Phulkari

Phulkari

The rich agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana are famous for the "phulkari" (flower work) shawls that were worn with choli and gaghra . It formed the traditional costme of rural women of this regioin. It was a costume both spectular and eminently practical. Phulkaris were made for every day wear. Usually the border and field of the shawls were not so densly embroidered. Phulkaris were made for family use, or as gifts, very rarely were they made for sale.

Motifs of flowers, birds and human figures were embroidered in soft untwisted silk in combinations of gold, yellow, white, organge or red, on a ground that was usually a brick red color, but could sometimes be black or white. Although designs on phulkaris were often figurative, motifs and scenes from daily life-houses, temples, flowers, animals, wedding rituals and processions were used. Images of vegetables and flowers, wheat and barley stalks, the sun, moon, trees and rivers, mughal gardens, kites and even playing cards were stitched on phulkaris.

the embroidery was worked in silk thread from Kashmir, Afghanistan or Bengal, although the best quality silk was Chinese. the yarn was worked on a coarse handmade cloth known as Khaddar, which was produced in the village by local Jullaha. Three of these pieces would be joined together to form a phulkari. Khaddar was locally available cheap, hard wearing, and more importantly, it was preferred to mill made cloth as its coarse weave facilitated the counting of threads necessary for phulkari work.

The design was embroidered from the reverse side using darning stitches over counted threads. Only one thread was taken up with each pick of the needle, leaving a long stitch below to form the pattern. Stitching ran in both horizontal and vertical directions in order to give a variation in texture. In addition to darning stitch, double running stitch or chain stitch is used to form the outline of figures of birds, animals and humans, which were then filled in with darning and satin stitch. Satin or stem stitch was used on phulkari. Borders and blanket stitch or button hole stitch was used for finishing off the edges.

Effect of Fabric Structure on Fabric Properties

Effect of Woven Fabric Structure on Fabric Properties

1. Tensile Strength: The more the crimp the less the strength. Other things being equal, plain weave fabrics which have the highest crimp have the lowest strength.

2. Extensibility: The more crimp there is in the yarn the more extensible is the fabric, therefor longer the floats, the less extensible is the fabric.

3. Surface Friction: Whether surface is smooth or rough. Long floats produce smooth fabrics with low crimp levels.

4. Tear Strength: In case of tensile loading, all the yarns in the direction of the loading share the load. In tear loading only one, two or at most few yarns share the load. In tight constructions, the movement of the yarn is restricted during loading and yarn will be presented to the load one by one; this results in a low tearing strength. Loose open constructions allow more freedom for the yarns to move and group together, thus presenting bundles of yarns to the tearing load, in consequence the tear strength is high. Designs which have group of yarns woven together such as rib or basket will have hight tear strength.

5. Abrasion Resistance: The most important factors are the crimp levels and the height of the crowns caused by the crimp. The greater the number of crowns/area or the greater the area of each crown, the less will be the stress concentration on the crowns and this leads to a high abrasion resistance. The longer the floats the larger the area of contact between the yarn and the abraidant and the higher the abrasion resistance.

6. Drape: Heavy fabrics from coarse yarns and dense constructions have poor drape characteristics. Fabrics with long floats in the weave permit the yarns to move freely; this reduces the bending and shear resistance of the fabric, leading to a better drape behaviour.

7. Crease Resistance: A plain woven fabric with a high fabric count puts a heavy strain on the fibres and limits the recovery of the fabric. The longer the floats, the higher will be the crease resistance of the fabric.

Bengal Kantha

In the sphere of folk textiles the needlework quilts of Bengal and Bihar form a group of some of the most interesting cloths of the subcontinent. They are known as Kanthas in Bengal and Sujanis in Bihar. In the past they were made for family use or as gifts, out of cast-off saris or dhotis.

Saris and Dhotis in Bihar and Bengal are predominantly white, sometimes with a border in black or red, or blue and red, sometimes with the addition of yellow or green. Three or four sections of Saris or Dhotis are laid on top of each other and then quilted. The simple running stitch used in quilting produces an embroidery-like design whose details are filled with satin and stem stitch. Threads are taken from the colored borders of the saris for thies purpose.

http://handloomsofindia.com/blue-maroon-kantha-embroidered-tussar-silk-saree.html

The conventional pattern of Bengal Kanthas has a lotus medallion in the centre ( symbolising the universe) and four "buttis", or trees, at the corners. The rest of the field is then embroidered wih all manner of motifs: birds, fish, animals and people, with domestic scenes mixed with religious and allegorical figures.

Inspiration for these motifs lies in the 'Alpana' designs which are drawn out on the floor and doorstep in Bengal at festival times.

Kanthas were used eariler as winter quilts covers and wraps for books and valuables, as mats for ceremonial purposes. Kantha making for home consumption in Bengal died out for about the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century due to the usual pressures of industrialisation. The main centres for Kantha amking were in East Bengal, now Bangladesh, where it has now been revived. Here embroidered quilted hangings are made with new cloth to some of the old designs,bestof them expressing some of the lively views of nature of old classics. These new Kanthas are aimed at export and tourist markets.
 

Tie and Dye Ikat textiles

It is a derivation of the Malay word "Mengikat" means 'to tie' or 'to bind'. This technique entails tying and dyeing the warp and weft before weaving. Bundles of threads are meticulously arranged to a prepared design and bound with impermeable yarn or rubber band so that as the yarn is dyed with a range of color, the areas protected from each dye are resisted. Within the subcontinent the clothes produced by this yarn resist work are called tie-and-dye, bandha, patola, chitka and telia rumal.

Fibres Used: Cotton and Silk

Motifs used: The motif used in any traditional Ikat designs may include lotus flowers, creeping vine (lata, geese, deer, elephant), conch shell or fish. In traditional Orissan style, the end piece may contain, in dozens of Ikat patterned bands of different sizes with various levels of patterning complexities ranging from elephants and lions standing by trees to simple triables and dashes. Motifs of Andhrapradesh Ikat sarees are modern, abstrat, modernist and geometric.

Technique: IN orissa very thin yarn is used, which helps in achieveing fine, detailed and curvilinear patterns. Orissan Ikats are woven on counterbalance flyshuttles treadle looms, the structure resting on the ground over the edge of the weavers' pit. The shedding mechanism hangs from the ceiling and the warps to be wound on to a cloth beam or run over a beam and tied in the roof space out of the way. In AP the warps are tied ready, for dyeing at their full length whereas the weft are tied in groups on a frame fanning out to from the segment of a circle from a central peg. Only  two or three threads are used from a cluster on a rectangle.

Places: Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh.