Chikankari Mul Chanderi Dress Material Ivory Royal Blue

A unstitched dress material in soft ivory hand embroidered in the heritage white thread craft of Lucknow and worked here in a two tone of royal blue and grey Blue flowers climb a leafy vine down the neckline placket while a grey net crosshatch fills the spaces between and blue floral butis are scattered across the lower kameez The matching dupatta carries blue butis a woven golden zari stripe at each end and knotted tassels The set arrives as three unstitched pieces kameez fabric plain bottom and dupatta ready to be tailored to your size Look closely and the embroidery tells you it was worked by hand The flowers are stitched in bakhiya or shadow work sewn from the reverse so the blue thread sits softly under the sheer cotton rather than as a hard printed line and the grey crosshatch between them is jaali the karigar teases the weave apart with the needle to form the tiny holes instead of cutting threads Flower centres are built from murri raised rice grain knots tied one at a time Turn the cloth over and you will find thread trails and knots a powerloom print or machine imitation looks flat identical on every repeat and clean on both sides Chikankari has been worked in Lucknow since the Mughal court and was recognised as a Geographical Indication craft of the city in 2008 A piece like this passes through several hands block printer embroiderer washer over many days which is why no two are ever stitched exactly alike Fresh and a little more striking thanks to the blue this set carries from daytime to an evening gathering Have it stitched as a straight or A line kameez pair it with the blue flecked dupatta and finish with silver or pearl jewellery to let the embroidery lead