Later that day, despite my illness, we decided to make a trip to the heart of Chandrapur to purchase a saree for me. Saturday was an important family event; I needed a saree to wear.
A beautiful thing about an Indian woman’s clothing is that most of it is tailored made to fit. It is always the right size. Even the salwar kamees we purchased yesterday had been adjusted and sewn to my size. We walked into a saree shop to find rows upon rows of colorful fabrics available for selection. Here are few pictures of Baid Saree Center where we made our final purchase:
The process is to simply point out fabrics that appear to be favorable; they are dumped on the floor and unfolded for inspection. The fabrics, usually cotton or silk, are available precut in standard sizes for the tailor. This process continues until the chosen ones are selected. By the time I had picked out two pieces of cloth, the floor of the store looked like this:
In order to make a women’s saree there are 3 necessary articles of clothing – the dress itself, the blouse (to cover the chest), and the petticoat (like a slip). Some fabrics include the necessary length for the blouse to be sewn; some material includes just enough yards for the saree. If this happens, matching centers are available to pick a smaller length of fabric in a similar color for the blouse.
Vinay bought me an expensive green silk saree(roughly $40 in US Dollars), which included the blouse piece, and Janet bought me a maroon cotton saree (roughly $19 in US Dollars), which did not include the extra material. Janet was very insistent on wanting to buy me something, so Neeta gave her permission to spend her allowance. It is customary for family members to buy a visitor such as myself gifts; however, it is unnecessary for children to do so. But since Janet was so insistent, her mother allowed the gift. It was very sweet.
Our next stop was a matching center for the blouse piece, but our sales clerk informed us they could find the matching material at their store. So we picked out a matching maroon color for the blouse and a petticoat for both saris.
By the way, even men can have their clothes tailored made. The family decided to buy Ganesh Babu fabric as a gift for his help with Vinay’s paperwork. An excellent gift for anyone is to simply purchase the material for the receiver to have tailored at a later date.
After leaving the saree store, I saw a man with a sewing machine sewing clothes on the street. I took a picture:
Afterwards, we went to a tailor and I was measured for the blouse. Neeta said normally tailors finish the job whenever they do. There is no time frame or period. However, she had informed the tailor that we had an important family event on Saturday and really needed it finished by then. Hopefully, it would be completed in time.
Here is a picture of Vinay and I on the scooter with all of our purchases for the day:
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