Making clothes for Dressed Krishna deity

Different forms of Krishna you can dress. 

Have you found that you want to dress and decorate Krishna? Maybe you want to but you have an already dressed deity of Krishna! Don’t dispair tho – much can be offered to ornament the lord, from clothes to jewels!

Seems like many devotees have different forms of Krishna that they want to adorn!

Krishna deities can have carved clothing, or be in the form of a Saligram Sila, or all sorts of other forms! And there’s almost always a way in which we can offer some worship or decorations. 

You can offer little turbans, earrings, flutes, necklaces, eyes, thrones… look at the ornamental silver tilak, smiling lips and utterly charming eyes! wowsers the bliss of serving! – Side note! It is not recommended that we bring Shila out of India… International devotees I do not recommend – approach with caution!

Fun ways to decorate Dressed Deities of Krishna

Back to my main points – I’ve had a few fun challenges recently with making outfits for dressed deities, and I want to discuss ways we can dress them!

Even a dear devotee with a disability affecting mobility has been able to have a pattern style that is easy enough to put on the deity form! (Sometimes devotees have athritis as well which can make fiddly fixing very difficult… but we have solutions for that!)

This week I sent off a custom set of gorgeous clothes to Canada for an exquisite form of Krishna who has carved clothes – but I made some for His devotee to offer and wear over the carved garments!

Then there is the child sized Shri Krishna form living with my mum – He’s the size of a small child! Well she dresses Him in a turban and shawls (as well as garlands and jewellery she attaches using -gasp- bluetack – please don’t do that!* Please use beeswax!)

The first thing that you can easily attempt for a dressed Krishna is layering a shawl on! So easy! 

Depending on how the form of the Lord is carved, you can attempt various stylings to get the shawl most gorgeously draped. To show you, I’ve added a shawl to this beautiful deity of Krishna who is carved with clothes crown, turban and peacock! (Yes He is still available – order here!)

Even if the lord has a carved crown or headwear, you can layer on a crown or hand wrap a turban.

The Lord is wearing some crown styles from my shop – explore more crowns that might suit you here!

Sometimes you can attach jewellery over the top of existing jewellery. Using a simple pair of cutter pliers, you can remove the back of a stud earring, and then use BEESWAX to attach.

Offer Him rings! Earrings can have the back clipped off, or a hook removed, and be attached at His fingers and toes, using BEESWAX.

I made a post a few years ago about quick ways to get Jewellery for Krishna – read it here.

Can He wear a necklace? Sometimes you can get adjustable necklaces, or you can remove the extended chain length to offer a necklace. Again – attach with BEESWAX. Sorry – I’ll stop repeating that now!

Does He have a carved peacock feather?

That’s ok, add more! Fresh peacock feathers are so charming. You can get them in various sizes. I have ordered very small peacock feathers from Ebay seller – Just try doing a search. You can also find white peacock feathers from albino peacocks – although sometimes they have been bleached white and get a bit ratty.

Every now and then you need to refresh Krishna’s peacock feather – they can look quite ratty after awhile, and PLEASE don’t wet them. I’ve ruined a few like that and I don’t understand why it trashes them but it does.

If you want to wrap a dhoti on Krishna you can do that too. Krishna with a precarved dhoti can wear it lungi or sarong style. Depending on His size you may wish to cut the fabrics. 

When I stitch garments for deity clothes orders I aim to make them as easy to put on as possible, so I create a fake pleated front facade. I have even been making long side pleats to tumble down attractively. 

These outfits were made for a deity who has a precarved dhoti (although no carved shawl).

I made a turban which is basically almost a crown and attaches with adjustable velcro at the back. It’s a facade that goes over the carved turban flat so the effect is not too over the top.

The shawls drape easily over His arms and I recently made anklets on wire to form and attach around the ankles. 

A cloak is an excellent option to offer a dressed deity of Krishna! I haven’t kept examples to show you on that one form I have, but they would be so sweet!

It has been a delight to work on deity garment orders for your deities – thanks for entrusting me with such a precious task!

If you are interested in ordering custom deity clothes for your deities, please reach out to me for a rough priceguide, including pictures of your deity & what sort of outfits you would like to offer.

Love,
your friend
Sita

Ps. Here’s some of the available deities you get little sneak peeks of above. Click through to explore more. All prices in Australian dollars – use the widget at the top of the page to view in your currency of choice.

*bluetack can remove varnish and paint over time. If you have ever pulled down posters off a wall you’ll know how noxious it is! Never use bluetack please! Beeswax is a wonderful substitute (it’s actually the OG) and it has a pleasant aroma.. And doesn’t affect the finish as badly. Unlike bluetack which becomes all melty and gooey, beeswax hardens when it’s applied and pops off super easily. If you try and remove it soon after using it can still be soft and then you need to scrape off. So wait until it’s hardened before removing.

Also – if you have a black deity of Krishna you can color your beeswax with a little charcoal to make a black finish and then you won’t see it against his skin either! Bonus!