Chikankari Mul Chanderi Dress Material White Pink Floral

A unstitched dress material in crisp white hand embroidered in the heritage white thread craft of Lucknow and here picked out in warm rose pink A dense panel of flowers leaves and fine net work runs the length of the neckline placket and paisley and flower butis trail across the lower kameez The matching white dupatta carries scattered pink butis a woven golden and green stripe at each end and soft 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 are stitched in bakhiya or shadow work sewn from the reverse so the pink thread glows softly under the sheer cotton rather than sitting on top like a print Flower centres are built from murri tiny raised rice grain 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 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 Light and feminine this set carries from a workday to a daytime celebration with ease Have it stitched as a straight or A line kameez pair it with the pink flecked dupatta and finish with pearls or oxidised silver to keep the focus on the handwork