Kantha Embroidery - Kolkata
Firstly, the artisan draws an intended design over a chosen cloth using a pen. At times, designs are also traced out using carbon paper and tracing paper. Then they proceed to stitch outlines before filling up the design area with running stitches. Here the space between the adjacent line of stitches is kept as minimalist as possible, giving the work a professional and elegant look. For the running stitches, two strands of thread are tied with a knot at one end and then used for stitching. The needle loaded with the thread is raised from below the fabric and taken down instantly after leaving a small gap between the stitches. This method is repeated until the outline is fully done. The interiors of this design are also stitched in the same pattern until the whole illustration is filled. The main advantage of running stitch other than the beauty it provides is that the stitch looks the same at the back end as well as on the front.
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