Chain Stitch

Gujarati and Rajasthani embroidery uses chain stitch effectively in their work.  They use it to outline patterns and also as filling stitches.  Here is my take on chain stitching.

My first work

I have been working with fabric and thread on and off for nearly 15 years. I have started with wall art inspired by embroidery from Gujarat and Rajasthan. When Sindh became part of Pakistan, many tribes from there settled in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Many of the stitches like buttonhole, darning, chain stitch and interlace comes from Sindh. But these women gave new meaning and design to their threadwork. Kathi was the oldest traditional form of embroidery. This form is linked to our many gods and demons, and our animals like tiger, cobra, elephants and monkeys. There are floral and geometrical motifs too.

Among these women there is a tradition of giving and making embroidered clothes and utility stuff as dowry. Girls learn very young to embroider and this skill is transferred from mother to daughter. The beauty and the skill is beyond compare. The colours, and designs, the range and variety leaves me spell bound. The names Aari, Rabari, Ahir and Banni, which are styles of needlework, evoke such awe in me. These women had such hard lives, living in deserts. And yet they create such beauty.

I tried to make some of these. They were nice, but nothing compared to what these women make.