Saree Embroidery - 5 - Painted motifs with embroidered borders

The Indian saree, as I had mentioned previously, lends itself to a plethora of experimentation.  Traditionally, we fill in a motif with embroidery stitches, generally the satin stitch, or the herringbone stitch.

Here is a variation where you fill in the motif with fabric paint, and then embroider the edges, to get a different effect.

The Saree pallu with corners

Here is one of my sarees, in plain gold color, with the motif of an Indian girl drinking water from a pitcher on the pallu.

Girl with water pitcher

The flower bunch in the pallu corner

Saree pallu corner and border

Trace out the design onto the saree, and fill in the various motifs with the desired colors of fabric paints.

The colors used here are Fevicryl fabric paints of colors black, dark green, orange and purple here.  

When the paint is dry, embroider the edges of the motifs using either free-style hand embroidery or machine zigzag stitch as shown here.

The border of the entire saree is a series of interlinked leaves and flowers.

The orange and green colored motifs are placed at even intervals throughout the length of the saree.

Orange painted motif

Green painted motif