Chikankari Mul Chanderi Dress Material White Green Floral

A unstitched dress material in white hand embroidered in the heritage white thread craft of Lucknow and worked here in restful sage green A richly filled neckline yoke carries large kalga paisleys and lotus bud motifs over a bed of leaves and fine net while floral butis are scattered across the lower kameez The matching sheer dupatta carries green butis a woven golden zari stripe at each end and knotted tassels The set arrives as unstitched pieces kameez fabric and dupatta ready to be tailored to your size Look closely and the embroidery tells you it was worked by hand The petals and paisleys are stitched in bakhiya or shadow work sewn from the reverse so the green thread sits softly under the sheer cotton rather than as a hard printed outline Raised accents are made with phanda and murri tiny knots tied one at a time and the open trellis fillers are jaali where the karigar teases the weave apart with the needle to form the holes instead of cutting threads Turn the cloth over and you will find thread trails and knots a powerloom print or machine copy 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 Calm and elegant this set is as suited to a summer workday as to a daytime function Have it stitched as a straight or A line kameez pair it with the green flecked dupatta and add oxidised silver or pearls to keep the eye on the handwork