Revealing the Origins of Embroidery: A Glimpse into Royal Heritage!

Embroidery is one of India's most precious and well known textile traditions. Decorating fabric with needles and different threads and elements is a form of artisanal know-how that is a diverse yet distinct evidence of the rich textile heritage of the country. Embroidery styles vary by region and use unique stitches and colors.

The exploration of these techniques is a great way to discover the cultural heritage of India.

Indian embroidery is known for its intricate designs, vibrant colors, and exquisite craftsmanship. 

The developing fashion trend is bringing enormous experimenting with Indian as well as western wear. In this fashion, Gujarat textile has been blending phenomenally through adding thread and mirror work in western clothing. Young audience love the colorful thread and mirror work.

textile industry has tremendous involvement of tribal workers since centuries. 

At present, there are thousands of tribal handloom workers involved in the Gujarat textile market. They are working for years and passing on the heritage of artistic handloom for generations.

The weavers work spectacularly starting from collecting the raw material to make the thread, dyeing to washing. They use natural as well as the artificial colour of good qualities to make threads colourful and bright. The thread and mirror have a strong customer base in India and other countries mainly because of the unique, colourful and bright designs. The fast-moving fashion trend has led to secure support from pre-eminent fashion designers of the industry. With this sole effort, weavers can attain stable wages.

Threadwork appears in various styles from various regions in India. Famous thread works, including Aari, Kashidakari Zardozi, Phulkari, Kantha, and Chikankari, have a tremendous fan following in India as well as across the globe. These designs of excellent thread work are time taking and worthwhile in every aspect. The colorful threads used for the job are of prime quality. Handloom threadwork has a significant influence on evolving fashion trends. In the Gujarat textile industry, most of the thread work is hand-woven. 

The mirror work is precisely famous in Gujarat, and it is popularly called Sheesha. These tiny mirrors are embroidery done spectacularly with care and precision. This artistic handicraft design is accessible for the past few centuries since the ruling of Mughal’s empire. 

Chikankari is very similar to Shadow work, infact shadow work is inspired by Chikankari work, Shadow work embroidery is a captivating form of needlework that adds depth, texture, and elegance to the fabric. It involves creating delicate designs by stitching on translucent fabrics, which allows the underlying fabric or surface to show through the stitches. This technique produces stunning visual effects, giving the impression of shadows and highlights. Where shadow work uses mostly herringbone stitch interspersed with some other stitches, Chikan work is a combination of many different embroidery stitches, flat, raised and knot stitches. In chikan work some of the designs are worked from the back of the fabric and others from the front. This style comes from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, in North India. Chikankari, is believed to have been introduced by the empress Nur Jehan and is most famous for it’s white-on-white details. It is extremely delicate and artfully done hand embroidery using floral motifs on cotton, silk and organza. Fabric used for this embroidery needs to be soft and delicate. Each chikan hand embroidered piece includes the expert craft of multiple artisans.

Delicately worked chikankari designs were embroidered on the finest of cotton mulmul (muslin) fabrics during the Mughal period, and it had value and worth for its aesthetics. It had been encouraged very much during that time to make it one of the most popular embroidery techniques of India and which has remained so till date. This embroidery technique is popularly used to adorn beautiful kurtas and sarees and even home decor items.

Specialist embroiderers work on particular stitches and then hand the piece on to the next specialist artisan for the next stage. This technique is very labor intensive and can employ up to 35 different stitches : flat, raised and embossed stitches, and 'jaalis', the open, trellis-like stitches in which tiny holes are opened in the cloth.

 

KANTHA

Kantha is a traditional embroidery style from the states of Bengal and Odisha situated in the Eastern part of India. Kantha artwork comes from Bangladesh and is used on textiles. One of the oldest forms of embroidery originating from India, its origins can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age.  

Traditionally, the embroidery thread used for Kantha embroidery was drawn from the borders of the old garments. Using this kind of embroidery allows us to upcycle and reuse old textiles that would otherwise have been thrown away. Kantha embroidery motifs include birds, animals, flowers and everyday activities from Indian villages and are used to create unique pieces from recycled fabric.

The beauty of this kantha is that the shape is formed by looping threads on one surface only, so the reverse side of the fabric remains a simple kantha of straight, running stitch, while the front side is a complex geometric pattern. 

​If you travel in Bengal today, you will still find modern iterations of the traditional patchwork kantha quilts; airing in the sun on verandahs in Kolkata or laid out over paddy fields in the villages to dry. But the bulk of kantha production is made for commercial consumption - both domestically in India and Bangladesh, and for the export market. This, in theory, is a good thing - the rural women of Bengal, who are limited by economic, cultural, social and religious factors from finding gainful employment outside of their homes now find themselves in high demand to produce enough kantha for this market. 

