A modern applique work signifies to a needlework where designs or representative scenes are created by attaching small pieces of clothes to a large piece of bright or contrast colour fabric. Modern applique work is mainly based on three elements such as stitches, strips and patchwork. Whereas chain stitch (chikana) is normally used for applique work but other stitches like hem stitch, running stitch, tag stitch, stem stitch etc., are also used. Different styles of strips (pattti) are used to make applique work such as flower motif (phula patti), plain strip (sadha patti), right-facing cone pattern (nahara patti), wavy strip (gula patti), diamond-shaped strip (khandiyali patti), square strip (chauka patti), swan strip (hansa patti) and clubs strip (chidiya patti) etc. Applique work motifs include trees, creepers, leaves, flowers, birds, animals, fish, celestial bodies and symbols etc. The raw materials are purchased from local market of Puri and some materials are from Kolkata and Bombay through dealers.
Primarily required design is drawn on cloth and patterns or designs are traced by placing the tracing sheet in-between the clothes. The dotted line shows where one piece overlaps the other and other marks signify the position of embroidery stitches for decorative purposes. Before starting the applique work process, the base cloth is cut and prepared for stitching. Then the selected patterns are cut and placed on the base cloth according to the selected theme. Minimum 10 to 12 layers of clothes are tagged to cut the traced patterns. The patterns are tagged blindly, which holds the patterns in position. The hemming stitch is used to stitch patterns on the base cloth, where the edges are turned in and then stitched to get a neat finish. The colour of the thread depends on the fabric colour. Once done with the hemming stitch, artisan starts with the embroidery work for detailing. The lining is stitched at the backside of the base cloth. Finally ironing is done to remove wrinkles and to get a neat finish.
