Brocade « Text on TEXTILES

Brocade « Text on TEXTILES:

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kutch embroidery

sanskrit and other Indology e-books

Sanskrit and other Indology e books for References

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Danka embroidery video

Last week  I met an artisan of almost lost art called DANKA embroidery in  Udaipur.Awesome  work ........!I ordered him three cloth piece to do the same work and they really did it beautifully on red velvet and  on maroon silk fabric.It costs me around 8000 Indian rupees.

Here are some of the pics  and a video of my meeting with the artisan...............!

Restoring Palmpore

Cultural Heritage Digital Library - Special Focus on Hindi Speaking Region - by IGNCA

Cultural Heritage Digital Library - Special Focus on Hindi Speaking Region - by IGNCA:

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More on paisley!

past & present: paisley (part 1) | Design*Sponge:

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Paithani textiles

Paithani is a varient of Traditional Sari, named after the Paithan village in Aurangabad, Maharashtra state of India where these sari's where hand woven. The art of weaving Paithani goes the way till 7th century B.C. during the Yadav period (Sri Krishna's period), however flourished in 200B.C., during Satvahana era. Since then Paithani is coveted in India as a precious heirloom passing on from generation to generation. Exquisite silk from Paithani was exported to many countries and was traded in return for gold and precious stones. Sheer dedication and the faith of the weavers has kept alive Paithani silk work for more than 2000 years. 

Intricate designs on pallu and border is a specialty of Paithani Sarees. Motifs on pallu are generally peacock, lotus, mango and other designs inspired from the world famous Ajanta Caves, which are in the same district. Paithani saris were produced only for sophisticated buyers. It evolved from a cotton base to a silk base. Silk was used in weft designs and in the borders, whereas cotton was used in the body of the fabric. Present day Paithani has no trace of cotton.

Paithani Sarees can take between 2 months to 1 year to manufacture, depending on border, pallu design and the material used. A paithani would cost any where from Rs. 6000/- which would have normal and less complex designs but can go upto Rs. 500000/- which would not only have very rare and intricate designs but would also be woven with real gold and silver threads. The fabric woven in traditional ways even after many centuries is renowned as the “MAHAVASTRA” meaning "the great, royal fabric, fit to be worn for ones own wedding. No wonder then, It has long been an essential piece in any girls wedding trousseau.

Motifs

The motifs are traditional vines and flowers, shapes of fruit and stylized forms of birds and the saree is often known by the motif that dominates its border or pallav. There are various types of exquisite motifs.

• The Kamal or lotus flower on which Buddha sits or stands
• The Hans motif
• The Ashraffi motif
• The Asawalli (flowering vines), became very popular during the Peshwa's period
• The Bangadi Mor, peacock in bangle
• The Tota-Maina
• The Humarparinda, peasant bird
• The Amar Vell
• The Narali motif, very common

Small motifs like circles, stars, kuyri, rui phool, kalas pakhhli, chandrakor, clusters of 3 leaves, were very common for the body of the sari.

Pada or Pallu

In the days of Peshwas, the borders and the pallu were made of pure gold mixed with copper to give it strength. The proportion was 1 kg of gold to 1 tola of copper. The combination was spun into a fine wire called the zari. In recent times, zari is made of silver, coated with gold plating. The borders are created with interlocked weft technique either with coloured silk or zari. In the border woven with a zari, ground coloured silk patterns are added as supplementary weft inlay against the zari usually in the form of flower or a creeping vine.

Sari pallu is about 90 cm in length, speciality of Paithani pallu is that the end of pallu is woven with heavy design with zari material, the length of pallu design can varry from 26 cm to 60 cm. there are various types of pallu designs in Paithani.

1. Muniya, a kind of parrot used in borders and always found in green colour with an occasional red touch at the mouth
2. Panja, a geometrical flower-like motif, most often outlined in red
3. Barwa, 12 strands of a ladder; 3 strands on each side
4. Laher, design is done in the centre to strengthen the zari
5. Muthada, a geometrical design
6. Asawali, a flower pot with a flowering plant
7. Morr, a peacock traditional colours.

Paithani Colors 

The modern technology has brought in a lot of progress in dyeing technology and variations in colors, however the Traditional Paithani colors were produced from vegetable dyes.

