The Sparkling Embroideries of Kutch

In Kutch, most women use their leisure time to embroider. In the old days, they had no idea of the value of their skills nor any concept of selling what they made.

When repeated droughts hit Kutch in the late 1970s when vegetation dried and animals had no fodder, a government institution working for the development of handicrafts in Gujarat decided to buy embroideries that had been stored as personal property.

Many brilliant varieties of embroideries emerged out of old tin trunks.

Shops like the Qasab outlet selling hand embroidered products in the town of Bhuj in Kutch may not seem so unusual now.

However, it was only in the 1980s that the exquisite embroideries from this unique and isolated region of the country caught the attention of the market.

The journey from an exclusively household craft that was a leisure time activity for women, to a highly valued commercial skill has been a long one, and has involved various travellers.

The lack of access to the region kept market forces away till as late as the 1970s. In the early years, government establishments looking at hand skills and employment were the main contributors of change.

Standardising raw material, production and stocks were new concepts.

Groups and individuals based in the area also began to organise the women.

Each ethnic group in the region had its own distinct style of embroidery with its identifiable motifs and products. .

There had never been a need for a formal system requiring uniformity or the ability to replicate designs.

Not just the skills, but also the very ideas, had to be communicated to the women.

Qasab is a group that works with many groups of women. They train them in sorting cloth, thread and designs, storage, design tracing, assessing quality, so that they can handle production for sale.

A system had to be devised to trace replicable designs for women to embroider.

The women retained the function of design creation, and were taught to visualise their designs with a pencil or chalk.

These were then transferred onto graph paper, which enabled its scaling and standardising.

The next stage was the preparation of a trace that was stencilled using a needle.

Using this, the design could be transferred onto fabric using a non-permanent medium such as Zinc oxide.

Some women were able to visualise complex embroidery layouts that they could work out directly on graphs. Others took responsibility for quality in production.

Women from the villages become supervisors distributing raw materials and ensuring quality.

They become familiar with colours and designs preferred by foreign and urban clientele, and even in selling from their own locally situated outlets where they can meet their customers.

Various forms of organisation have been adopted by groups working with women artisans in Kutch.

Qasab elected to be registered as a producer company, with women artisans as primary members and co-owners.

Given the exposure and opportunity, many women without any prior training or experience of this nature, blossomed into designers and production managers.

They have been trained in designing, sampling and supervising production, and devise their own methods and solutions.

Women from the villages become supervisors distributing raw materials and ensuring quality.

They become familiar with colours and designs preferred by foreign and urban clientele, and even in selling from their own locally situated outlets where they can meet their customers.

In order for the system to work, it is essential that it fits in with the women’s lifestyles.

They continue to work from their homes, in the spare time they get from their household responsibilities.

There is no formal work space. They tend to sit together and embroider, much as they did for themselves before they started to embroider for the market.

Women became equal earners in the household, and received heightened respect within their families.

In later times of drought, they became the sole income earners for their households as well.

A revolution took place in which women, while quietly continuing with their familiar work of bringing needle, thread and cloth together, found that their status in society had enhanced considerably.

Kutch embroidery has come a long way since the late ‘70s. From 2 families in one village, commercial production is now done in scores of villages.

Organised commerce has enhanced rather than diminished women’s pride in their own cultural history.

Read more about Kutch embroidery here:

-Embroidery as Identity: Meghwals and Ahirs of Kutch

-Galleries of Embroideries