Fustain

Before talking about other art and crafts of India I would love to share one of my projects.

This day’s many designers are working on concept of sustainability.  Sustainability is to sustain. Sustain natural resources and create garments/products which are less harmful to nature as well as humans.

Moodboard

Okay so for my final exam in semester 1 my theme was futurism. I had to create garment on this. Firstly, Futurism was an artistic and social movement which is the most important Italian avant-garde art movement of the 20th century that celebrated advanced technology and urban modernity.

So keeping in mind futurism and sustainability concept in my mind I Created FUSTAIN.Futurism+Sustainability=Fustain.

I made this garment with jute rope which is organic and colored it metallic silver which itself shows it is  futuristic garment.

FInal Garment

Chickankari

Elegance and richness, the white on white embroidery is chickankari. The embroidery done with white thread on white color fabric is also known as shadow work.

 Its origin has several theories but it was invented in Lucknow. It developed quickly during the period when the Mughals ruled and consisted of styles inspired by Persians. Chickankari is though done on the white muslin background, now is done on fine cotton material like voile, cambric, mulmul, chiffon, georgettes, organdy, nets and other similar sheer fabrics.

 Unity in diversity, this is how one may define chickankari while talking about its stitches. Chickankari includes simple variety of stitches such as satin, back, stem, buttonhole and herringbone stitch, giving a clustorious effect which is simple, gentle and subtle.

This simple stitches used in chickankari has some names given to them. They are:

Bukhia : It is nothing but satin stitch, which is done on wrong side of the material and design is delicately outlined with tiny running stitches from the right side. This sort of embroidery gives a transparent effect. The effect of fine muslin background produces a shadow appearance. The simplified bukhia is herring bone stitch. The stitches that cover the back of the cloth are herring bone style gives a shadow effect, from the right side.

Murri: It is knotted style of chikankari; worked on the centre of flowers, giving an embossed effect nothing but French knot. This resembles the rice grain in shape.

Phanda: It is another type of chikan; it resembles millet and gives a raised effect it falls under the knotted style. This is used to fill the petals, leaves, and calyx etc.

Taipachi is a simple running or darning stitch used to fill the straight or curved lines in the floral motifs.

With the help of these stitches motifs employed are mostly flowers, creepers, fruits like mango, almond, birds like peacock, and parrot.

Lucknow has an international market for its renowned Chikankari work. This embroidery is done on sari borders, tiny buttas in the body of the sari, blouses, kurtas, cuffs, jubbas, caps, table cloth, table mats, cushions, curtains and other household linens.

Indian embroideries have their own charm.  If included as design element in an innovative manner , Richness and elegance will be the two words defining the garment. Indian embroideries are precious possession to Indians – the worth preserving art.

Kantha

Kantha, one of my favourite embroidery is rich multi-colure embroidery from West Bengal. This beautiful embroidery is done just by simple running stitches. 

Going back to history of kantha, the oldest kantha date from the early 1800s and is embroidered with blue, black and red threads that were unravelled from sari borders. Kantha have been made using the same technique and the motifs, for centuries. Traditionally it is made of old used cloth, generally a worn out sari. It was also essentially a domestic item, made by poor women for domestic use rather than display.

Going back to history of kantha, the oldest kantha date from the early 1800s and is embroidered with blue, black and red threads that were unravelled from sari borders. Kantha have been made using the same technique and the motifs, for centuries. Traditionally it is made of old used cloth, generally a worn out sari. It was also essentially a domestic item, made by poor women for domestic use rather than display.

Only recently has kantha been “ discovered”, and now considered to be a craft worth preserving and interest has been revived in traditional motifs and colors.

Fabric on which the Kantha is done is usually the old fabric that already underwent various washings. The threads used for embroidery are mainly white, red, green, yellow and black and blues in colour. Cotton threads are usually used for embroidery.

Different motifs like bird, fishes, Kalka, mandala, mythological stories are used. Talking of Kantha motifs, they are deeply influenced by religious belief and culture.

Kantha Motifs

The Running stitches in Kantha are used in six variations. They are

1. Vajra
2. Vanasati
3. Chatia
4. Parallel
5. Woven
6. Trichi

Using this beautiful embroidery various  products are made such as women's suits, sarees, scarves, bags, shirts, quilts, pillow-cases, etc.

