Nervous

This month has been really great so far in terms of sales. All that press in the past few weeks must have really helped. The strange thing is that all this attention and the increase in sales is starting to make me worry about my designs for the next collection. I suppose that’s good in a way. I mean, I should spend more time editing my collection and thinking about how I can make each piece really unique and special. But the downside is I’m worried about going overboard. And what is overboard? There have been styles that I was worried about for no reason, and others that I thought were pretty elegant but they ended up moving very slowly.

A few months ago I visited an Ikat supplier in Hyderabad where I spotted some beautiful, soft cotton fabric with random ikat lines going horizontally and vertically across the fabric. From a distance it has that “khadi look” that most fake and real khadi fabrics sold commercially today have, with the ikat lines. However this fabric is made from mercerized, super-smooth yarn and when I saw the fabric it just spoke to me and said “buy me now”. Before I knew what was happening, I had bought the stock fabric they had, and ordered more in another colour. This is what the fabric looks like:


Sure, you might think it’s boring, but I have great plans for this fabric. I have in my head an image of a fitted top with a corset-style tie up at the back. I can’t decide if the top looks better with or without sleeves, but if I choose the former they will be kimono-ish sleeves. The tie-up lacework at the back is just to tighten the top for shape, not to actually make it skin-tight like a corset. In front, to add colour, I will have either running stitches or pin tucks with a contrast coloured thread radiating away from the neck. A dull yellowish gold (but non metallic) for the black, and pink for the brown. There, I’ve given away a style idea before the collection is out, but who knows how much editing is going to take place between now and the end of April.