"Here are patches,
Felled edges,
Darned threads,
Strengthening old utility,
Pending the coming of the new.
Yes, I have been mending …
But also,
I have been enacting
A little travesty on life."
— Hazel Hall
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| Cotton Kantha Saree |
Kantha sarees are embroidered sarees primarily from what was once Bengal; the embroidery was initially a simple running stitch used to prolong the life of fabric by joining various pieces of worn cloth together. In this sort of kantha, the outline of the pattern would generally be embroidered and then filled in with several layers of running stitches.
‘Kantha’, a term whose etymology is uncertain but may be derived from the Sanskrit ‘kontha’ for rags, evolved considerably over the years deriving inspiration from a variety of sources though. It is believed that Kantha imbibed everything from a Mughal aesthetic (as seen in Lehr Kantha which features undulating wave-like patterns) to the English sense of design (which led to Holbein stitches, cross-stitch, and rather a large number of stitches ordinarily seen in Jacobean embroidery being incorporated into Kantha).
While Kantha may still be used to prolong the life of old cloth, it is now also used as a decorative art on new cotton and silk cloth. And although it is still immediately recognisable by its running stitches, there are a large number of other stitches which may be used in conjunction with running stitch.
