This lesson will teach you how to work kasuti on a plain fabric with a traced design. While using this method, the two stitches that can be done easily are Gavanti and Muragi.
Here, you will see an illustration of a simple pattern using a combination of Gavanti and Muragi. This lesson will also demonstrate elaborately on how to deal with the logic of the ‘stitch route’. This will be especially helpful to beginners to embroidery. For the more experienced, they can just breeze through to get an idea.
You need to refer Kasuti lesson 1 before starting with this lesson.
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| Fig 1: Trace out the pattern from the graph paper onto the fabric using a carbon tracing paper or any other tracing medium. | ||
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| Fig 2: In Kasuti, you always return to where you begin from. So, keep the centre of the pattern as the common point and always begin from there.
Start holbein stitch from A (centre of the pattern) and work upwards to B. From B, take a left turn. Take yet another left turn from C. |
Fig 3: Everytime you reach a point with a choice to go either left or right, the trick is to keep finishing all the lines/patterns on the left first and then move to right. This is a simple logic to keep any confusion at rest.
So, start the return journey and when you reach back at C, move to the right side. |
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| Fig 4: Once you finish with the right side and return to the point B, continue the journey upward unitl you reach the last point, D.You will see that the patterns hanging on the left side is finished. | Fig 5: Start the return journey.Just a simple note: diamonds are seen as a split in the main line, and not as a pattern in itself. This is the reason why the diamonds are finished during the return journey. | |
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| Fig 6: Now, we start with the right side of the pattern. Finish up with the diamond, return back downwards. From B, turn to the right. Finish the left part of the hanging pattern first before moving to finishing the right part. | Fig 7: Once you reach back to the point B, continue the return journey downwards till you reach the first diamond. | |
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| Fig 8: Finish up with the diamond. | Fig 9: Return back to the centre, A. Now we begin the next part of the pattern. Work upward, through the point B till the very end. Keep to the left all the way. |
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| Fig 10: Begin your return journey and come back to B. Move to the right side of the pattern, but before going all the way up, you have to finish the little diamond shape lying in between. So, take a diversion to where the little arrow points to. | Fig 11: Take the return journey and follow the little arrow to the right and continue to finish up with the remaining pattern.
Now, instead, you can also finish the little diamond on return journey from the right side. |
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| Fig 12: Continue the return journey downwards. | Fig 13: Finish up with the diamond and return to the centre. Now, continue with the next line of pattern till the entire design is done in the similar way. | |
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Fig 14: The completed kasuti pattern would look like this. | |
Note : This pattern has been borrowed from ‘Traditional Embroideries of India’ by Shailaja D. Naik.
Tags: dharwar, dharwari kashidakari, embroidery tutorial, gavanti, hand embroidery, holbein stitch, karnataka, kasheeda, kasuti, maharashtra, menthe, muragi, neygi, pattern darning
Dear Sarah,
this is very interesting indeed. And beautiful.
I can not believe that I went through Karnataka without seeing this kasuti technique…but this was before my interest in embroidery. I will be back!
Blandina
Dear Blandina,
Thanks. I hope you enjoy trying out Kasuti. It is still in its ‘revival’ stage.
Hi Sarah!
Thanks for the Kasuthi tutorial. Kindly tell me how many strands of Anchor thread to be used for this stitch.
I have a doubt : In some other website I saw people using Net for stitching this stitch. Is that not necessary?
Viji
Dear Viji,
You can use 2 or 3 strands of anchor thread to do this stitch.
Voile net is not necessary, but a good option.
I will be using three different methods to stitch kasuti, each shown in a different lesson. What you see in this page is the tracing method. You can also use voile net to stitch over plain fabric, but that illustration is provided in the subsequent lesson which is yet to be posted.
Dear sarah, Your demonstration of kasuti stitches are very good you remember iwrote from usa that iam 80 and stitch till now Iam back in india and am a neighbour of your friend anceline mathews she showed me you photos too.now iwould like to know if you have published a bookf so i would like to buy it janaki
Dear Janaki Paati,
Of course I remember you. Hope you are feeling fine and settled back in chennai.