• Pophali - yellow
• Red
• Lavender
• Purple
• Neeligunji - sky blue
• Magenta
• Motiya - peach pink
• Brinjal - purple
• Pearl pink
• Peacock - blue/green
• Yellowish green
• Kusumbi - violet red
• Pasila - red and green
• Gujri - black and white
• Mirani - black and red

Loom

It took approximately 1 day to set the silk threads on the loom. "Tansal" is used to put the "wagi". The "pavda" works like the paddle to speed up the weaving. The "jhatka" is used to push the "kandi" from one side to the other. "Pushthe" is used in designing the border of Paithani in which it is punched according to design application. "Pagey" are tied to the loom. The threads are then passed through "fani".

There are two types of motion:

1. Primary motions:
   • Shedding - dividing the warp sheet or shed into two layers, one above the other for the passage of shuttle with the weft threads.
   • Picking - passing a pick of weft from one selvedge of a cloth through the warp threads.
   • Beating - dividing the last pick through the fell of cloth with the help of slay fixed on the reel.
2. Secondary motions:
   • Take up motion - taking up the cloth when being woven and winding it on the roller.
   • Let off motion - letting the warp wound on a warp beam, when the cloth is taken up on the cloth roller beam. Taking up and letting off the warp are done simultaneously.

Weaving

Paithani saris are silks in which there is no extra weft forming figures. The figuring weave was obtained by a plain tapestry technique. There are three techniques of weaving;

• Split tapestry weave - the simplest weave where two weft threads are woven up to adjacent warp threads and then reversed. The warp threads are then cut and retied to a different colour.
• Interlocking method - two wefts are interlocked with each other where the colour change is required. The figuring weft is made of a number of coloured threads, weaving plain with warp threads and interlocked on either side with the grounds weft threads are invariably gold threads which interlock with the figure weft threads, thus forming the figure. This system of interlocking weaves, known as kadiyal, is done so that there are no extra floats on the back of the motif thus making the design nearly reversible.
• Dobe-tailing method - two threads go around the same warp, one above the other, creating a dobe-tailing or tooth-comb effect.

Weaving could take between 18 to 24 months, depending upon the complexity of the design. Today there are many weavers who are working for the revival of this treasured weave.

Types of Paithani

Paithani can be classified by three criteria: motifs, weaving, and colours.

• Classification by motif:
  • Bangadi Mor - the word bangadi means bangle and mor means peacock. So bangadi mor means a peacock in a bangle or in a bangle shape. The motif is woven onto the pallu, the design sometimes having a single dancing peacock. The saris using this motif are very expensive because of the design.
  • Munia brocade - The word munia means parrot. Parrots are woven on the pallu as well as in border. Parrots are always in leaf green colour. The parrots in silk are also called tota-maina.
  • Lotus brocade - lotus motifs are used in pallu and sometimes on the border. The lotus motif consists of 7-8 colours.

• Classification by weaving:
  • Kadiyal border sari - the word kadiyal means interlocking. The warp and the weft of the border are of the same colour while the body has different colours for warp and weft.
  • Kad/Ekdhoti - a single shuttle is used for weaving of weft. The colours of the warp yarn is different from that of the weft yarn. It has a narali border and simple buttis like paisa, watana, etc. Kad is also a form of lungi and is used by male Maharashtrians.

• Classification by colour:
  • Kalichandrakala - pure black sari with red border.
  • Raghu - parrot green coloured sari.
  • Shirodak - pure white sari.

The Textile Blog: The Floral in Textile Surface Pattern Work

The Textile Blog: The Floral in Textile Surface Pattern Work

The process of ajrakh block printing according to Ismail Mohammed Khatri, Ajrakhpur

KASHMIR SHAWLS

KASHMIR SHAWLS 

Of the myriad varieties of textiles for which India was famous over much of Europe and Asia from at least the time of the Roman Empire, the Kashmir shawl stands out as the only woollen one. Although its precise origin is lost in a haze of myth and legend, it is safe to say that it grew out of a unique combination: a superlatively fine fiber plus the highly developed set of skills necessary to work the fiber. Or, as a nineteenth-century government report put it, “It is impossible not to admire the felicitous conjunction, in the same region, of a natural product so valuable and of workmen so artistic.” The raw material of the Kashmir shawl, known in the West as “cashmere,” is called pashm in India, and the fabric woven from it pashmina. It is the warm soft undercoat grown by goats herded on the high-altitude plateaus of Tibet and Ladakh as protection against the bitter winter cold. Combed out by their herders at the onset of summer, for centuries the entire clip was sent down in a series of complex trading operations to Kashmir, the only place whose craftspeople had developed the skills necessary to process it. In the 1820s it was estimated that between 121,000–242,000 pounds (55,000–110,000 kilograms) a year reached Srinagar, to be made up into some 80,000 to 100,000 shawl pieces. The very finest shawls were woven from toosh, a similar but even finer material produced by the Tibetan antelope or chiru, an undomesticated species.