Kantha Products

The best part of kantha is running stitch taken in same color thread as fabric color around the motif. It gives amazing appearance to kantha embroidery.

Kasuti

Kasuti is a domestic art and a fine folk embroidery of Karnataka. It is flat embroidery done by counting of threads, eliminating any tracing and similar on both the surfaces. Because of counted thread work, the designs appear to be more geometrical and mechanically accurate.

Materials used for kasuti were mostly khanns used as blouse pieces and Ilkal sarees (9 yards in length with three fourths of a yard as Pallav and borders about six to eight inches with a different color in warp and weft).

      The uniqueness of kasuti lays in its stitches. There are four types of stitches used.They are

   * Gavanti –It is the most commonly used double running stitch also known as    line and back stitch which  works in horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions.

      * Murgi – It is the zigzag running stitch which appears like steps of a ladder.

      *   Negi – It is the ordinary stitch also known as the darning or the weaving stitch

    *  Menthi –It is the ordinary cross stitch. 

    Motifs of kasuti are Gopurs (temple entrances), pushkarinee (temple tanks), Deepmalas (towers of light), Tulsi Vrindavans (stands for sacred plants), Chariots (raths), Palanquins (palkis), the Lotus, the Conch (shankh), the Elephant with Howdah, the sacred bull ‘Nandi’. Equally popular were home objects like the Cradle, Anklet, Bells, Lamps, marriage decorations like the bridegroom’s headgear. The Serpent in a coil, different floral motifs, the usual birds- parrots, peacocks, swans and occasionally animals like the horses, even tigers, lions but never seen were cats and dogs.

Talking about colours used in kasuti it patterns in only one or two colors which is extremely rare and usual color combinations like orange, green and crimson or purple, green, orange and red in bright shades. But blue and yellow are never used together.

The products of kasuti are

•  Kunchi (bonnet and cape combined),  
• Lengha (skirt),
• Sharagu (pallav of a sari), 
• Kusuba (bodice) and
• Kulai (bonnet). 

·        Embroidered sarees were worn by young women on auspicious occasion like weddings or religious festivals.

·        Hand woven khann embroidered in kasuti patterns were auspicious gifts received by the young expectant mother from her mother or mother-in-law.

    

          Images of Kasuti embroidery 

  

Next Kantha from West Bengal.

                                         

                                                            

Indian Traditional Embroideries

Talking about art and craft of India, Indian Embroideries are the one which comes in mind first. The Indian are and craft have become world famous.There is huge demand of Indian embroidered garments.Embroidery in India includes dozens of regional embroidery styles that vary by region. 

Embroidery is the surface ornamentation technique.The art of decorating fabric or other material with threads, wires or leather using a needle may be defined as embroidery. With the advent of refined machines, embroidery is possible by machines also, especially for mass production. But, it is the hand embroidery that continues to fascinate mankind. Traditionally, women have been practicing this art from time immemorial. It is not only use for apparel but it is also widely used to create unique decorative pieces of art.

Before I talk about embroideries of different states in India in detail I would like to mention few basic stitches one should know before learning any Indian embroidery. Yeah this is how i am taught by my teachers.

Few basic stitches are :

Sample of basic stitches

* Running stitch

* Stem stitch

* Chain stitch

* Blanket stitch

* Herring bone stitch

* Lazy Daisy

* Satin stitch

* Back stitch

* Feather stitch

* Bullion stitch

* French knot

* Fly stitch

* Couching

* Cretan stitch

Next I'll be talking about embroideries of India in detail one by one. Till then stayed tuned.

" If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life and found solution, I should point India."
                                                                                                                       - Max Mueller

India has always been the reservoir of talent, be it in the field of art and craft, sciences, literature or any other. The art and craft treasures of India are among the greatest in the world. It is the blend of the sensuous and spiritual and has its origin nearly five thousand years ago. It consist of variety of art forms, including plastic art ( e.g. pottery and sculpture ), visual art ( e.g. cave paintings ) and textile arts. 

Unfortunately, Indian art and craft have been teetering on the edge of extinction for a long time.Being a fashion student i am privileged enough to have opportunity to conserve our rich art and craft through my forthcoming blogs and create cognizance of Indian art and craft.

P.S. Stay tuned.......