bits assembled to the same point that the silk bits are assembled.

All in all, the lining from cut to adjustment to final product took two hours. It would have taken less, but I was fussing by making sure I was using scraps of muslin and not larger pieces that could be used to line something bigger. Oh, also, I lost one of the sleeves.

And by lost, I of course mean that I left it on top of my dress-form, right on top of my stockings and an unfinished kurta and spend about 15 minutes searching around wildly for it.

Although that version of "lost" is less embarrassing than the versions which involve already wearing said item, so there's that to console me.

The lining bits all assembled, ready to be added to the silk choli.

Basted together, ready for the finishing touches

Finishing the raw edge of the back of the side panel

Cheating and using the selvage edge of the fabric to cover and "finish" the raw ends of the lining

The recovered sleeves!

All stitched up and finished!

The choli as it is now is essentially finished. I can decorate it if I want, or more likely I'll leave it plain, since the color STILL hasn't grown on me enough to warrant wearing it in public. I added an extra tie in the back to it for additional security. With the bosom this thing needs to tote, it needs all the help it can get.

 Extant to the right via the Met Museum.

This thing is far from perfect. There's plenty that needs to be change. Like the pattern I made didn't have enough seam allowance, making the choli not quite big enough in the cup area. The sleeves could have used a general rework as well, though when lining the sleeves, the lesson was learned.

Another problem with the cups was the layout of them. I kind of feel that the seam should have gone right at the nipple line, or even above it, but it completely misses the nipple line, and instead seams to adventure on its merry way to wherever it wants to go. The "point" should have also been more towards the center, but I stupidly tried making top-halves the same shape as my modern choli ones.

See? Crazy, wandering seam. The bottom piece needs to be bigger and shaped more, and the top needs to be reshaped as well.

The problem with that is those cups fit into a COMPLETELY different side piece, and the pattern allows for it. Our pattern, however, does not.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible outcome. I think the total time I spent on this was about 8 hours, including the pattern drafting. The white thread and dingy pink colored silk, along with the muslin were laying around here, so I also count that as a win. All in all a Mughal era choli isn't that bad of a project to start off on.