Although the precious wool has always been procured by slaughtering the chiru, the amount consumed was negligible, probably less than 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) a year, insufficient to make a dent in a population estimated in the millions. By the early twenty-first century,however, the situation had changed; wholesale slaughter in the late twentieth century brought the chiru population down to a few thousand. It is recognized as an endangered species, and trade in its products is banned.

Manufacture of Shawls The transformation of the raw pashm, a mass of greasy fibers, into a fabric renowned for its fineness involved a series of processes. The shawl entrepreneur supplied the pashm in its raw state to women who, in the seclusion of their homes, undertook the painstaking and laborious task of removing the coarse outer hairs from the fleece;they then cleaned it with rice-flour paste, and spun it on wheels similar to those used everywhere in India. The skill of spinning such delicate fiber was passed down over

generations from mother to daughter.Meanwhile the entrepreneur had employed a patterndrawer to design the pattern of the proposed fabric. The pattern was passed to a color-master who filled in the colors, and finally to a skilled scribe who reduced the colored pattern to a shorthand form known as talim, which

enabled a complex pattern to be recorded on quite a small piece of paper. The dyer then dyed the spun yarn in the required colors. Other workers prepared the warp and fixed it to the loom; only then did the actual weaving begin.

The classic Kashmir shawl employs a weave technically known as 2:2 twill tapestry, which is unique to this product. Tapestry implies that the design is woven into the very structure of the fabric; the weft is inserted not by a shuttle,but by a series of small bobbins filled with various colored yarns. Depending on the complexity of the design, one line of the weft may involve dozens or scores of such insertions. In Kashmir the technique is known as kani or tilikar,referring to different names for the bobbins. 

