Pattu Paavdai and Sattai means 'Silk Skirt and Top '

This is a traditional Indian garment worn by girls starting from new born to teenagers. Though this dress is
not commonly worn by teenagers anymore, it is still hot favourite of little girls. My Daughter loves her
'pattu paavadais'.

I have been wanting to post this tute for sometime now..but since i had initial problems with photoshop
and wanted to draw the draft there instead of hand drawing it and then scanning it (which is exactly how i
have been uploading my tutorial drafts till now). Now i guess this draft is readable and understandable
though it is my first attempt drawing in PhotoShop.

Paavadai Sattai worn by little girls are mostly 'bodice paavadais' which means they are worn like pinafore
and then the Sattai or Top is worn on top. So lets first see the draft for Bodice of the Paavadai.

Now let us see the draft of the Top i.e., Pattu Paavadai's Sattai
 Lets see the sewing part of the tutorial tomorrow. Remember the Deepavali Pattu Paavdai of my DD. I
had made the pic tutorial then itself, the delay is due to the drafting part in photoshop...

Check out the Part II of the Pattu Paavdai Tutorial, wherein Skirt a.k.a. Pattu Paavdai drafting and sewing
instructions are given.

I am doing a new Paavdai Sattai instead of using earlier Deepavali Pattu Paavdai pics as it is dark green
color is difficult to understand, hence i working on a light onion skin color Pattu Paavadai, which i shall
use to illustrate and explain the drafting and sewing of the Pattu Paavdai.

Please do leave a comment or at least choose your reaction to the tutorials as that motivates me.
Acknowledgement of any work is due isn't it... so please bring a smile on my face, give your feedback.

Happy Weekend.

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Hope you gals (n guys) checked out 'Pattu Paavadai Drafting' tutorial posted earlier.

Are you wondering why is there no draft for the Paavdai a.k.a Skirt... Well let me clear that doubt off..
Silk Skirt or Pattu Paavadai does not need a draft and is based on a formula! Yes... it is as simple as that
once demystified....

Pattu Paavdai is an all round pleated skirt.

Pleats that are best suited are :

 Box pleats (especially for toddlers and little girls less than say 8 years), this adds more volume at
hips and since toddlers and girls less than 8 yrs have waist and seat as almost the same, it also gives an
illusion of shape (I personally heart Box pleats and use them in all the Paattu Paavadais i make)

BOX PLEAT


 Knife Pleats for grown up girls as i am sure you want to look shapely.

Before we start sharpening our math skills, let us do the first step.
Measure the height of the fabric and see. [The fabric i have is 68"wide(Selvage is width here) and 36"
tall ]

Height of the skirt a.k.a Pattu Paavadai = Total length of the child from Shoulder to Ankle - Bodice length

Height of the Paavdai i am making should be = 41.5 - 10 = 31.5

But i have 36 " , whereas i require 31.5" only. Of the extra 4.5" 1/2" would go off for seam allowance at
waist seam, remaining 4" needs to be tucked in so make a tuck pleat of 2 inch depth folded. Ta Da you
have proper height altered skirt fabric....

 Mark and pin the required depth of Tuck to alter the Height (Tip: make sure the tuck ends
atleast 1/2 inch before the Zari Border so that fabric hangs gracefully even after Tucking it)
 Tuck of 2 inch depth i.e, 4 inch in total pinned up

 Before stitching the tuck check for the alignment of pattern (if any) on the right side
of fabric; Once patterns or motifs are aligned then stitch the tuck

 Press the Tuck to one side i.e., towards the Zari Border and see the neat finish on the right
side

Now width of the fabric needs to be adjusted to suit waist round of the child

For this tutorial i am making a Pattu Paavdai for my Darling Daughter's dear friend whose waist
measurement is 22 inches so i have added ease of 2 more inches so i need a waist of 24 inches all round
box pleated.
The width of the Silk Paavadai Cloth I have is 68 inches. (Width of the cloth for Paavadai as available
from the shop needs to be measured along selvage ! ) After exclude 2 inches for seam allowance , all i
have to work with and make pleats is 66"

66" needs to be pleated and reduced to a waist round of 24 inches !

So sharpen your math skills, here we go; Aactually i borrowed on my Hubby's math skills, earlier i used to
ponder and pin and re-pin pleats of different lengths when i sew the Silk Skirt a.k.a. Pattu Paavdais)

Thanks dear hubby for the super formula.

