Sari blouses typically close with hook and eyes, either in front or back, similar to bras. So this step is for attaching fabric for a placket on either side. One strip is wider than the other, but I admit, I’m not really understanding why — hooks and eyes don’t take up that much space. I think I have to go look at one of my readymade sari blouses and see if I can figure it out.
You could do a zipper instead, of course, but an advantage of the hook-and-eye approach is that it again makes the blouse more customizable — if you gain or lose a little weight, you can shift the eyes and hook it more or less tightly. At least, I’m assuming that’s why they use hook-and-eye.
But I will, regardless, use this opportunity to share a poem:
*****
you fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye
– Margaret Atwood
*****
Ouch!