Women Add a Special Touch to the Jutti
With skillful threadwork, craftswomen of Patiala create the defining features of the basic jutti
Dastkari Haat Samiti
Dastkari Haat Samiti
The craft of making juttis, the leather footwear from north India, was traditionally home based. And like in many such crafts, the entire family was involved with the process. Roles of men and women were clearly defined; with the men being responsible for shoe making, and the women for its decoration.
Commercialisation and changes in the nature of production have altered this system. In many jutti producing areas of Punjab – such as Patiala, Fazilka, Abohar and Muktasar – production is now shifting to small workshops. Artisans are increasingly getting specialised, one individual looking after a single part of the process. However, even in this new system, the work of adorning the jutti is that of the woman artisan.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-23)Dastkari Haat Samiti
So while jutti making shifted to workshops, the hand work of embroidery and other embellishment was still outsourced to women.
Preferring to work in their familiar social environment, the women take their work home.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
All the womenfolk in the house participate in the activity. This brings in supplementary income that helps support the family.
Adding the defining features
The basic form of the jutti of Punjab is similar across different production clusters. Over time, different areas developed their individual design speciality. This was at the level of the ornamentation and decoration. For example, Patiala and Fazilka were associated with tilla or metallic thread embroidery, Muktsar for check designs and so on. This defining feature was created by the women.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
A craftswoman sitting in her courtyard, making embroidery designs on shoe uppers. It is a common sight to see the women working with the aid of a long staff or stick, as seen in the picture.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Embroidery is done mainly on the front piece of the upper, using a hook tipped awl called katani. The stick seen in the picture helps to hold the piece in place.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-23)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Piping being attached to a hand embroidered, beaded upper.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
A woman working on an embroidered shoe upper embellished with mirrors.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Here, she is seen stitching on the piping. Traditionally this was made of soft goat or sheep skin. Nowadays artificial leather called rexine is commonly used.
Patiala Jutti: Making of Patiala Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Nowadays, much of the production of juttis has adopted lower priced mechanised inputs, thus effectively increasing the customer base of the industry.
Machine embroidered uppers are more commonly used than the beautiful and laborious hand embroidered versions.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Yet even now, there are some aspects like adding a touch of metallic thread to the design, or the stitching of the piping, that need hand work. These are the functions that women continue to perform.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
For a machine embroidered upper, the women’s handwork is restricted to making fine hand embroidered borders in metallic thread.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-22)Dastkari Haat Samiti
The mass market for handmade juttis now mostly uses artificial leather which goes by the name of Taiwanese sheet. Often, this comes with machine embroidered or printed designs. Seen here, is a jutti of Taiwanese sheet, where the element of hand painting is added to a machine stitched design.
Craft as a social activity
Women’s role in the production process remains based out of their homes. This is not just the convenience of a common workspace, it is rooted in the very nature of most women’s craft: a shared and interactive social activity.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-23)Dastkari Haat Samiti
The craft is as much a social activity as an economic one. News and stories are swapped as the hands work on industriously.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-23)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Women gather to embroider and stitch in a common courtyard after finishing their household chores.
Patiala Jutti: Women embellish Jutti (2018-02-23)Dastkari Haat Samiti
A woman hand stitches the piping on an upper for a jutti, as her grandson looks on. Women’s work in the craft takes place in the midst of their family and household responsibilities.
Patiala Jutti (2018-02-21)Dastkari Haat Samiti
Read more about Patiala's Jutti making tradition here:
- Makers of the Famed Patiala Jutti
- The Making of the Patiala Jutti
Text: Rashmi Sacher
Photography: Subinoy Das
Artisans: Sachin Kumar, Sonu Kumar, Satinder Singh, Omkar Dhaliya
Ground Facilitator: Satyender Singh, Rashmi Sacher, Subinoy Das
Curation: Aradhana Nagpal
