KUTCH AND KATHIAWAR EMBROIDERY

Introduction
In Gujarat, embroidery seems to have spread to all aspects of life. Kutch in northwestern Gujarat and Saurashtra in western Gujarat has the finest and richest embroidey in a variety of styles.
Places
Bhuj, Mandavi, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar.
Threads and Colors
Cotton and untwisted silk in colors red, green, magenta, white, orange, yellow, often used.Other colors being royal blue, parrot green, purple, maroon, brown, violet, black, sky blue, pink and yelloe are rarely used.
Fabric
Oroginally silk and occassionly satinfabric was used. As silk is expensive, fabrics such as casement, poplin, khadi are used. These fabrics are brought from Bombay, Ahmedabad, Surat and Porbander in colors of red, maroon, yellow, green, orange, navy blue, brown, magenta and black. Today the colors included are sky blue, parrot green, light yellow, white, violet, pink, turquoise, blue and cream.
Stitch
The stitches used are chain, herringbone, mirrors (abhla), cross stitch, satin, running stitch, appliqué work, and moti bharat (bead work).