Of late,I've been trying to get myself better acquainted with the Indian embroidery techniques-Kamal Kadai is one of them. This style of embroidery is native to the state of AndhraPradesh in India.
A few months back,a friend of mine was embroidering her sari using this method. I learnt the basics from her,but did not practice on cloth.Yesterday,I finally had the inclination to attempt it.Here's the step by step :
Draw the picture of the flower.Note the way the flower is drawn.This style is the speciality of Kamal kadai.The petals in this case has two levels.You can increase the number of levels if needed.
To form the base of the embroidery,straight stitch the petals as shown above.
Start from the bottom corner of a petal and weave the thread through the foundation lines-over,under,over ,under and so on without picking the fabric.Use a tapestry needle .(I was too lazy to change into one :)) ) And make sure the thread is long enough to cover a single petal.
Here's the partly weaved petal. Each line should be woven close to the previous one.
...and the completed one.After covering the foundation lines completely,take the needle down to the other side.Fasten off and start with the next petal.
Finally,the picture you've been waiting for...
I've used french knots for the center and stem stitch for the leaves (again too lazy) and the stem.
That's about it for now.
Love,Luck and Sunshine,
Deepa
13 comments:
Good pattern and Idea, Deepa!
are you on Sttichin fingers?
Kind regards
from Anne
France
http://quilt007.free.fr
Deepa thank you for showing your lovely flower and how it is stitched. I am fascinated by embroideries from other regions and cultures. I know that there are a great many different types of embroidery from India and Kamal kadai is one that I have not seen before.
CA
This is absolutely beautiful, very effective
That really looks pretty! I've never heard of this technique before. Thanks for showing us how you did it, Deepa. I'd like to try it some time.
Found you through stitchin fingers, think these flowers are lovely.
thanks for showing this, must try it out asap :-) going over to check out your page on stitchin fingers
hi,great job,of explaining it so nicely.I have question about its pronunciation in the Indian Languages.Does the word 'KADAI' have a long sound in it,if so where.I knew of it as Navarr work,navar being the name of the thread or the place it is manufactured.I came across my friends from Andhra doing it.
Hi Deepa,
Thank you very much for fulfilling my quest for learning this work. It is so easy after having gone through the pictorial steps.
Can you provide me some tips on how many strands of threads have to be used? And any other tips that produce neat work.
Referring to Sita's comments, I think Kadai work might be called Navar work because it is similar to the way they do on the cots. They have a long flat rope and the winding around the cot is done in the same way as it is done in Kadai Work.
Thank you,Sushma.
As for the thread for Kamal kadai, you need to buy the kadai thread you get in market or use anchor pearl cotton. You should not split the threads.
Take your time and weave slowly.Neither too tight nor too loose.
Hope this helps,
Deepa
Good for people to know.
Hi Deepa,
very beautiful indeed , i have a doubt , after weaving each line does it need to be ended by fastening the fabric .
Roshini
Hi Roshini,
Thanks!!
No, you needn't go under the fabric for each line.You just have to turn around and weave.
You need to pierce the fabric only twice - once for coming up and second time for going down at the end of the petal.
Deepa
Deepa, very well explained tutorial...thank you for sharing
Post a Comment