Arteries – Embroideries of the World: Kantha

Happy “Spring Can’t Be Far Around the Corner”, Fibristas and Fibristos!  As a follow-up to “Hippie Embroidery”, I thought we’d have an introduction to some ethnic embroidery forms used around the world.

Some of you may be familiar with the “Slow Cloth” aesthetic, which encompasses fine craftsmanship, a reverence for the natural properties of the cloth and the process, sustainable practices, the sharing of applicable knowledge in tradition and innovation and the mentoring of these qualities. As this valuable approach to all crafts grows, many are discovering there is a world of possibilities in global history and cultures. India in particular has a rich treasure trove of design and technique, so we will focus this time on one from there: Kantha.

Kantha is the original thrift craft of embroidery and quilting, and has become a major component of the *hand worked aspect in Slow Cloth textiles, but really it’s a basic sewing, embroidery and quilting stitch that has been used everywhere from time immemorial. Practiced for centuries by the rural artists of India, it epitomizes recycling and repurposing . Poverty and necessity dictated that any usable piece of fabric had to be used over and over, superstition adding that old cloth is believed to possess magic, repelling the evil eye, keeping its user safe. Threads were often in short supply too so they were drawn from the same cloth and used to stitch two or three layers together.  A simple running stitch makes up Kantha, but true Kantha in the form of religious, domestic and ceremonial items, is created by using that stitch in simple motifs. Combinations of those patterned motifs create vignettes of daily folk life indigenous to the area, or are from the imagination of the woman working the cloth.

Above, you can see that the outlines were made with the running stitch, then filled in again with just a running stitch. Below, variations in stitch type fill in some areas.

There are many border patterns that could be combined as well. And don’t think of them as “just” embroidery or as “just” quilting , fuse them, as many of us now do. Running stitch doesn’t have to go in straight lines: try circles, shapes and specific objects as well.

Try different weights, types and colourways of threads, try threads that aren’t “traditional”. Find an old sketch you have done and try this technique, simple but effective to develop further works.

Great examples of contemporary usage can be seen onsite at these blogs: Jude Hill, Deb Lacativa, Gerdiaries, Judy Martin, and my own. Historical references can be found here at Wikipedia with many images on line elsewhere (just google “kantha” in the images setting.)

*Slow Cloth can also be done by or combined with machine work, can be woven, knitted, dyed, etc. It is not just a hand technique or just an embroidered or quilted piece, but a sensibility. For more info on Slow Cloth, visit Elaine Lipson’s Red Thread Studio.

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Arlee Barr is a Canadian artist, working primarily with textiles. She describes herself as “curious, eccentric and just a little opinionated“. Surrealist in thought, Fauvist at heart, Arlee likes the eclectic, explorative and absurd. Sprinkled around the interwebs, she can be found hanging around her fantastic blog.

Tagged as: Arteries, Hand Embroidery