CYPHAN Outift -- the beginning

It's a snowy day in RH-land and of course my thoughts turn to Steampink!

Okay.  My project is to make an outfit to wear to the Browncoat Ball at CYPHAN in June, right?

And my mission is to use the Natural Form Dress Package we sell from Truly Victorian (pictured at right) and an old sari I got from a friend who was cleaning out his attic.  

Today, I begin the tie-back underskirt!  This will be made with the maroon part of the sari body.  I'm going to use the bright pink zari border as a ruffle as seen in the version of the skirt at right in blue.

But before we do any of that, I want you to take a look at the sari laid flat so you can see where I'm going with this.

The sari, with and without flash

The sari is woven with the border attached. At first glance it appears to be sewn on, but it is not. There is no way around it:   when I cut the border off, I will have a raw edged sari with which I must be very careful.  For someone who confessedly cannot cut a straight line, this is terrifying!

At left is the front of the sari where the border begins.  If I am very careful and my scizzors are very sharp, I can cut between those double warp threads and not do any damage to the maroon sari body.

The back of the fabric where the border begins. See the gold threads travelling from one row to the next? Seeing this relieves me of some pressure. When I cut the border from the sari, at least I will not have a million loose gold threads to deal with. It should be fairly free of fraying unless I bump it too much.

Maybe more later today...