Hey friends,I might have been away from posting for a long time.Actually I have been working on a lot of projects together.here is one that I have finished just last week.
Its a embroidery ,kantha embroidery on a blouse piece.For all who are not much aware of this kantha stitch embroidery,here are some facts.
This is Kantha embroidery.West Bengal,a state in eastern India is famous for this craft.The craft has been around for hundreds of years in India and was born out of necessity.It has always been popular amongst rural women who keep the tradition of this special craft alive. This type of embroidery was initially created on old used fabric like old Saree's(Indian dress ).Kantha can be translated as ‘patched cloth’ although in the ancient language of Sanskrit and with a slight spelling variation, Kantha also means ‘rags’. To the people of Bengal, the word is associated with ‘embroidered quilt’ .People often recycled their favorite garments/fabric to make a new quilt to protect them in winter.
Kantha embroidery has a long history and is believed to have arisen with the way Bengali women mended old clothes. They would take out strands of thread from the borders of their colorful sarees and then create simple designs with them. The creations were known by different titles depending on the item they created. These names included Lepkantha and Sujni Kantha. Another simple fact for the development of Kantha embroidery was to be used as a blanket to beat the cold of the winter months in this north-eastern part of India. There are in fact 7 forms of Kantha embroidery in West Bengal.
These days new cloth/fabric is used,Saree's/cushion covers/bed covers/are all done using Kantha embroidery.A running stitch is used creatively to form beautiful patterns on the fabric.Floral motifs,bird/animal motifs are used.Rural women engage in this craft and every day life is depicted in the design. Cloth is layered and held together by the Kantha stitch.Kantha embroidery is a hit with tourists in west Bengal and it truly is a work of art.

So I used the same stitch to adorn a boring single color blouse to an attractive one.I stitched the motifs on the arms.Thread here used are from  anchor cotton threads.