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FASHION DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY - CITS

• Abhla Bharat: The embroidery style is defined by the use of mirror work along with other embroidery
stitches to create designs on fabric.
• Moti Bharat: The craft is characterized by the use of white and colored beads that are connected with
thread to develop colorful motifs on a white background of beads.
• Kachcho Bharat: The embroidery uses interlace stitch called Sindhi taropa. The motifs aremainly
geometrical comprising of squares, hexagons and lozenges.
• End Use: A range of embroidered articles are produced in various regions of Gujarat. Some examples are
quilts, doorway hangings, pouches, bags, ghagra, choli, wedding costumes, animal trappings etc.

5 Parsi Embroidery
• Region: As the name suggests, the Parsi embroidery is practiced by the Parsi community living in Mumbai.
They are believed to be descendants of Persian Zoroastrians, who migrated to India around the 8th
century. The Parsi embroidery is an interesting mix of eastern and western cultures, imbibing from Persian,
Chinese, Indian and European influences.
• Technique: The base material for Parsi embroidery is silk fabric in bright red, purple, blue, magenta and
black color. The embroidery is done with silk threads in light pastel colors like off white, pink and cream.
The basic stitch used in Parsi embroidery is satin stitch and its variations to fill-in motifs. Besides the satin
stitch, French knots are used that imparts texture to the fabric, resembling small beads fixed on the fabric.
• Motifs: The motifs are derived from Persian, Chinese, Indian and European cultures. The range of motifs
from nature includes flowers like chrysanthemum, peony, lily and lotus; foliage like cherry, weeping willow
and pine; birds like crane and peacock, and butterflies. Other important motifs are inspired from Chinese
architecture and portrayal of Chinese human figures and scenes from daily life.(Fig 5)
Fig 5

• Style of Embroidery: The Parsi gara is an embroidered sari that has heavily embellished borders on all
its four sides.
• End Use: The Parsi embroidery is done on garas (sari) and jhablas. A time consuming embroidery, the
richly embroidered Parsi garas are regarded as heirlooms. Though the embroidery is becoming extinct,
attempts are being made to revive the craft and produce fast selling products like scarves, bags and other
accessories.
6 Chikankari
• Region: Chikankari is white work embroidery practiced in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that Nur
Jahan, wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir embroidered a cap for her husband, and hence popularized this
craft of white on white embroidery.
• Technique: The embroidery is done on fine white cotton fabric with untwisted white cotton or silk thread.
There are three types of stitches used in chikankari: flat stitches like stem stitch and herringbone stitch,
raised stitches like bullion and French knots and pulled thread work or jali.

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CITS : Apparel - Fashion Design & Technology - Lesson 2