PHULKARI

More than just an art, phulkari embroidery is said to be an inherent part of the history of Punjab. Phulkari, means the combination of two words ‘phul’ meaning flower and ‘kari’ meaning work, interpretes to flower work or floral work.

It consists of flower work motifs. Stitches in Phulkari are embroidered on the reverse side of the cloth and the handcrafted design takes shape on the front side. This technique uses floss silk threads ( loosely twisted silk threads ) to create a lustrous effect and was traditionally practiced by women in their free time.

Today, phulkari continues to play a significant role in Punjabi culture, and is an important part of weddings

Various kinds of phulkari work reflect the rich cultural and religious mix of the Punjab region. The most beautiful pieces are turbans in which the cloth is covered with dense hand embroidery. These are called bagh (garden), and are made in preparation for weddings. A “bagh'' may take more than a year to complete.

 

 ZARDOZI

Zardozi, from Persia is an ancient craft of sewing gold and silver threads on fabric. The name is derived from two words: zar (gold) and dozi (work). During the Mughal era, Zardozi was used to embellish luxurious garments by the use of gold or silver wrapped-threads and embellishments.

Pearls and precious stones with real gold and silver threads were used to hand craft textiles for royalty. Velvets and rich silks complemented this detailed and extravagant embroidery. To maintain the shine and protect elements of zardozi embroidered garments they are wrapped and stored in soft cotton or muslin cloth.

 

 

MIRROR EMBROIDERY FROM KUTCH

Hand embroidery from Kutch, Gujarat in the north west part of India, is a perfect combination of thread craft and mirror work. Kutch embroidery stands out from other embroidery styles because of its use of small mirrors and colorful threads. This type of embroidery is used on accessories and home décor too. Stitches used are running stitch, double buttonhole, satin and straight stitch.

Some communities in Gujarat believe that mirror work is auspicious as a tool for warding off the evil eye, reflecting bad luck and evil spirits away from the wearer. The reflective elements of mirror work may have originally developed from the use of mica (a mineral with a shiny surface). However, from the 19th century onwards pieces of specially made mirrored glass were widely available.

Traditionally, this kind of glass is hand blown and cut into different shapes, using special scissors.

Embroidery work in India has long been a celebrated as an art form, one that encapsulates cultural inheritance and craftsmanship. Among the diverse that exist, Aari Embroidery stands out as an exquisite art form originating from the heartland of India. With its intricate patterns, delicate motifs, and rich history, Aari Embroidery continues to capture the imagination of artisans and enthusiasts alike.

The history of Aari Embroidery can be traced back to the Mughal era in India. The word "Aari" is derived from the Hindi word "Aar," meaning needle. This technique was initially used to embellish royal attire, including the elaborate costumes of kings and queens. Over time, Aari Embroidery evolved and spread its influence across various regions, each contributing to its unique characteristics.

Aari gets its name from the ‘Aar’, which is a small, hooked needle or awl. First, the pattern is carefully drawn on thin or transparent paper by a specialised artisan. Tiny pinholes are made along the outlines and the paper is placed on the fabric.

The Aari embroidery technique demands an enormous amount of skill, training, patience and precision. The craftsmen must concentrate on following the fine outlines of the design, while creating the subtle gradations of colour required to fill in the motif.

 

 KASHIDAKARI-

 The word Kashidakari is used for Kashmiri embroideries. It is derived from the Persian words ‘Kashida,’ meaning free-flowing cursive writing, and ‘Kari,’ meaning craftsmanship. 

Historically, the use of embroideries in Kashmir started as the twill tapestry weaving of decorated pashmina shawls by the high-skilled kanikar weavers was very time-consuming. Kanikar comes from the word Kani, meaning shuttle. The twill tapestry weaving technique sometimes requires 40 to 50 shuttles based on the intricacy of designs and colors used. 

The origin of this craft is not clear but according to various legends it was introduced by Sufi saints from Persia in the valley. Numerous kings patronized the craft, the most famous of them being Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. Over the course of time it started to define the cultural essence though the beadwork and threadwork.

The term Kashidakari is used as an umbrella term which covers all the different types of embroideries. Hence it uses many different embroidery techniques such as crewel or ari work, rezkar, tilla, sozni and dori work. Sozni embroider uses fly stitch, stem stitch and darning stitches. The ari embroidery uses aari to fill in the motifs with chain stitch.  It uses stitches such as chain stitches or, open work or doria work, buttonhole stitch or vatachik and gold work or talibar. The embroidery is used for phirans or the woolen kurtas and namdahs or the woolen rugs and stoles.