is an ancient textile technique, practiced in different areas all over the world in a plain weave, in which
the weft passes alternately over and under one warp-thread at a time. It was only in Kashmir, however—and to some extent in Iran—that shawl weavers used a twill weave for tapestry, in which the weft passes over and under two warp-threads at a time, the pairing of the warps changing with every line of the weft. It is presumed that this modification was adopted to minimize the strain on the delicate
pashmina warp-threads. Fabrics woven in twill exhibit a characteristic very fine diagonal rib, which enlivens the finished pattern. The borders were often woven on a silk warp, to strengthen the shawl’s edging, and sometimes on a separate loom, being attached to the main body, with almost invisible seams, by the rafugar, or needleworker.The creation of intricate patterns in tapestry requires an extraordinary level of manual dexterity, though in the case of shawls this was exercised with no scope for creativity,rather in mechanical response to the instructions read out from the talim by the master weaver. The shawl weavers were bonded to their employers by a system of perpetual debt, paid barely enough to sustain them and,on top of that, were taxed to the limit by the government.The rooms where they worked were often dimly lit and badly ventilated, and it was said that a weaver could be distinguished by the pallor of his face, his sickly physique,
and above all, his delicate hands.Tapestry weaving is a highly laborious and time consuming technique, and by the middle of the nineteenth century, as the designs became ever more elaborate, particularly fine shawls took months and even years to complete. Accordingly, the manufacturers adopted two distinct methods of speeding up production, both exploiting the skills of the rafugar. On the one hand,not only the borders, but also the main bodies of the shawls began to be woven in pieces—sometimes literally hundreds, for elaborate all-over patterns—using several looms. It was the rafugar’s job to join these with seams so fine that only the expert eye can discern them. The other method was to abandon the twill-tapestry technique altogether, the rafugar’s skill being applied to the creation of patterns by embroidery in silk on plain pashmina fabric.Th word “shawl” originally referred not so much to a garment as to a fabric, and the long shoulder mantle—in
India originally worn by men—was only one of many varieties of shawl-goods. Shoulder mantles were woven in pairs, and often stitched together back-to-back; they were called do-shala. Square items, qasaba or rumal, were made for women’s wear, and long narrow ones, patka or shamla,for men’s sashes. Lengths of shawl fabric in all-over designs, jamawar, were intended to be tailored into men’s coats ( jama). Apart from these four main categories,about twenty-five varieties of shawl-goods were produced, including turbans, stockings, horses’ and elephants’saddlecloths, carpets, curtains and other kinds of hangings, bedspreads, and shrouds for tombs.
Shawl Design
The earliest extant shawl fragments, probably from the mid- to late seventeenth century, have the two ends decorated with a simple and elegant repeated design of single flowering plants—a favorite motif of Mughal decorative art from about the 1620s—enclosed in a floral meander. Gradually the single flower evolved into a bouquet, or a flowering bush (buta), assuming a cone shape, typically with the topmost bloom inclined to one side. In the later eighteenth century the plain background acquired a sprinkling of small flowers; by the 1820s, as this grew denser and more elaborate, it necessitated an outline to emphasize the main motif. Thus emerged the quintessential theme of shawl design, the bent-tip buta, which later became known as the “paisley,” after the town in Scotland whose weavers, in the mid-nineteenth century, cornered the British market for imitation Kashmir shawls. This perennially popular design motif, noticed on objects as diverse as nineteenth-century buckles in Cyprus and contemporary coffee mugs in Scotland, to say nothing of fabrics for all sorts of uses, may be regarded as Kashmir’s gift to the world.The bent-tip buta found expression in myriad forms, often incorporated into other design formats, of which the most common were flower-filled stripes—especially for jamawar—and roundels. Square shawls often had a large floral medallion in the center, with quarter-circles in the four corners. They are known as chand-dar, or moon shawls.
As the nineteenth century progressed, the patterns on the shawl’s ornamented ends became increasingly complex, and also larger, often invading the central field entirely, leaving no empty space at all. At the same time, French manufacturers were adapting and developing Kashmiri design for their own Jacquard-woven shawls, while sending such modified designs to be made up in Kashmir. The resulting elaborate and fanciful shawls represented an astonishing degree of technical virtuosity. Today’s embroidered shawls are made up  n the whole gamut of traditional designs, modified only by the difference in technique.
History of the Kashmir Shawl
The earliest explicit documentation of the Kashmir shawl comes in the late sixteenth century in the Aini-
Akbari, a comprehensive description of the Mughal empire in the time of the emperor Akbar. The Ain, however, is clearly referring to an already mature industry,which must have been flourishing for decades if not centuries. Kashmiri tradition attributes its origin to the great fifteenth-century sultan, Zain-ul-Abdin, who is said to have encouraged the immigration of textile workers from abroad, possibly from Iran and central Asia.
For over two centuries Kashmir shawls and shawl goods were an essential element of the Indian royal and
aristocratic lifestyle. Demand was such that by the middle of the eighteenth century there were said to be 40,000 shawl looms in and around Srinagar. In 1752 Kashmir was wrested from the Mughals by the Afghans, who ruled until 1819. They, and the Sikh and Dogra governments hat followed, imposed such heavy taxes that in the 1820s the revenue to the state from the shawl-weaving industry was greater than that from all other sources combined. As a result of these exactions the number of looms fell, and those weavers who could escape from the serflike conditions under which they were employed emigrated to the Punjab and elsewhere in North India. Even so, according to a report in the early 1820s, at least 130,000 people were working in the industry, while the value of shawls exported was about 60 lakhs (6 million) rupees.Shawls were commissioned in designs according to the demands of different markets. As well as plains India,many Asian countries also imported Kashmir shawlgoods from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. They are mentioned in Ottoman customs records as early as 1624. Jamawar was popular in Iran, while both there and in the Ottoman Empire shawls were part of men’s wear, worn as turbans, or around the waist as sashes. Even distant Egypt imported shawl-goods; they were admired by officers of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army
in 1798, some of them purchasing shawls to take home as gifts. The empress Josephine’s passion for shawls set an enduring fashion in France. They had already entered the fashion scene in Britain around 1780, brought home by returning officers of the East India Company, and were regularly imported from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Over the next seventy years, export to Europe became the mainstay of the industry. At the sametime, flourishing industries in “imitation Indian shawls”sprang up in both France and Great Britain; in fact, the Jacquard loom was invented as an attempt to reproduce the intricacies of Kashmir design by mechanical means.Decline and revival. The decline of the kani shawl in the last decades of the nineteenth century is often attributed to changes in European fashion; but the story is more complex. Social and political shifts in India and elsewhere in Asia led to erosion of the luxurious lifestyles of elites; as they started to adopt Western fashions, the shawl became irrelevant. By the early twentieth century, reduction in demand had led to the almost complete disappearance of kani work. The industry was kept alive by increased production of embroidered shawls, which came to be considered an essential accessory to the winter wardrobe of middle-class women in north India.Remarkably, however, in the early years of the twentyfirst century there are indications of a purposeful revival

