Chikankari Mul Chanderi Dress Material Ivory Floral Yoke

An unstitched two piece chikankari dress material from Lucknow in soft ivory fine cotton kurta fabric with a tonal hand embroidered yoke of diamond lattice studded with small floral rings scalloped floral columns framing the placket and larger flowering sprays gathering at the hem The set includes matching bottom fabric and a sheer dupatta with gold tissue edges light tonal butis and hand knotted tassels The tell on this piece is the grain of the knots Look closely at the floral rings inside the lattice their centres are built from murri and phanda tiny rice and millet shaped knots tied one at a time so each ring carries a slightly different cluster raised enough to feel under a fingertip Machine embroidery cannot knot it imitates the look with flat satin fill that reads smooth and identical flower after flower Trace the lattice itself and you will see the diamonds breathe a little in size as the panel widens the natural drift of counted handwork and the reverse may still show faint washable print lines the embroiderer followed Chikankari is Lucknow s two century old home craft worked needle first by generations of women who each master a handful of its dozens of stitches The knotted work on a yoke like this is among the slowest of them a few square inches can hold an evening s labour Tailor the ivory set into an A line kurta or a straight cut suit it sits beautifully at daytime functions summer workdays and festive mornings alike with gold hoops and the zari edged dupatta carrying the occasion