How to repair and restore an old silk sari

My grandmother's marriage saree was in useful condition. But there is some damage to the border and pallu (the loose end of a sari) zari. Then my mother removed that Zari. Then she stitched all around just by folding a small section of the saree. That will make sure that the saree will be intact. Then my mother used it for a long time and it was good.
Some people purchase the Zari border separately and then attach that to the saree by removing the spoiled zari border. That looks more pretty. So my suggestion is to remove the Zari border and then attach another Zaree border and use it regularly so that one will have that satisfaction of using the saree which was purchased for a memorable event and costly.

Silk sarees are costly items. They look elegant when worn by women. Though silk is durable material but silk sarees because of the folding and crease in them get dust lines and the zari also goes bad by losing its sheen and becoming greyish or black. Maintaining silk sarees is a difficult proposition as it requires regular cleaning as well as unfolding them for some time or keeping them on hangers for straitening.
Generally in big cities there will be some specific shops where silk zari sarees are repaired and one can try to find out it in the Google Map service or local yellow pages.
Another alternative is to ask the silk saree shops about it and they might give the location of such skilled persons doing this type of repair jobs. Replacement of zari border is a common practice and in North India, I have seen such repair shops in Delhi and Lucknow.
In Hyderabad, the areas where zari bordered apparels are sold (like near Charminar) can be looked for information on this matter.

Silk Sarees looks elegant but the problem with its retention is that it requires a lot of efforts to maintain them in order. Normally the boarder area where there is the concentration of Zari gets eroded with the time and also from such areas, the materials come out providing a bad shape to the entire sarees.
Depending upon the attitudes of ladies, the following work could be done -
1) Kanjeevaram Saree once lost its sheen could be retained in the original order with undertaking repair work from one of the best professionals available in their areas. The repairman would try his best to restore its old glamour with his expertise.
2) The ladies are endowed with practical wisdom to undertake repairing work themselves. They might not apply Zari there but taking out damaged portions, they would stitch some fancy clothes in that region to offer the elegant look to the saree.
3) Silk Sarees require a lot of maintenance and as such they cannot be kept haphazardly here and there but once they come from outside with wearing such dresses, these apparel's need to be kept in almirahs with a great care folding them in a proper fashion and to be kept in hangers. Naphthaline Balls would be required to place in the areas where such sarees are being stacked to take care of any damage caused by insects.

Normally silk sarees good till its good condition. Generally people use silk materials only on occasions and for daily usage the silk sarees are not used. When we keep them in almirah, the naphthalene balls as we put in order to keep them safe, itself spoil the silk sarees. For this if we are not use them frequently we can change them from one shelf to another at frequent intervals, by freeing and folding again as to avoid torn in the folds.
If damaged once we cannot use it back as the damage get enlarged further and further as the yarn is very light. In such cases, if the jari or silk is original we can give back in some stores or persons allotted for this purpose and get money or new silk sarees. There are persons or stores for this purpose in Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu, At times such shop persons put some specific stalls in major cities for this exchange. We should never entertain the persons comes on the road by announcing this type of exchange over speaker.
One time my wife exchanged her old silk sarees for a good price and on telling this to her sister, she gave some three to four sarees and a silk dhothi for such exchange. On the next month we went to Kancheepuram for another purpose, we sold them at a shop. Later my sister in law told that the silk dhothi taken back for Rs.150 but it bought only for 15 before twenty years back.

Silk saree is very delicate item. You can't use it frequently. Generally, ladies use it occasionally because it is very difficult to maintain. No doubt it gives decent look. My mom had lot of silk saree and for maintaing them she used to keep in sunlight and before keeping in almirah she put Napthlene balls so that instect may not destroy saree. But once one saree zari border got damaged then she went to shop for repair it. In North India, some shop is there where you can repair your zari border when it gets damage. If silk saree zari border are damaged a lot then it is not possible to repair. In such condition exchange option is best. In some places shop will offer exchange option also.