This is in the “angarkha” (say that fast three times) style of a South Asian Kurta. All it means is that the front closure is asymmetrical and overlapped in the front.
This style of neck closure was common in ye olde days of the Mughal kings of India, and it is still commonly worn today, mostly by modern Indian and Pakistani women (I guess the men gave it up); mine is a bit modified and I will explain that in a future post. For now, here I am in today’s South Asian look, and still invoking the pear silhouette. Heh.

Fabric: Kurta — cotton blend voile pulled out from the deep, dark corners of my stash. Houston sewers, do you remember the long closed fabric store called The Golden Needle? This fabric was purchased there. Pants fabric is a cotton/silk blend I was gifted, and is part of a “set” but it totally coordinates with my Persian print.
Patterns: Kurta – no pattern. You can type “kurta” in the search box above right, and it will pull up my posts on a kurta. The difference is that for this version I cut out two front panels so they could overlap. Pants – heheheh. I used an elastic waist pajama pattern — KwikSew 3553.
Details:
1) the contrast neck facing is turned to the right side and stitched down with Bernina Stitch #26. The link will take you to a previous post about stitch #26. 2) the underlap is held in place by very small snaps. 3) the overlap has self-fabric ties at the top and halfway down. 4) the hem and side slits are faced with contrasting cotton/silk culled from the pants scraps.

Oh look. Mr. Prince is wearing the overlapped look in the print.

What I will do differently next time:
1) move the side ties a little higher and more toward the center, 2) raise the lower ties position to be closer to the top ties – maybe to waist level – right now the lower tie is at thigh level, 3) raise snap positions on the inside layer, 4) use larger snaps or use ribbons for the inside layer, 5) make the sleeve/armhole unit narrower – I was purposely going for a very loose look in this one, 6) explore sewing the fronts together to eliminate all the tying and snapping, but still give a wrapped look. It’s exhausting to tie and snap together the layers in four different places each time I wear it.

Covid Hair: I’ve been coloring my hair for so long that this amount of gray is giving me a shock. But I’m owning my gray hair look – kinda like it. One day, I will go back to my hair stylist so she can give me a good hair style without coloring. I’m tired of slapping chemicals on my scalp. Besides, this month I’ll be completing my 70th year on this earth, so might as well look the part.


Friends, I hope you are keeping well. Staying home is not that bad considering the possible alternative. Yikes.
Samina
So beautiful! The model as well as the kurta.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love you back!
LikeLike
As the saying goes: “Laughter is the best medicine!”…even a smile will do, I think. Gorgeous outfit. I love the pant color and coordinated Kurta. Interesting that “Mr Prince” is also wearing the angarkha. Yes, embrace your natural hair color-it’s more flattering to skin tones! Here’s a little joke to laugh at: FED-EX and UPS are merging. The new name of the merged company is now: Fed-UP! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Lol! Thank you for the joke, Janet. 😀
LikeLike
Your Kurta is beautiful and so are you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Marilyn 🙂 . Hope you’re doing well.
LikeLike
Hi Samina,
Thanks for making my day with your shout-out! LOVE your progressive smile in your photos!
Very beautiful Kurta: your pattern placement, fit and binding are all wonderful.
Really like your sofas too!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Janet! Usually I indulge in a Mona Lisa smile in photos, when the photographer is not making me laugh outright. See my profile shot for this blog (shot five years ago)? I am actually laughing there because the photographer made me laugh.
LikeLike
Very pretty! It also looks quite comfortable.
LikeLike
Thank you! It is very comfy in hot weather.
LikeLike
Its very comfy in hot weather. Thank you!
LikeLike
Beautiful kurta! And you look great as well!
LikeLike
Thank you, Eileen!
LikeLike
I absolutely love the pattern – I can’t believe you made this yourself! Btw I really enjoy browsing through all of your posts so I have nominated you for the Vincent Ehindero Award. I hope you accept this award and that you enjoy answering the questions. You can find the award here: https://debbyseo.wordpress.com/2020/07/15/vincent-ehindero-blogger-award/ Warm Regards, Debby
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful pattern placement. Mr Prince does wear his wrapped a little higher up, but to each their own.
As a youth, I was told to smile more often and it always sounded more like a threat, so my knee-jerk reaction is to frown. You are very gracious. And the silver in your hair is very handsome.
LikeLike