Width of the Fabric will be X

Waist round to be achived will be Y

I would like to have 10 pleats in all (5 at Front + 5 at back ; though we have only seam at Center Back)

Width of Pleat = (X - Y) / (Number of pleats desired * 2) [For BOX Pleat]

Width of Pleat = (X-Y) / Number of Pleats desired [For KNIFE Pleat]

Width of my box pleat = (66-24) / (10*2)

Width of my box Pleat = 2.1 inches.

The above width is the resultant box pleat width and for the actual box pleat to appear we would need
2.1*2 = 4.2 inches of fabric

 Along the selvage of fabric mark section 4.2 inches apart

(Mark (Width of your box pleat * 2) for each section)

 Pin up the sections and make box pleat in each section

 Check if the Pinned up fabric width equals waist round
 Check Waist Round after Pinned up the Pleats
 Top stitch the pleats for about 1.5 inch (it includes 1/2 inch for seam allowance while joining the
waist to bodice)
 Finish the center back seam ( i have used French seam coz the silk fabric unravels a bit more)
Pattu Paavadai is ready to be joined to bodice portion.

Do not forget to view the bodice and Sattai sewing segment of the tutorial

Welcome to the final part of the Sewing Tutorial of Pattu Paavadai Sattai
So far we have seen Drafting of Bodice and Sattai

With regards to sewing we have seen how to pleat and sew the Pattu Paavdai.

Now lets see the Bodice (attached to 'paavdai') and 'Sattai' (Top) Sewing Tutorial in this post

First, let see how to sew Bodice and attach it to 'paavdai'

STEP 1 - Mark & Cut the required front & back bodice pieces of the Draft on Fabric
 STEP 2 - Add Zipper to Center Back

STEP 3 - Join Shoulder seam

 STEP 4 - Join Side Seam

STEP 5 - Attach the bodice to skirt portion, right side to right side, pin and stitch on wrong
side. Ensure the pleats stay in place.

Paavdai with Bodice Attached

 Sattai Sewing - Step by Step
STEP 1: Mark & cut required front and back pieces of the Sattai. Here i am using a dart free
pattern since it is for 4 year old

When marking front bodice, mark in such a way that hemline of front bodice falls on the Zari
portion of the fabric.
Step 2 - Join Shoulder seams of front piece to back pieces.
Do this on both lining & silk fabric pieces
Step 3 - With Right Sides facing each other (RS of Silk to RS of lining) and
stitch along the neckline
Step 4 - Also stitch at 1/2 (or whatever seam allowance you have given) from the Center
Back on wrong side of fabric (with RS of Lining to Right Side of fabric) for finishing the loop side
closure

You can also do the same with hook side closure at back. But one more step to be done with hook
side closure is the fold the finished edge again by 1/4 inch

Step 5 - Clip the Corners & Curves on the stitched neckline

Step 6 - Under stitch the lining considering it to be the neck facing,
then turn to Right Side & Press

STEP 7 - Hem the upper edge of neck patch

STEP 8 - Pin and Stitch the Zari Patch to Front Neck Patch opening
STEP 9 - Gather and prepare the sleeves (Both silk & lining) and keep them ready
STEP 10 - Pin the sleeve lining to sattai bodice lining & Silk Sleeve to Silk Bodice
Stitch the Sleeves to respective bodice pieces (lining to lining & silk to silk)

STEP 11: Top Stitch at the Ditch of Shoulder Seam

Once top Stitched at the shoulder joint, the silk bodice and lining bodice will stay in place, so it
will be easier for us to finish the sleeve hem

STEP 12: Finish Sleeve Hem; Consider the silk sleeve and lining sleeve to be one piece
and then fold the hem
STEP 12: Stitch side seams starting from sleeve hem , through the side seam of the
bodice, joining front & back pieces together. Stop at about 2.5 inches from hemline. this will
become the slit of the Sattai

Also fold the back piece hem as required to match the front bodice hemline and stitch the back
pieces hem
(Remember the front bodice hemline of that of silk fabric piece is Zari Border so that is already
hem finished, only lining portion of front hem needs to be finished later)
STEP 13: Finish the front lining hem and stitch it in place

STEP 14: Finish the Slit Opening; Fold 1/2 inch and press; again fold by another 1/2 inch
and Press and stitch the slit opening through from Red Pin to Red Pin on either sides of the slit

Add Hook and Loops to back opening and your Sattai is ready to be worn with gorgeous
Pattu Paavdai.

Please do leave your valuable suggestion to make future tutorials better!

Also feel free to give your inputs if you found this tutorial useful
In case you sew a 'Pattu Paavadai Sattai' using this tutorial ( which i seriously hope u would)
then, please do give due credit to the tutorial by Linking back to it wherever you publish