Caring For Embroidery And Sequins
Most damage to festive clothing happens in storage, not in wear.
Embellished clothes are usually worn a handful of times and stored for the rest
of their lives. Storage is where they are lost.
Never on a wire hanger
Weight is the enemy. A heavily worked kurta or lehenga hung on a thin hanger
pulls at the shoulder seams for months. Use a broad hanger, or fold it.
Fold with the work facing inward
Sequins and metallic thread abrade each other. Folded work-to-work, a garment
sands itself every time it is moved. Fold so the embellished face is inside,
with a plain cotton cloth between the layers.
Cotton, not plastic
A plastic cover traps humidity against metallic thread, which tarnishes it, and
against fabric, which grows mould in a monsoon. A breathable cotton bag is
better in every month of the year.
Spot-clean before you store, not after
Sweat and perfume are acidic and go on working long after the evening ends.
A garment stored dirty is a garment that will come out marked. Air it, deal
with the spots, then put it away.
Dry clean, and what to say
Take embellished pieces to a dry cleaner and tell them what the work is —
sequins, zari, mirror, beading — before they take it. A cleaner who knows will
turn the garment inside out and hand-finish it. One who does not will press
the work flat.
Refold twice a year
Fabric creases permanently along the same line. Moving the fold is thirty
seconds of work that decides whether the piece survives a decade.