of the kani shawl. The development of a wealthy business class in India, especially after the economic reforms of the 1990s, created a market for such highly priced luxury goods, in response to which some astute Kashmiri shawlmakers have initiated the resuscitation of almost extinct skills. Thus, despite political upheavals, Kashmir’s craftspeople—the designer, the spinner, the plain weaver,the rafugar and now once again the kani weaver—continue to keep alive the region’s tradition of manufacturing textiles of unparalleled delicacy and beauty.

GOSHAENUR: The Veil as Ghunghat & Purdah - a Hindu & Muslim d...

GOSHAENUR: The Veil as Ghunghat & Purdah - a Hindu & Muslim d...: Ghoonghat or Ghunghat is a Hindi word which describes a type of veil or headscarf worn by Indian women to cover their head. The Sari grew ...

The Saree

Dhurrie,Pattu(shawal) and floor coverings of Jodhpur

PANJA DHURRIE WEAVING

 THE WEAVERS OF the village of Salawas belong to the Prajapati caste.Although their main source of income was agriculture,they also practiced pottery and the weaving of jatpatti rugs.These plain weft faced dhurried woven with coarse goat or camel hair derive their name from jhat,literally meaning haste,with which they could be executed.The jatpatti were initially used as coverings for domestic animals during winters,as saddle bags,as filters for oil mills and for making tents.

For More refer www.rajasthantextiles.com

PATTU WEAVING


The meghwal community weave local wool into narrow strips,or patti,that are then stitched together to form wide shawls known as pattu that are worn by members of all communities in the region.There is however a sartorial code with regard to the type of pattu worn- the chequered pattu are worn by women while the highly decorative pattu are used by young men and the plain pattu by older men.

For More refer www.rajasthantextiles.com
CAMEL TRAPPINGS


Camels once the chief mode of transportation in the deserts of western Rajasthan,were adorned with several trappings including the tang(camel girth),the gorbandh (necklace),the godiya and sariya(ankle and knee bands),and the morka(bridle).Although the popularization of motorized transport inthese regions has led to the decreasing use of camels for personal transport,camels adorned with these trappings may still be seen in the desert regions of Jaisalmer where they cater to safaris orgnaized for tourists.

For More refer www.rajasthantextiles.com

Nomadic Raika/Rebari Tribe of Rajasthan - http://filmservicesinindia.com/ - Picasa Web Albums

costume sand lifestyle of Nomadic Raika/Rebari Tribe of Rajasthan - http://filmservicesinindia.com/ - Picasa Web Albums:

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Lambani Embroidery

Lambanis lead a gypsy life and mainly inhabit the western Indian states including Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. A part of this tribal community is also found in the northern region of Karnataka. The Lambani tribe of India speak a language which is believed to have been originated in the state of Rajasthan. Earlier, Lambanis used to supply grains to armies. In the olden days, the Lambani people carried grain, salt, bamboos and firewood. The tribal community used oxen to carry heavier commodities.
In the dry, rocky area of Maharashtra,Karnatka and andhrpradesh reside the Lambanis, dressed in their colourful embroidered dresses strewn with mirrors, coins and shells.

The Lambani woman's outfit consists of a skirt or phetiya made up of five distinct bands and secured at the waist with a drawstring tie which hangs down embellished with cowrie shells and tassels , a backless blouse or kaachadi with the characteristic square mirrors embroidered on the front and sleeves and the veil called the chaatiya or ghungato which is a length of commercially printed or woven fabric embellished with a wide band of mirror work and coins.
Lambanis, elsewhere known as “Banjaras”, who originally came from Marwar are semi-nomadic people who reside mostly in Southern and Middle India. As with many tribal groups, especially those with a nomadic heritage, there is a modern tendency to either isolate or assimilate. The Banjara women, however, are holding steadfast to their ancient mode of dress, which is perhaps the most colorful and elaborate of any tribal group in India. The Lambani women practice a unique mirror and embroidery craft, which they mostly use for making their own traditional dresses or for giving to their daughters for their weddings.

