Mirror Work

Mirror work is an 'evergreen' facet of Indian Embroidery. It has always been popular. It was first introduced by the people of Gujarat.

Many types of stitches are used to hold the mirrors in place. Common ones are sheesha, buttonhole and chain. Sometimes a small white plastic ring is placed around the mirror and stitched.

Last weekend I experimented with a few different techniques. The rhinetones and beads that I used for this photograph got the attention of my five year old. He had a big smile when I told him that he could hold the mirrors in place for me. That was an afternoon well spent!!

I have posted the Buttonhole method in the tutorial section. Be sure to check it out!

Kutch Work

In this article I would like to introduce KUTCH, a part of India that has contributed many wonderful embroidery styles and techniques.

Examples are Kutchi Bharat, Ahir, Heer Bharat (all over embroidery), Abhla Bharat (use of small mirrors), Chain Stitch of Bhavnagar, Sindhi Bharat (use of interlacing stitch) and Moti Bharat (use of beads). Of these the most prominent ones are Kutchi Bharat and Ahir embroideries.

A little history... Kutch is the largest district in the western state of Gujarat. It is made up of many small communities many of whom have settled here after years of migration. These communities live in isolation and each has developed its own style of embroidery, thus contributing a wide array of styles to the embroidery world.

The embroideries of this region are very bright, bold, and colorful, perhaps to beat the mood of the dry desert land. Mirrors, beads and tassels are liberally used making the embroidery very rich, yet not gaudy. Threads and fabrics traditionally used are cotton and silk. These days however, cotton fabrics and threads are favored. Some of the stitches used are chain, double buttonhole, interlacing, running, stem and herringbone.

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An introduction to Kantha

Kantha work is a style from the state of Bengal that uses the simple running stitch in the most beautiful ways imaginable. It is one of my favorite styles.

The word Kantha actually means rags or waste cloth used by the women of Bengal to make quilts. A traditional Bengali woman’s sari is a soft white cotton fabric with a red border. When the sari got old and soft after several washes, it was used to make quilts. The simple running stitch was used all over the quilt to hold the layers together and also to embellish it.

Quilt making was mostly a work of leisure and art and never meant for commercial purposes. It took several women to stretch and hold several layers of the fabric together. Once this was done, these women embroidered their own designs on the quilt. The design usually began at the center of the quilt and slowly extended out.

Today, we talk about Kantha more as a style of embroidery that is done using the running stitch. Sometimes, stem and herringbone are also used. Typical thread colors are red, green, black and blue. Commonly used designs are peacocks, elephants, fish, lotus, creepers, leaves, flowers and temples.