Mehndi Night Outfit
Posted by Simina Mattoo on
Sewing Level: Intermediate
Sewing Patterns: Pants: Mc Call's M6790 Style: D & Halter: Self-Drafted
Personal Opinion: The lace embellished fabric I chose made the project a bit tricky. If you use a plain woven or a woven with a bit of stretch such as denim it'll be a bit easier.
Fabric Choice: Shayna Net Lace - Navy Blue & Lining: Navy Cotton
It has been a hot minute since I've done a blog post! I apologize. The store has gotten busier (yay!) and we've started classes!
A few weeks ago Rajan & I had our Indian wedding ceremony (there will be a separate blog post about it with plenty of pictures to follow soon!). As most individuals in the Lower Mainland may know, Indian weddings tend to be on the bigger side & feature stunning outfits. However, COVID brought about a change in the number of guests so we were able to have a small-ish wedding by Indian standards.
Typically, there is almost a week's worth of events that take place before the wedding. Since Rajan & I had already done our Civil Ceremony, we decided to have a smaller number of pre-events since we were working daily at the store.
The one pre-event my family hosted was a small Mehndi night where I got my bridal mehndi done on my hands & my guests also had mehndi applied to their hands. The only problem I had prior to the event was that I had no outfit to wear! To solve this problem (and not drop $500-1000 on a new outfit) I decided that I would make one.
I started by looking through the store to find a fancy fabric but also a fabric that suits my style. I'm not huge on flashy trims & diamonds, but do love embellishments such as sequins and threadwork. After playing around with a few fabric combinations, I finally made a decision on the Shayna Net Lace. I was a little conflicted when it came to my decision on the color- both the red & navy blue are so stunning! What helped me to make my decision was the color of decor at the wedding house which was white, grey & navy blue. I figured the navy would fit in well with the backdrop & color scheme so went with it (it's also close to black - my all time favorite!).
Once I had determined the fabric I was going to use, I started looking for inspiration for the actual outfit. I've always LOVED flare pants & it tends to look very cute when they are high waisted & paired with a crop top. To make the outfit a little less modern, I set out on a journey to find a pattern of a flared pant with an actual flounce on the bottom, just above the knee. We refer to this pant as being a sharara. I didn't want there to be gathers because I like the look of a clean seam & was very fortunate to find the perfect pattern!
The pattern was quite basic aside from the fly front, & I decided to eliminate the inseam pockets to make everything a bit more simple. If you haven't sewn a fly front before I would HIGHLY suggest watching the video below by Kiana Bonollo. It is hands down the best video tutorial I've watched for sewing a fly front - she takes her time & gives an excellent demonstration that is very easy to follow. Thank you Kiana you are a life-saver!
The next challenge posed by the pants was the flounce - not because of the pattern but because of the lace fabric. This was because the selvage edges were scalloped edges that I wanted to have on the hem of the flounce. What I had to do was cut the single flounce pattern into 4 pieces & add seam allowance to wherever I cut. I ended up cutting 16 pieces for the flounce front & back, then sewed them together to get the scalloped edge as my hem. It was totally worth the little bit of extra work!
Once the fly front & flounce were done, the remainder of the pant was very simple! As long as you follow the seam allowance & mark your notches, the waistband will fit perfectly!
Next up was the top. In the Summer of 2020, I started selling simple blouses on Etsy & Instagram. One of the patterns I drafted was for a backless, tie up halter. I've always loved using grommets or loops as closures because I find that they help the garment fit to my upper body very well.
I used the same lace to create the halter and lined it with a navy blue cotton voile. One of the changes I made on the halter was adding some of the scalloped edge between the two front blouse pieces to make it look more appropriate. The other change was adding a flounce to the hem of the halter. I wanted to use the scalloped edge as much as possible because it looks gorgeous and it also allows me to skip hemming all together!
Once I was finished with the blouse, I had to create a dupatta/chunni to match. I used our navy blue georgette & added a navy blue ribbon with sparkles to the short edges.
I was able to make this outfit in about 2 days - it took me a whole day and a half to do the pants, 3 hours to do the blouse & 1 hour to do the dupatta! I am so pleased with how it turned out & honestly was glad to save a few hundred dollars.
I had a great time at the party & am happy to have some memories captured from that night!