The Lambani embroidery is an amalgam of pattern darning, mirror work, cross stitch, and overlaid and quilting stitches with borders of “Kangura” patchwork appliqué, done on loosely woven dark blue or red handloom base fabric.

Lambani embroidery is commonly mistaken as Kutchi (Kachhi) embroidery because of mirror work, but shells and coins are unique to this type of embroidery. Also, the stitches used are different.

The 14 types of stitches used in Lambani embroidery are Kilan, Vele, Bakkya, Maki, Suryakanti Maki, Kans, Tera Dora, Kaudi, Relo, Gadri, Bhuriya, Pote, Jollya, Nakra. Products made with such embroidery have wonderful textures and a bohemian style, making them very popular with tourists.

A distinctive design range is its revival and use of local mud-resist handloom fabric, and the mirrors, shells and white ornamental trims that are a traditional part of Lambani as well as the Irikil saris of Dharwad-Hubli and other local fabrics.

There are 13 colours that are mostly used in Lambani embroidery, out of which; red and blue are most common. The base cloth used is either cotton khadi or power loom fabric and is also dyed locally, thus working in harmony with the local small scale industry. Although most of the fabric is dyed using chemical colours, vegetable dyes made from Kattha, Rathanjot, Chawal Kudi, Pomegranate peel etc are gaining popularity.

Lambani embroidery has now reached all over the world with the export of bed sheets and cushion covers in subtle colours but the heavily embroidered bags in flamboyant colours remain are a favourite among tourists.

Quilts of India

Weaving on Fotopedia

Weaving on Fotopedia:

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Narrative textile of India

Some more on zardozi embroidery!

In Zardozi, the design is with the twisted gold thread called Gijai. Gold and silver embroidery is done using any type of stitch.
1) Laid stitch/ wouching stitch,
2) Satin stitch,
3) Chain stitch,
4) Stem stitch and
5) Running stitch.



The chain stitch resembles in counter part in Kutch work and is generally used in sarees.

The stem stitch and the running stitch are used for a miscellaneous type of work.

The laid/ wouching stitch as it is called is important and suited in gold thread. It is generally used on cushion/ masnads (small gaddis) gold and silver embroidery is invariably done with cloth stitched over a wooden frame. Sometimes certain designs as leaves and petals of flowers are padded to give a raised effect.

In the Gota Kinari is in fine shaped birds, animals, human figures attached to the cloth and encased in wires of silver and gold while the space around is covered by coloured silk.

The overall effect is of enamelling. The most important feature in gota and Kinari work is the cutting of the woven gold border into various shapes and design, which are stitched on the cloth, thus creating a variety of textured patterns in the design.

Karchobi is divided into 4 types.

1) Kasab-Tiki:

Using gold and silver thread and spangles.

2) Jhik-Chalak: Using twisted thread called Jhick and zig-zag thread called chalak.

3) Bharat-Karachi: Using pieces of cardboard to provide a raised body for the design, the material being used as a padding.

4) Jhik-Tiki: Using twisted thread and spangles.


Gold and silver embroidery can be easily done on satin with a backruns lining. The design should be first traced on satin fabric and tracked to the backrun of the same size on the 4 sides. 7 inch needles and threads should be used to embroider the gold and silver work.

There are many types of Zari threads. The thicker Kalabatune is braided gold thread used in the border while a thinner variety is used at the thinner edges for batwas, tassels, necklace strings.

Tirora: It is a gold thread especially twisted using curves and complex designs. The dull Zari thread in 'Kora' and lustrous one in 'Chikna'. The design is first traced out on paper, pricked with pins, with fine powder lightly rubbed on it. Now-a-days, gold and silver embroidery is mainly done on sarees and choli pieces. The other articles embroidered are evening bags, slippers, belts.

More on Zari embroidery!

Embroidery done with metallic threads is called kalabattu and forms the zari. The main zari production centres are Surat in Gujarat and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Here the metal ingots are melted into metal bars called pasa from which lengths are got by beating it after treatment. This is then pulled through perforated steel plates to make it into wires, followed by the tarkashi process to make it thin with rubber and diamond dies. The last stage is called badla where the wire is flattened and twisted with silk or cotton thread to become kasab or kalabattu. This has uniform evenness, flexibility, softness, and ductility. Kasab can stand for real silver / gold, as well as for plated silver/gold or for an imitation in which a copper base is given a coat of silver or golden colour to make the product less expensive.

