CHAIN STITCHING
Chain stitch is done with a hook in long flowing designs. The embroidery is done all over a Hessian or handwoven cloth base and is locally known as “Jalakdozi”. Chain stitch rugs are the speciality of Kashmir. These rugs are made on “hessian cloth” or hand made cotton cloth, in continued stitch with superior woolen or silken yarn, with the help of a hook-type tool natively called “Aari”. The designs range from floral patterns to animal and human forms traced by a designer, while the craftsman embroiders in two-ply or three ply woollen/silken yarn. The rug looks like a carpet in which the pile is substituted by the texture. Chain stitch rugs are used both as floor covering and wall hanging.
All the embroidery is executed on white cotton fabric, pre-shrunk by the manufacturers. The intrinsic worth of each piece lies in the sizes of the stitches and the yarn used. Tiny stitches are used to cover the entire area – the figures or motifs are worked in striking colours; the background in a single colour made up of a series of coin-sized concentric circles which impart dynamism and a sense of movement to the design. Stitches ought to be small, even-sized and neat. The background fabric should not be visible through the stitches.
