Chikankari

Chikankari is the world's gentlest embroidery. White cotton or muslin, white thread, six different stitches — bakhiya, hool, ghaas patti, jaali, keel kangan, phanda — each catching the light differently. The result reads as texture, not decoration.

It is, almost entirely, women's work. The craft has been practised by the women of Lucknow for over four centuries, traditionally in their own homes, in the hours between household labour. The masters work without a frame, the fabric loose on their lap, the pattern memorised.

A finely chikankari'd anarkali is the work of four to six weeks. The reverse of the fabric should be as finished as the front — that's how you know it's hand-worked, not machine-imitated.