A lot of people on here (especially in the wedding section - see ‘BRIDAL PICS’) often describe - in quite some detail - how certain dresses are made, the cut of the dress, the fabric, the different types of kaam, etc etc
I don’t understand any of it, but I really want to. Especially as I’m planning to go to Pakistan for my wedding insh’allah, and want to get clothes made, I want to tell the tailor what I want done. That means I need a good idea of the different types of fabrics, the types of stitching, things like that.
So, please could those in the ‘know’ post pictures and/or examples of things related to this, explaining what they all mean? So for example, jamawar borders are something I’ve come across recently, I think look beautiful - posting a pic of what it exactly is would give people a clear idea, so they know what to ask for when going to a tailor!
There’s loads of knowledgeable guppans out there - please share your knowledge!
Re: fabric types, stitching techniques, dress styles and kaam - explain here!
Jamawar is a silk fabric with a self weave pattern.
Banarsi is when gold/silver/bronze/other metallic colour threads are used in the weaving to create motifs/pattern. You can get chiffon banarsi (chiffon base), silk banarsi (silk base) and even jamawar banarsi (jamawar base).
The pattis you usually see on the bottoms of dresses are banarsi fabrics.
In this photo the right fabric is jamawar. It’s not very clear but there is a very small flower pattern through the fabric. The greenish fabric is silk banarsi:
This blue border was done using chiffon banarsi. Since the rest of the outfit was in chiffon, a silk border would have bought weight to the bottom of the dress and changed the fall/flow:
The two black panels are chiffon banarsi (motif type and jaal type) and the green border is silk banarsi with a subtle pattern:
Re: fabric types, stitching techniques, dress styles and kaam - explain here!
The thing is, if you are buying fabric yourself, you will know what you like and will take it to have work done on it. You would also need to take the patti fabrics etc to the tailor.
If you are having someone make the whole thing, based on pics or whatever, then they should know what to use.
Re: fabric types, stitching techniques, dress styles and kaam - explain here!
^ i know you answered some questions in the past on salwar materials, but can you also clarify the following, i dont always want pure fabric to have work done on, so what is another type? like instead of raw silk or chiffon, nothing too cheap and nasty but something that can be worn/washed and won't cost the earth
Re: fabric types, stitching techniques, dress styles and kaam - explain here!
Hi clothesmad, I think there was another thread on this.
People recommended china crepe. I have had no experience with this because my clothes guy refuses to use non-pure materials (even though I complain about the work catching). He says I won't like them (probably true as I'm really fussy). Anyway, I asked him about china crepe and he said that after dying it becomes a bit rougher (i.e. thicker) and more shiny like silk. So as long as you don't mind that it won't look quite like chiffon, I guess you can try it.
I'm just much more careful about what work I have done and the placement of it, because I do want to wear an outfit more than once.
Regardless, you shouldn't be washing kaam walay kapray. Dry cleaning only.
If you want fabric for light kaam suits (stuff like just thread embroidery, sequins etc) you can try linen (cotton viscose). It's very smooth, has a lovely fall and does fine in the machine. All my casuals are in this fabric as I don't feel comfortable in anything else. My mum is always looking for it and last year she found some in white with all over black thread work and sequins. Once stitched in a panelled design and with pattis for finishing and fancy buttons, it looked really nice
Re: fabric types, stitching techniques, dress styles and kaam - explain here!
Hi autome, if we're talking about what we call linen in the west, then that fabric does wrinkle very easily and is hard to iron.
In Pakistan, they call cotton viscose 'linen' and the good quality, heavier stuff doesn't wrinkle much (and is very easy to iron) which is why we like it for home wear so much... I've bought some cotton viscose from Pak that wasn't great.
