As has happened to many forms of embroidery, Phulkari embroidery handmade in the Punjab and the northern areas of India was slowly being replaced by machine-made embroidery. That was until a group of women got together to revive it. The group are now promoting it, supporting themselves and their families, and encouraging the younger generation to value it too.
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| Phulkari motifs. Photo courtesy: Strand of Silk |
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| Phulkari embroidery. Photo courtesy: Wikipedia |
There's a short BBC video about this extraordinarily labour intensive embroidery here. The video clearly shows the technique, and how it is stitched.
It's interesting that shape of the 8-petalled lotus flower used in Phulkari appears in many other forms of embroidery, such as canvas work, pulled thread or Schwalm. It can be purely decorative or represent either a flower or an 8-pointed star. Here it is on my canvas work bookmark stitched with a one of Penny Cornell's variegated threads.
Thank you for this informative post. I’ll check out the video.
ReplyDeleteThis is so pretty! Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment Pamela.
DeleteI have just learned a canvas stitch - Canvas Stem Stitch - that resembles the Phulkari motifs in the first picture. Yes, it is really fascinating how the same pattern can be found in so many corners of the world under so many different names. We are all connected in stitches, aren't we?
ReplyDeleteCanvas stem stitch sounds interesting though I can't picture what it looks like. You come up with the most unusual stitches and with good photos of the stitched examples.
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