Chikankari Mul Chanderi Dress Material Ivory Navy Leaf Yoke

This unstitched two piece dress material brings hand embroidery to a sheer Mul Chanderi cotton base a featherweight cloth of about 105 GSM The ivory ground is embroidered in deep navy black thread a tall column of leaf and stem motifs runs down the kurta yoke framed by a fine cross stitch border while soft grey shadow flowers scatter across the body and the matching dupatta The dupatta is finished with delicate pin tucked stripes along its length Chikankari is a family of hand stitches and you can read the handwork up close The grey flowers are bakhiya or shadow work the thread is laid on the reverse of the sheer fabric so the colour glows softly through the cloth rather than sitting on top of it turn the panel over and you will see the herringbone filling on the back The leaf columns use tepchi running stitches with tiny murri knots for the buds A powerloom print by contrast lays the motif flat onto finished cloth so there is no thread relief the back is blank and every repeat is identical Here the spacing of the buti drifts by a few millimetres the signature of a hand that placed each one Chikankari has been worked in the lanes of Lucknow since the Mughal court almost always on airy cottons like this Mul Chanderi so the white work can breathe Each set passes through several hands the block printer who stamps the pattern the embroiderer who fills it by hand and the washerman who soaks away the printed guide lines Stitch it into a straight kurta with the embroidered yoke at the neckline and pair it with the sheer dupatta for summer occasions day weddings and festive lunches The light cotton stays cool in the heat and the restrained navy on ivory palette reads as easily with juttis and silver as with heels