This drape is a little trickier in that it requires 9 yards of fabric. The standard sari size sold in most places is 5-6 yards long. Very few stores even seem to acknowledge that saris come in other sizes. You probably won't find them easily, even in major cities, online or via SCA merchants. They have been found in Toronto, and the Institute of Draped Clothing (via Chantal Boulanger) occasionally sells them. Also, sending knowledgable friends back to India may do the trick - but the saris are getting harder and harder to find - even there. Personally, I recommend decorating your own. The more yardage, the more work, but it's easier than tearing your hair out looking for a source. The length doesn't have to be 9 yards on the dot - I suggest practing with your fabric a bit and seeing how it hits you - you can always take off a bit if you feel like it's too much yardage. For this drape in particular, I recommend light, floppy fabrics. You will be draping a lot of yardage, and I find that stiff fabric makes me feel enormous! For stiffer cottons, run them through the wash a few times and maybe use some Synthrapol (available at www.prochemical.com) to get the sizing out.

The lower part of this drape is much like the fishtail sari. In fact the drape is the same, but there is an additional upper section that makes it all slightly different. I will abbreviate these steps, though, and point you to the fishtail instructions for more information. To measure the point at which to start the fishtail - measure off about 2.5 to 3 yards for the right leg. This includes the pallav - the prettiest part of the fabric. I find that in 9 yard saris, the pallavs are much simpler - usually less than a foot of a border. This is quite a bit more like the historical saris I see in pictures. I usually do this by measuring from my hand to my shoulder three times. I measure it off and put the point I discover on the center of my back - with my ~3 yards of fabric to my right, and all the rest of the fabric to the left..

As with the fishtail - take the two sides of the sari in your hands, near your waist, leaving enough between your hand to encircle your waist. Pull and squish them so that you have two folded ties in front of you, about 6" long. Tie the two portions together around your waist, forming a waistband. I usually use a square knot (the knot that won't slip!) - right over left, left over right. The important thing is that the tie is comfortable and not confining, but also not so loose that the sari will fall off. This tie supports the rest of the draping, and it generally isn't untied until you take the sari off. Usually the waist of my sari sags a bit low over my hips.

Wrap the right (shorter) side around the right leg first. Pleat the end and tuck it so that the pallav hangs down in an attractive manner. This is where a lot of fidgeting comes in. It helps to have a familiarity with wearing the fishtail - you get a feeling for how the legs should hang to be comfortable - tight enough to not be in the way, loose enough to allow mobility. Adjust the leg so that it feels "right" and doesn't have too much extra fabric tucked in at the waist. You may end up retying the waist a few times, giving or removing fabric from the right leg. When everything is all good, tuck the fabric around the waistline, to the middle of the back - as you do in the last step of the fishtail drape.

Now, wrap the left side around the left leg. This time, there is a lot of extra fabric, resulting from that extra 3 yards.

Starting at the middle of the back, tuck the left side fabric into the waistband moving under the left armpit, and around to the front. Don't tuck it all the way to the middle of the front - leave a little space.

Measure the fabric around the waist, to approximately the center of the front. From this point, pleat the fabric starting at one long edge, and going to the other edge. There's not an easy way to do this - it generally takes two hands, and it's tricky to get the pleats even with all that fabric hanging off of both side. Don't fret too much - this will largely be hidden under later layers. When you've finished pleating, tuck the pleated section into the center of the front.

 

Drape the fabric around one side, under both arms. The fabric should hang around the waist and hips. If it's really slippery fabric, you might want to tuck some part of it into the waist. For a little added opulence, I usually fold it in half, with the bottom layer a little wider - so that both edges show.

There's no rules on how this falls over the upper body. The pictures make this look pretty loose, and not particularly tight. I find that I prefer to pleat the fabric over the shoulder, to keep it neater and out of the way.

The pictures usually show the remaining little bit hanging over the opposite elbow - but the drape seems very loose and flowing. So arrange that end bit however it works best for you. And mash down, tuck or otherwise pull around the whole sari until it feels right. It should be comfortable when you walk, and shouldn't be in the way of your arms. There's no law on which direction the waist and shoulder wrap should be. You can go clockwise and end up going over the right shoulder or counter clockwise and go over the left. As long as you keep wrapping in the same direction, it should all work. The picture shows the drape going over different shoulders on different figures - with no clear difference between them.

For sunny days, I take that extra bit after going up and over the shoulder and pull it over my head, holding it for a sunshade. No, I have no idea if it's period, but it sure is practical!

See the fishtail instructions... the dark color of the sari makes it hard to give you a picture, but the concept is the same - you have the upper part of the wrap to worry about, but it shouldn't get in the way.