Phulkari originally
used to be done on handspun cotton or khaddar with silk threads that were
hand-dyed with vegetables. However, modern Phulkari technique is used on
cotton, chiffon, georgette and silk as well. Malwa, the south eastern region of
Punjab, and Haryana are the main hubs of Phulkari embroidery.
Bathinda, Patiala, Rajpura, Zirkpur, Bahadurgarh and Tripuri are some of the others where the technique is practiced.While Phulkaris are increasingly getting in demand, the wages of artists, per piece, ranges from mere Rs.500 to 3000, depending on the complexity of the embroidery and the artist's experience.
Bathinda, Patiala, Rajpura, Zirkpur, Bahadurgarh and Tripuri are some of the others where the technique is practiced.While Phulkaris are increasingly getting in demand, the wages of artists, per piece, ranges from mere Rs.500 to 3000, depending on the complexity of the embroidery and the artist's experience.
Phulkari derives its richness from the use of darn stitch in
different directions (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal). Unlike others,
embroidery on Phulkari was done from the wrong side of the khaddar with a floss
silk thread called pat.
KHADAR
PAT
Darning stitch was the most commonly used technique to make Phulkari and
the quality of a piece could be measured according to size of the stitch. The
smaller the stitch, the finest was the piece.
Only a single strand was used at a time, where each part was worked in one colour. What was more interesting was that the shading and variation were not done by using various colours instead; one colour thread was used in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitch which resulted in giving an illusion of more than one shade when light fell on it or when viewed from different angles.
Earlier the patterns to be embroidered were not drawn on the fabric beforehand; the embroiderer with utter care would count each thread of the khaddar to build her designs. This was because even a shift of one thread in the counting would have a visible impact on the final result.
As it was easier to count the threads of a light coloured khaddar than of a dark one, it happened that sometimes the fabric was dyed only after the embroidery work was achieved.
In order to create an unusual design or to border the khaddar, some other stitches like the herringbone stitch, running stitch, Holbein stitch or button hole stitch were occasionally used. Nowadays even French knot work, Stem stitch, Mirror work and as many as 12+ other embroideries are passed off as Phulkari.
Only a single strand was used at a time, where each part was worked in one colour. What was more interesting was that the shading and variation were not done by using various colours instead; one colour thread was used in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal stitch which resulted in giving an illusion of more than one shade when light fell on it or when viewed from different angles.
Earlier the patterns to be embroidered were not drawn on the fabric beforehand; the embroiderer with utter care would count each thread of the khaddar to build her designs. This was because even a shift of one thread in the counting would have a visible impact on the final result.
As it was easier to count the threads of a light coloured khaddar than of a dark one, it happened that sometimes the fabric was dyed only after the embroidery work was achieved.
In order to create an unusual design or to border the khaddar, some other stitches like the herringbone stitch, running stitch, Holbein stitch or button hole stitch were occasionally used. Nowadays even French knot work, Stem stitch, Mirror work and as many as 12+ other embroideries are passed off as Phulkari.
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