Aari Embroidery Aari embroidery, executed with cotton floss using miniature awl-like needles, was once the mochi or cobbler embroidery of Saurashtra. Almost extinct there, the technique survives in Kashmir where it began to be used in the early 19th century to embellish shawls. Shawls, for which Kashmir has been renowned for centuries, had become increasingly complex to weave, and expensive to buy, over time. By the end of the 18th century, they had generally begun to be woven in sections due to their complexity, and then joined together with almost invisible stitches by rafugars to cut down on production time. It is believed that an Armenian buying agent for a Constantinople firm, Khwaja Yusuf, who visited Kashmir in 1803, attempted to further reduce both production time and expense by introducing amli or needlework shawls. The male rafugars responsible for joining pieces of woven Kashmir shawls together became embroiderers and, to this day, Kashmiri embroiderers are o...