Folding and Storing Saris:
There's an amazing variety of folds, some of which are so complicated that it takes quite a while to figure them out, sort of like a road map, but with less logic and more square footage. If you've purchased a variety of regional styles you've probably encountered some of these. The Madurai "accordion" fold or the Mangalagiri "taco" fold being some of the hardest to master, then there's the Orissan "double gate" which is surprisingly tricky!
After you've washed your sarees you will want them to be in an easy and convenient fold. Usually sarees are folded with the length in half first, with the right side out, then folded again and again in this direction until you have a strip of folded cloth about 13 - 15" wide and the borders on top and bottom.
Line up the two ends of the top borders. Pallu is facing up right side. Align the top borders until you get to the central first fold. Hold this corner in your right hand and reach over to the pallu end borders and place them together. Align the borders again until you get to the second central fold. Grasp the center fold in the left hand and bring the borders from the right hand over to make the third fold, repeat until you have the last fold which is 13 - 15" wide.
This you fold in half, putting the two borders together, slightly offset to reduce bulk, then fold that direction in half again to get a nice square shape. Don't ever fold the sarees along the length, you will get a nasty horizontal crease that will look like your "equator" when you drape the sari!
The sari folders of India unfold sari after sari, literally tossing them out their full lengths to impress and dazzle the clientele. They have an abundant labor force just sitting around waiting to fold them all up again and what seems like a humungous mountain of cloth is magically and miraculously restored to order in a surprisingly short time.
If you sit on the floor, and let the floor support the sari as you fold it you will get more even folds and the borders will line up.
