CHIKANKARI EMBROIDERY HISTORY 

Traditional Chikankari Embroidery at a NYC based company. The historical city of Lucknow with its detailed architecture is synonymous with Chikankari embroidery. In 1775, Lucknow had become the capital of the city of Oudh. It at once began to attract craftsmen, artists and musicians, who were patronized by the Mughal court.

The stitches of  white on white patterns such as paisleys and florals adorn the surface of the fabric . The use of untwisted cotton or silk threads was common. Some stitches start from the front of the fabric, others from the back. There are six basic stitches, which form a large repertoire of stitches as a combination of each other for embossing flowers and leaves.

Pulled work (known in chikan work by the Hindi word Jali, which means ‘a window with a pierced lattice, which can be looked out of but not into’)

Applique work(an applique-and-cut technique. One piece of fabric is hemmed onto another piece of fabric and the extra fabric is cut away)

 EMBROIDERY INSPIRATION

Back in the days, the cotton was suitable to chikankakari embroidery due to the warm, slightly humid climate

MARASIM CHIKANKARI EMBROIDERY LIBRARY