FABRIC

EMBELLISHMENT

SHAZMAH BASHARAT
Ph.D. Scholar
Textiles & Clothing
College of Home
Economics

Introduction
Textiles is a non verbal language of the
people.
Raw materials speak of Geo- Climatic region
& trade linkages.
Techniques speak of Civilizations as well as
links with others.
Motifs tell us of their beliefs, legends &
myths.
And, Embroidery is an expression of
creativity that embodies all the above.

 Embroidery is the fascinating cloth art that involves the

use of needles and thread.
According to Mary Norden Embroidery encompasses
many different types of fabric decoration, so beautiful
and detailed that it is difficult to believe that a needle
created them.
. It is an art rightly described as

needle"

"painting by

 Embroidery is the art of handicraft of decorating fabric or

other material with design stitches in strands of threads
or yarns using a needle. Embroidery may also incorporate
other material such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quilts
and sequins.
Sub continent embroidery is a craft that epitomizes the
enchanting confluence of cultures.
Indian embroidery owes its amazing array to the resulting
cross-fertilization of cultures. That is why, practically all
stitches known the world are employed in India.

The origin of Indian textiles can be traced to

the Indus valley civilization. The art of
embroidery is clearly of the Eastern origin and
is of such ancient lineage that our knowledge
of it stretches into pre-historic ages.
Indian embroidery and artistry has always
been seducing people from different corners
of the world, with its colours, individualities
and ability to keep the gazers awestruck at
the skill which has come down from one
generation to the other without a loosening
of the cords of tradition. India has long been
known for its golden thread, zari and its
various products (Crill, 1999).

Mughal Court Embroideries (17th18th Century)

These Embroideries reflected the Persian & Central

Asian Embroideries preferred by the Mughals.
Royal workshops or Karkhanas came into existence in
major cities such as, Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Ahmedabad &
Bidar.
In addition to craftsmen from abroad, these workshops
also employed best local traditional artisans.
This Accomplishment resulted in great workmanship &
change.
The Mughal motifs are quite distinct of its
contemporaries, were used in dresses, sashes, tent
linings, summer quilts, floor spreads hangings etc.

Most of the Mughal work is

in chain stitch & satin
stitch with silk thread and
sometimes Gold & Silver
Zari on Cotton, Silk & Satin
Fabric
.

A fine example from the Jehangir

Period. A cream coloured Satin
Coat embroidered in Silk Satin
Stitch, with an all over pattern of
hillocks, flowering trees &
plants, peacocks, storks,
butterflies, insects and animals.

Sumptuously embroidered Qanat panels are a remarkable

example of Court Embroideries. They are worked on cotton or
silk, padded and embroidered in multicolored silk and couched
in zari.

Zari Embroideries
After the dispersal of craftsmen from the Royal
Karkhanas, they were setup in provincial capitals
by the Nawabs.
The craftsmen brought their skills to these
provincial courts and worked on commission or
for the prosperous towns people.
From the second half of the 18th century to early
20th century, two distinct types of gold
embroideries found ready patrons
The Zardozi & Kalabattu

The ZarDozi
This is a heavy and more elaborate silver gilt
thread work upon a foundation padded with
cotton thread or paper.it also 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 ZarDozi

Kalabutta
Kalabutta work is light delicate
embroidery, in gilt silver or silver
thread, strips of gilt silver
spangles upon fine silk, cotton or
muslin.
Kalabutta work adorned saris,
odhnis, borders, skirts and a
variety of dresses.

Various Zari Embroideries

Danke-ka-kaam is a speciality
in terms of places like
Udaipur. This craft is primarily
distinguished by the use of
small metallic square around
which zardozi is done. The
danka is a small square plate
which is variable in size not
bigger than 1.5cm. Although
danka was originally made in
gold, but nowadays silver

Various Zari Embroideries

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.

Various Zari Embroideries

Gota work:

Gota is
a band of gold or silver ribbon
of that varies with width,
woven in a satin weave. Gota`
and `Kinari` are golden and
silver coloured pieces and
laces those are sewn on the
cloth. The work is done on the
fabric with the appliqu
technique. With hemming or
simple running stitch the gota
is attached in stylish design

regional Embroideries
Applique/ ralli:
For this mill made medium
weight white cotton cloth
forms the base on which
Patches of various tints
,shades ,sizes and shapes are
arranged in a pictorial pattern
later trimmed, slip stitched
,whipped sometimes and
finished with running stitch
and button hole.

regional Embroideries
Applique/ ralli:
The quilts made by
patchwork known as Ralli
are the traditional product of
Rajasthan. The quilt is made
by sewing several layers of
old fabrics ,where the upper
most layer being made of
new cotton cloth. The colors
used for patch work are olive
green, brown, maroon and
black.
The corners are decorated

BEADWORK

This time consuming art seems to have initiated

through contact with the African ports.

Chamba Rumals
The Chamba Rumals are made of fine
cotton or muslin and are embroidered with
silk and sometimes with silver and silver
gilt wire.
The rumals, handkerchiefs, were used on all
festive occasions as a symbol of goodwill
and affection. They were presented as gifts
and were used for wrapping gifts
exchanged at weddings.
Colors are bright and boldorange, red,
black, yellow, ultramarine, purple, pink and
green.
The work was so exquisitely done that it
looked exactly alike on both sides.

Chikankari
Chikan is a traditional embroidery style
from Lucknow, India. Literally
translated, the word means embroidery.
Believed to have been introduced by
Nur Jehan, the wife of Mughal emperor
Jahangir, it is one of Lucknow's best
known textile decoration styles.
Chikankari is a delicate and artfully
done hand embroidery on a variety of
textile fabric like muslin, silk, chiffon,
organza, net etc. White thread is
embroidered on cool, pastel shades of
light muslin and cotton garments.

Sindhi Ajrak
The word Ajrak is derived from
an Arabic word azrak which
means blue. It is a cloth of 2.5
3 meters length, decorated
mostly with rich crimson and a
deep indigo color but a little bit
of white and black is also used
to give definition to the
geometric patterns. It is
commonly used in Sindh as
men use it as a turban and
curled it around the shoulders
while women use it as a shawl.