Zari has been used in India as a tool for embellishment of fabrics since ancient days. Zari is believed to have been bought to India by the emperor Akbar from Persia. The Mughals adorned their palace with zari woven fabrics. There is evidence of intricate weaving in those fabrics where different types of zari were used to create unique designs. Zari then started being used in silk sarees and since then we've had some unique and innovative concepts crafted using zari on silk. Here we discuss what zari is and the increasingly common adoption of silver zari for a certain kind of silk sarees.
Silver zari :
Because of its lustrous and shiny texture, the silk saree is a great canvas for silver zari. The importance difference between zari-weaving and embroidery is that zari is woven into the yarn while embroidery is done on the finished fabric and is considered a post-weave process. Silver is much more affordable than gold and hence cheaper to craft on silk. As a result, we can craft some grand concepts in silks using silver zari and the resulting saree would still be affordable.
Making of Silver zari :
While golden zari is well-known for bridal silks, silver zari imparts a contemporary flavor to the sari. Silver zari is made from pure silver metal. The silver metal is flattened into thin filaments by passing it into rotating rollers under uniform pressure. Then these flattened silver metals are wound into a base silk yarn. The resulting product is what we call zari and these are then used as a tool for weaving motifs and designs onto different fabrics.
Silk sarees crafted using silver :
Silver zari goes very well with pastel colors which are trendy. The trick to weaving using silver is to control the weave fill so that the design isn't too bright or flashy. Silver can be used as motifs, a replacement for gold zari on the borders and even on the paloo/blouse. The possibilities are endless!
