Journal

Every dot on a real bandhani saree was a knot tied by hand — and a single saree can hold tens of thousands of...

The little cobweb of fine veins running through a batik pattern isn't a flaw — it's the fabric's signature, and it's how you know...

There are two kalamkaris, and they are as different as drawing and stamping. One is painted — drawn entirely freehand with a bamboo pen,...

The mirrors on a good piece of mirror work are held on by thread, not glue — and that single fact separates the real...

An ajrakh saree is printed up to sixteen times before it is finished — and on both sides of the cloth, in perfect register....

Jamdani is called "woven air," and the name is not poetry — it is a description. It is a fine, sheer cotton muslin with...

Cutwork is embroidery that includes the holes. That sounds flippant, but it is the exact definition and the thing that makes it unusual. In...

Turn it over. That is the fastest test there is. A hand block print is made by pressing dye-loaded wooden blocks onto cloth, and...