The Kachcha Style for 6 yard saree

This style looks great with classic handlooms with wide borders and traditional striped pallu! Lighter fabrics work better for this style as there are many small pleats in the front. It is a modification of the traditional 9 yard sari worn in Maharasthra. With 9 yards you'd just drape the pallu as in the Nivi style over the left shoulder.

This sari wrap is worn without petticoat, as the sari border will be passed between the legs and tucked in the back waist to form a sort of pants look. You should have between 10 - 15 narrow pleats in front, the center of which is drawn back through the legs and tucked into the rear waist.


Forming the Waist
Wrap the sari starting from your left hip. Wrap towards the right and draw the sari around your waist. Tie the sari onto the waist by taking up a couple inches of border fabric in your left hand at the point where it meets the sari end and tie them together to form a snug waist just under your belly button.

Starting from the fabric after the knot on the right side, make a series of about 7 - 10 pleats with your right hand. Draw the pallu around your body again until its end is even with the center of your body. Tuck it in the waist back from hip to hip to hold it in place. The remaining sari between the pleats and the fabric tucked in at the left hip should be taken up with pleats.

The pallu should end at the center of your body, which is where the pleats should fall. Narrower pleats work better for this style. Keep pleating until the fabric is all taken up. Now pick up the pallav edge and line it up with the edge of your pleats. Once you've got the pallu in the right length you can let it fall while you straighten the pleats beneath it.

Straighten the pleats and press them flat with your hands. Tuck them in the waist snugly. You can fold the pallu into the waist a little higher than the pleats to keep the bottom borders level.

Now grasp the bottom border in the center of the pleats and pass it between your legs. This can be tucked into the waistline in back several ways. The first picture of the red sari shows the border being tucked in along the whole back waist to make a very snug pants look. You can also form a knot with the 3 or 4 inches of center lower border and just tuck that into the back.

You can use a mirror when you're draping to make sure the legs are evenly draped and that the borders are lined up. If you are tall the calves will be exposed. It is better to wrap this a bit tighter than looser as it is easy to get your feet caught in the other leg when movin and bending! Trust me, I have learned this the hard way!
Love these sarees? The red one is an Ilkal sari from Maharastra and the green is a Coimbatore cotton saree from Tamil Nadu. Check out the sarishop for a great selection of these pieces.
For sarees with heavy ornamental pallus the ancient Fishtail sari is yet another variation in the huge realm of possibilities that a long piece of unstitched cloth offers to your imagination. Read about how to drape the Fishtail style and the Vijaynagara drape on this informative website.

Classic Nivi Saree Drape

By far the most popular drape in India - This is probably the drape that most people consider to be "the sari". Most likely you will have only seen this sari drape worn in the west. The nivi has an elegant long line of 7 to 9 pleats folded at the front waist. They have a lovely way of sweeping out when you walk. The long pallu draped over the shoulder and hanging down to wrist length gives more of a sweeping vertical element, lending an instant elegance. While modern Indian women in big metros want to appear so and drape their sarees Nivi rather than their mother's or grandmother's regional style, in many regions you still see other kinds of traditional wraps and not only on older women.

The first step is putting the first wrap of fabric around your body, right to left, This first wrap is then tucked into the petticoat, making sure to keep the bottom edge even at the desired length. Hold the sari up as in photo 1 to get the desired length, then fold at the waist and tuck the fabric in all around. Give yourself enough room at the bottom to move your legs. It is better to have the fabric skim you loosely around the hips at this point. You can make gathers at the waist or small pleats to take up the slack. Now you can begin pleating the front pleats.

The first pleat should fold down the center of your body. Make sure that the pleats are falling straight with the grain. Make about 5 to 7 four inch pleats. Line them all up on top of one another and make sure that they are all even at the front. Now hold the whole stack of pleats in place, lining up the bottom edge with the previous wrapping. Take the remaining length of sari and wrap it to the left around back and up over your left shoulder. Adjust the pallu if needed and take up the slack by folding the last pleat farther to the right of the others.

Carefully tuck the pleats inside the petticoat, making sure to keep them together at the point where they tuck in at the waistband. You can use a pin to secure the pleats to the petticoat, either by pinning through them on the inside, or by putting a pin under the pleats on the outside. Make sure the pin goes all the way through the petticoat and the pleats.

To arrange the sari on the front pull it up with your right hand and fit it tightly into the armpit, then drape it diagonally over your left shoulder. You can pleat the shoulder four or five times, leaving the last pleat to hang mid upper arm - we don't want to be too indiscreet. For slippery fabrics pinning these in place is a really good idea. Pin through all layers of the pleats on the shoulder from the inside of the choli, just behind the shoulder seam.
Another option is to wrap the remaining fabric towards the back, don't go all the way around, instead throw the pallu over the right shoulder - this makes a pretty effect having the pallu on the front of your body. This is called the Gujarati style drape and you see it often in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Simplest Way of Tying a Saree