The Green Angrakha Project (Part Two)

So far the angrakha has been piecing itself together slowly. Several mock-ups-turned-linings later, we have a basic "foundation" garment for the inside cross-over of it. Still no complete outside however.

Lining, stabilized and being assembled, bit by bit.

I'm reluctant to cut out the outside pieces until I'm 100% positive that they will fit, simply because of the limited amount of fabric I have.

This, however, is causing some fitting problems, since the ties need to be placed in various places for the fitting, then removed and reattached later on a different layer after the "shell" of the satin is put on.

So I compromised. I crossed my fingers and cut out some of the satin pieces and.....

After working with straight weave silk that didn't have a right or wrong side, the bitchy satin was even worse of a contender than normal.

I cut them out on the wrong side. **facepalm**

Yep. however, luckily, I can use those pieces later on in the outer flap construction, so not all is lost I suppose.

Not a complete loss.... I needed that piece anyways I guess.

So assembly ready to complete. Good right? Well, yes and no. I ran out of the ties, and no time to go and get more. Thankfully I had some black so I put the black on the lining, green on the green pieces.

When I finally began my first fitting, two things went wrong.

The first was that I realized tying each individual tie, which is how Indian garments are closed during this era (no corset/shoe lace style closures, which are easier to manage with additional force going in the opposite direction) is a HUGE pain, especially since the closures are right under the armpit and need to be tied fairly tight to give the proper support.

The second was that because I ran out of ties, but needed an extra set of them to hold my bosom up and in, they - by twins so to speak - were really precariously perched within their respective cups, and one fell arm movement would have resulted in a wardrobe malfunction that would have made the last Nawab of Awadh proud.

Not really the look I'm going for..... Image via

Thankfully, I had some "leftover" tie bit. By leftover, I mean pieces that weren't even in length to their other counterparts, too short for the job I initially needed them to do, but just the right length to hold the cup up from the side and tie it to the sideseam.

The mix of green and black ties. When they're put together they kind of remind me of those old school Harlequin outfits where the one half is color A accented with color B and the other half is the opposite.....

The next step is the visible satin pieces and to attach the skirt to the bodice. Then, depending on the time frame it's completed in, either work on the separate bodice jacket, or take it to get the skirt evened out.

I may, of course, skip the jacket for the time being and just work on something else to give myself a break.... But I'm not sure. My side projects tend to occupy me far longer than I care for them to.