Zari thread is used widely in weaving but more selectively in embroidery. For intricate patterns gijai or a thin, stiff wire is used";" sitara, a small star-shaped metal piece is used for floral designs. This type of embroidery is called salma-sitara. The thicker kalabattu is a braided gold thread used for borders while the thinner variety is used at the end of the drawstring of purses or batwas, and in tassels, necklaces, and strings. Tikora is a gold thread spirally twisted for complicated designs. The dull zari thread is called kora and the more shiny one is called chikna. The equipment that is used for embroidery is a rectangular wooden-frame called karchob and a wooden leg called thapa used for sewing laces. Listed below are different kinds of zari work.

Zardozi : This is a heavy and more elaborate embroidery work which uses varieties of gold threads, spangles, beads, seed pearls, wire, and gota. It is used to embellish wedding outfits, heavy coats, cushions, curtains, canopies, animal trappings, bags, purses, belts, and shoes. The material on which this kind of embroidery is done is usually heavy silk, velvet and satin. The kind of stitches found are salma-sitara, gijai, badla, katori, and seed pearls, among others. The main centres are in Delhi, Jaipur, Banaras, Agra, and Surat. The old teach the young and the skill continues from generation to generation.

Kamdani : This is a lighter needlework which is done on lighter material like scarves, veils, and caps. Ordinary thread is used and the wire is pressed down with the stitching producing a satin-stitch effect. The effect produced is glittering and is called hazara butti (thousand lights).

Mina Work : This is thus called owing to its resemblance with enamel work. The embroidery is done in gold.

Kataoki Bel : This is a border pattern made of stiff canvas and the whole surface is filled with sequin edging. A variation of this border technique is lace made on net and filled with zari stitches and spangles.

Makaish : This is one of the oldest styles and is done with silver wire or badla. The wire itself serves as a needle, piercing the material to complete the stitches. A variety of designs are produced in this manner.

Tilla or Marori Work : This is the kind of embroidery where gold thread is stitched on to the surface with a needle.

Gota Work : The woven gold border is cut into various shapes to create a variety of textures in the patterns. In Jaipur the border of the material or sari is cut into shapes of birds, animals, and human figures, attached to the cloth, and covered with wires of silver and gold";" it is surrounded by coloured silks. The work resembles enamelling.

Kinari Work : A small variation is kinari work where the embellishments are done only at the edges in the form of tassels. This is done mainly by men and women of the Muslim community.

The areas in which zari embroidery is practised include Kashmir, Delhi, Agra, and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Ajmer in Rajasthan, and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The batwas (small purses) of Bhopal are very well-known and are used for storing small coins, betel nuts, scent bottles, and the like. The other centres are Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, along with other places in the southwww.rajasthantextiles.com

Mukesh work

Silver embedded into the fabric is Mukesh work.Tine dots made of Bdala or plain silver strip is Mulesh.

Badla work


badla(nakki) is a very thin very flexible metalic strips approximately about 2mm wide..usually silver in color..but few bright colours are also available..
special needle is there for this work...
just stitch like cross stitch n cut the strips on wrong side of the fabric and press it...same should be done all along the design.

Dabka or Kora work

Badla with Kundan

  

Difference between Dabka and Salma or nakkashi

Dabka is a very fine thread of metal that is coiled tightly, so it's hollow inside. It's then cut into the appropriate sized and stitched on the fabric by passing a needle through the middle. Skilled kaarigar's can even do french knots with the smallest size (diameter) of dabka.

Naqshi is a flat metal strip which is coiled in an angular way. It's not nearly as robust or firm as dabka. It does give a different effect though in terms of texture so sometimes they will use a mix of the two (Salma work). But work with mostly naqshi is definitely done because of a cost/skill factor involved.

In the picture I quoted, the long copper bits near the diamante in the middle of the flowers are dabka. All the pale gold stuff is naqshi.

Zardosi, Zardosi Gold Embroidery, Zardosi Silver Embroidery, Zardosi Work, Indian Traditional Embroidery, India

Zardosi, Zardosi Gold Embroidery, Zardosi Silver Embroidery, Zardosi Work, Indian Traditional Embroidery, India

Beautiful embroidery of kutch,Gujrat

Baroda Print,My visit to Vadodara

This video was taken by me during my visit to Baroda.There I got a chance to visit this small factory cum shop of Baroda Print.Baroda print  has nothing to do with traditional craft but it is more of a contemporary version of Block printing.Nevertheless it is wonderfull.