Did you really see my pictures? I am not so sure if Anceline Mathews is a direct acquaintance. She could be a friend of my husband’s, but whom I don’t know.
I have not published any book yet. Life is a bit too busy with a 1 year old at the moment. We do have an idea for a book in mind though.
hello i Gulay
Izliyorum.bende you handicrafts from Turkey to continue education in a great interest in traditional crafts etmekteyim.bizde duyuyorum.şuan lessons we learn embroidery, but was very different than what we have learned What you do in your very beautiful site, this beautiful and very nice things to me if öğrendim.izin Library information would be useful to save the istiyorum.eminim olacak.teşekkür very useful. I wish you continued success
Dear Gulay,
Thanks a lot for your appreciation and wishes.
I am delighted if these pages have added value to your interest and knowledge of handicrafts and traditional crafts.
Best wishes.
Hi Sarah,
I browsed through your bolgs posts and they were very good. Can you teach us on ho wto make the beautiful flower rangolis that are laid during Onam.
Regards,
-Sonali.
Hello Sonali,
Thanks.
The flower rangolis of onam…we call it ‘pookalam’…which effectively translates as flower rangolis. I am not much of a master in it myself! You can try simple colorful rangolis and fill them with different colored flowers instead of colored powder.
Hi Sarah
thanks a lot for the kasuti tutorials
I do a bit of embroidery myself and hence i am familiar with kasuti. I am planning to do kasuti on a silk sari.I would like to which thread would be bast for this and how many strands.
Thanking you once again
nandini
Dear Nandini,
Happy to know that you found our lessons good.
If you are working on a silk sari, I would suggest you use silk thread. If you want to use cotton floss, you can take upto 3 strands of threads, depending on how heavy the sari is.
I hope this information helped. Best wishes.
Dear Sarah
thanks for the prompt reply. I would like to know how many strands of silk thread would be best for a new silk sari (the kind of sari you get for doing embroidery)
nandini
Dear Nandini,
Silk threads can come in different weights (thickness). Try using 2 or 3 strands of silk thread. But if you feel the need to increase or decrease the number of strands, feell free to so so.
Also, try to use a thin smooth needle to avoid any damage to the fabric. Make sure the eye of the needle is big enough to accommodate the silk strand easily.
Best wishes.
dear madam
i saw your kasuti stitches .i would like to have some more design as i can prctice it perfectly.can usuggest which site u would prefer so that i can get some more design.i am interested in learning this stitches. and thiking of doing this on saree so befor doing it i have to practice some more design.
thank u
Dear Kasuti (?),
It is nice to know of your interest in this form of embroidery.
I do have a collection of Kasuti designs, but uploading might take some time. Sadly, I don’t know of a website where you might get a collection of designs, but it will be worth if you can do a search over the net.
Dear Sarah,
The tutorial for Kasuthi is very good. i know Kasuti. Can you post some advanced designs. It will be of great help.
Regards,
Sandhya.
Dear Sandhya,
We are happy that you liked the Kasuti tutorials. Have you checked these links for patterns:
http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/hand-embroidery/kasuti/kasuti-patterns-1/
http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/hand-embroidery/kasuti/kasuti-patterns-2/
If you have, then, I will try to upload more patterns as soon as convenience permits.
Wow Sarah!!!!!!!!
U make even the most boring stitiches look amazing……..
U have the gift.
I hated kasuti when I learnt it.
But wow look at the combi and the designing. Its amazing
Hope u keep making world more colourful and keep teaching us too.
I will also copy a few
Rati
Dear Rati,
It is nice to know that after our pages, you have a new found interest for Kasuti. That is what all our website about!
Do share with us some of your Kasuti projects when they are finished. You can upload them along with the comments. Best wishes.
Hi Sarah
I want to know how do you draw the design or pattern on the plain cloth as you have shown above. let me know so that i can do the same. I am slowly starting to get back in this groov. thanks sudha
Dear Sudha,
First, try to make a design on a paper. You can check out the other tutorials in Kasuti (check the panel on right hand side), for designs on kasuti. You can trace these designs using a carbon paper onto the fabric.
Great work Sarah You step by step diagram is of a great help thank you so much for the painstakingly done work.Keep it up!