I opened that box – finally

It was almost like opening Pandora’s’ box – till I took this really deep breath and calmed down some.

I have mentioned earlier that I find it hard to get rid of things that could still be re-purposed. So I have been saving fabric – bits and pieces for decades now. Some got used up when I needed them and some others were still waiting for a new lease. But once the kids came along, especially my daughter – life got very busy and the stash of stuff lay neatly folded in my daughters box bed. The fact that we have been in the same house for over seven years meant that every time I found something interesting, I just opened the box a tad bit and shoved in the cloth.

I opened it a few days ago and almost went into a full blown panic attack. There was so much cloth and I had only been adding to it in the last few years. I also have a second studio full of cloth and about 20 old wooden boxes. But that is a different story.

This coming new year- 2014, I hope to finally do something about all that fabric and other bits and pieces. So to kick start that project and to give my mind/fingers and sewing skills a warm up before the big game – I made a kurta (tunic). It is re purposed/up cycled from two other kurtas I had made for myself in college some twenty years ago. I lived in them with torn jeans most of the time. But that again is another story 🙂

This new kurta is made out of a lot of pieces creatively joined to enhance the ‘fall’ of the garment. The yoke from the old one you see in the picture will be used for something else – no, I am not telling just yet. While the cloth from the insides of the pocket (last picture with the red fabric) were used as facing/trim for the side slits in this ‘new’ kurta. Though I forgot to take a final image of the side slits with the zig-zag stitch I did to ‘finish’ them.

P.s– Sorry about the pictures being so random. I did not remember to take a ‘before’ of the two kurtas while they were still whole!! And in the last picture I did not tug the kurta down properly hence the rise you see in the neck/shoulder on one side. I promise it actually fits and falls really well. Check first image for proof 🙂
It is a little loose as it was stitched for pure comfort.