[Peacock Dress] A mystery solved?

[peacockdress]

Another embroidery sample arrived from India on Friday. As I compared it to the photos of the original dress in the museum, something began to dawn on me

Comments

[eleonoraproject]

This is really interesting considering the angle of the back of the skirt. Looking forward to learning more about this.

[virginiadear]

Allowing that not all embroidery gets done in a frame, just as not all quilting is done, necessarily, in a frame, it's remotely possible that this was assembled first, and then embroidered---without the frame.
That would avoid putting any tension on the fabric and possibly distorting the grain.

But if we're assuming that in a traditional zardozi frame is how this was embroidered after it was assembled (save the center back seam, which we're also assuming was left unsewn until the embroidery was completed), it seems to me it could be done without crushing the embroidery, and yet still maintaining tension on the fabric

[peacockdress]

Yep, that's an option too. It'll be interesting to see how they tackle it - because whatever Sweta's team naturally do will probably be what their predecessors would've done in 1902.

[virginiadear]

Just thinking of a way to accomplish all that embroidering without crushing the embroidery already done, during the process.
And...h'mm....I think, too, that I tend to think or to try to think of whatever way something is going to be most readily do-able for one person working alone (since I almost invariably do work strictly on my own, help with hem-marking notwithstanding.)

And indeed it will be interesting!