Embroidery of India

Contemporary work by Indian designers

ZARDOZI

• Zardozi is a very famous kind of an embroidery done on fabrics with the help of golden,silver and multicolored metal threads. It is an ancient Persian art form dating back before the Mughal Empire.The use of metal embroidery in Indian textiles and costumes, especially the ones used for special occasions or ceremonial purposes, demonstrate the importance of gold and silver within the culture.

Work by MANISH MALHOTRA

• Now in this Bridal Lehnga you can see how beautifully Zardosi has been used by the designer Manish Malhotra on the edges of the Dupatta and the hem lines of the Ghagra. The fabric to be embroidered is first sewn on an embroidery frame called karchobi and is stretched uniformly, the design to be embroidered is then transferred on to the stretched fabric. The materials used in this form of embroidery are as varied as the stitches. Metallic wires, kora, saadi, sequins, glass beads, metallic beads stones, pearls etc. are used. Also items like shells, wooden beads, and plastic beads are being used today to enhance this kind of embroidery.

KANTHA

• Threads can talk and create stories. They can weave their way through centuries and be reborn in various avatars. Such has been the evolution of the kantha stitch - the fine art of embroidery from Bengal initially done on quilts - which has taken the contemporary fashion and furnishing sectors by storm. Kantha was a form of recycling, practised by the rural women of Bengal to make quilts and babies' wrappers (kantha) by tucking in layers (usually 3) of sarees and discarded cloth and embroidered with intricate motifs - folk, birds, animals and village art, using the simplest of stitches - the run stitch.

•WORK BY SABYASACHI

• He incorporates a lot of cave and folk art, Egyptian murals, calligraphy of West and East Asia, still life, pop art and Picasso, miniatures and Hindu Mythology in his designs.

SABYASACHI has taken the fine art to contemporary menswear, be it dhotis or the classic kurta, with new-age asymmetrical patterns in kantha or ties with kantha or the exquisite kantha-stitched wedding trousseau for the groom.

CHIKANKARI• It is a traditional embroidery style from Lucknow, India. Literally

translated, the word means embroidery. Believed to have been introduced by Noor Jahan, Mughal Emperor Jahangir's wife, Chikankari was traditionally done only on pure, un-dyed white shazaada cotton or Dhaka ki mulmul, both sourced from Dhaka, Bangladesh (where the waters of the river Brahmaputra and Ganga meet and have bleaching properties). The kutcha dhaagha (the thread) used for the embroidery, was also white and procured from Calcutta or Dhaka. Chinkankari began as a ‘white on white’ embroidery. Nowadays Chikankari is done on the the finest of white cotton fabric called muslin or mulmul and voile(for the affordable low cost range).Chikankari has six basic stitches and over thirty-five other traditional stitches used in various combinations based on what the pattern to be embroidered requires

WORK BY MANISH MALHOTRA

Kareena Kapoor Khan wearing a beautiful white traditional chikankari saree by her favorite designer Manish Malhotra. It is a white georgette saree. Gold embellished patch work designs and small embroidered sequins buttes,white thread work all over saree. White printed work through out border. It is paired with red designer sleeveless saree blouse.

PHULKARI

• It literally means ‘flowered work’. This embroidery phulkari is mostly done in punjab. Embroidery is done from the back side of the fabric and the general patters which are being followed are geometrical, thus the stitches are worked in both horizontal and vertical directions. Labour for this kind of embroidery is very cheap so the stuff embellished from phulkari is comparitively cheap. It is mostly done on khadi.

WORK BY MEERA ROHIT

Model displaying moss green color raw silk saree with sequins mirror work. The border technique used is called phulkari. it is an embroidery technique exclusively used in Punjab for many years. These particularsaris present phulkari work, and the style of phulkari used is 'baagh'. This technique was used for the royals of Punjab, and is an almost extinct practice today. Even today, it is one of the rarer used forms of embroidery.