At our Embroiderers Guild meeting we usually had a speaker at each meeting on a wide variety of textile topics. Since the demise of the guild set-up and the loss of our funds we have started having mini workshops at meetings run by members, I like it just as much if not more, we get to try out lots of different techniques such as Brazilian embroidery (November) and Kamal Kadai embroidery as we did in December.
Kamal Kadai means lotus embroidery in Urdu and Hindi languages (guess whose just googled it!) It’s a form of simple embroidery which is often used to embellish traditional Indian garments such as sari’s. We were taught a design which looks like a poinsetta, very festive.
We were given half a large cotton ball to work on so afterwards it would be a useful pincushion. I didn’t realise until half way through the morning that these are actually dryer balls, bought very cheaply and cut in half! Ingenious idea!! I came home with a spare one too!
The basic stitch is a form of needle weaving, we used perle thread so it was a decent weight and had a nice sheen to it. The difficulty was trying to get the poinsetta central (failed!) and stitching the supporting threads evenly and long enough (not bad for a first attempt!) I think it might have been easier to mark the main points with pins before hand to get an even shape, but even nature isn’t perfectly symmetrical! I didn’t take any progress photos I’m afraid, so just two finished views.
I was pretty pleased with my poinsetta. I decided to embroider a border with feather stitch and added a few red beads too. With the border stitched round the edge my poinsetta looked very off centre so I tied a red ribbon bow to fill the gap.
I was trying to decide how to finish it, others have put them in bowls or on a small dish. My bottom wasn’t flat enough, so someone suggested a felting needle on the back would compact it down again. This will have to be done at a later date as I haven’t got a felting needle. I then had a bit of a brainwave…I have a 3″ embroidery hoop left from a course I did, with a bit of encouragement it just nicely frames the pincushion. Once I get the bottom levelled I’ll make it a bit more secure with some glue and a card on the back.
This month we’re doing crazy patchwork, so I’ve some prepping to do.
thecraftycreek 
My embroidery group, also formerly known as an EG branch, has adopted in-house workshops for the same reason, and everyone is very enthusiastic about the change. There’s so much more involvement. We also managed to get some extra funding from our village magazine (operating under the umbrella of our community development company), which will go towards (we hope) two outside tutor-led workshops. Must keep Kamal Kadai in mind — yours looks wonderful. Very “crafty creek”.
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I’m really enjoying these mini workshops, it’s like a taster session in different techniques and styles. Next month it’s inktense pencils which I’m really looking forward to as I have a box hardly used!
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This is a gorgeous design and you’ve stitched it beautifully. I rather like the bow that you’ve added to ‘balance’ the design … in my opinion, it adds to its beauty. Until your post today, I hadn’t heard of Kamal Kadai embroidery; now, I’m going to investigate further. I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts and thank you for taking the time to blog.
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Thank you, I hadn’t heard of it before either.
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Your piece is wonderful, Margaret! And thanks to such good close-ups, I can see the stitches… looks very intricate!
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It’s not as intricate as it looks, just weaving between straight stitches.
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Thank you! For your next project, do have your camera ready as this sounds like an interesting technique. Does it take loads of time? (Probably a silly question, as you were learning & probably being quite careful.)
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Looks beautiful, Margaret! 🙂
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I think this looks very nice and that workshop definitely sounds like fun. I’m glad I have you blog ladies to keep me company in my hobby as there aren’t people in my area interested in this.
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The mini workshops really seem to be working out well!
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I hadn’t expected to see ‘our’ Kamal Kasheeda on your blog. A very pretty effect! This stitch used to be my daughter’s signature stitch, on every hanky made for her grandma , so I have fond memories of watching the young head bent lovingly stitching away.
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Thanks for your lovely comment, I like trying different stitches and styles from around the world, every area has it’s own unique twist on embroidery.
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Very true. There is another beautiful stitch called Kutch work/ Sindhi kadhai. If you haven’t come across it, do Google.
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Really beautiful and you would never believe it start as a dryer ball!
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well I had to google “dryer ball” lol because I didn’t have a clue what they were (and don’t have a tumble dryer). Such a clever base for an embroidery!!!
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It looks good enough to eat!
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What a good idea!!
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