Most of the popular sites define kantha as a "type of embroidery popular in Bangladesh and West Bengal" and that it is "generally practiced by rural women", neither of which is correct.
Kantha originated primarily as a baby craft and not all women who made them were rural.
Traditionally, kantha is a quilt made of soft cloth, usually old saris or dhotis, comprising several layers, meant for babies. Old cloth was used mainly because, having been washed many, many times already, it would feel very soft to the tender skin of babies.
Quilting was done by sewing several layers of cloth together. The main stitch used for this was the simple running stitch (now better known as the kantha stitch) which virtually anyone could manage to do. Kanthas were embroidered with simple designs and the running stitch was used for doing this too. Sometimes other stitches — the herring-bone, feather stitch, satin stitch, etc — were also used as part of the embroidery.
The popularity of the soft baby coverlet sometimes prompted women to make full-length quilts as well, which were used by the elderly people at home. These often had really elaborate embroidery all over and were called 'nakshi kantha' or a 'kantha with patterns'.
Some of them were rather like the decorative sashiko quilting you find in Japan. Although nakshi kanthas were made in all parts of Bangladesh, Mymensingh, Rajsahi, Faridpur and Jessore were particularly famous for the special craft.
An interesting anecdote states that the disciples of Buddha used to protect themselves from the cold weather by stitching rags together like kanthas. Poor people who could not afford anything but rags also stitched them up similarly.
Original 'kanthas'
Most women wore cotton handloom saris in those days which had pretty borders. These were used for making colourful borders for quilts and giving them added strength to withstand frequent washing. Sometimes colourful motifs were also cut out from the border and stitched into the main quilt like appliqué work.
Since most women wore red or black-bordered white saris in those days, the early kanthas mostly had a white background and the embroidery was done in black and red. Gradually, as saris of different colours became more popular, other colours — yellow, green, pink and blue — came to be used for the background, border as well as the embroidery.
I still remember my grandmother storing rolls and rolls of pretty borders for making kanthas later on. I also remember her pulling out strands of coloured threads from the borders carefully, which she kept in separate batches and used later for embroidering the kantha.
It was a common practice and most people did this rather than use new thread from the market. The main reason was, having been part of the sari used for the kantha, the colours matched the embroidery perfectly. Also, the colours had already been proved to be fast so there was no chance of their running out and spoiling the design.
Family activity
In olden days, whenever the advent of a baby was announced, the entire womenfolk in the family got busy making kanthas for the new arrival. I still remember with what gusto my mother, aunts, mother-in-law and aunts-in-law started making kanthas when I was expecting my first baby.
I still marvel at the variety of kanthas they produced, each different in design and colour. The only common factor was their softness. But people had a lot of time those days. Now, people neither have the time nor the desire to make kanthas anymore.
But the old baby craft has acquired a completely new dimension now. Kantha is no longer a simple quilt. You have quilted dresses, bags, covers, shawls, stoles and many other pretty things. And most of all, kantha stitch is used for embroidering saris, scarves, dupattas and similar apparel. Since one has to do them by hand, which is really time consuming, the material used (in most cases) is either silk, tere-silk or tussar. And they are all really expensive and classy.
In places where one cannot wear silk, except in winter, you'd also find cotton saris with kantha stitch and they are expensive too. Bolpur in West Bengal is particularly famous for kantha stitch items and are a popular tourist attraction. They are now widely available in shops and handicraft centres. Those particularly interested might like to look up: www. craft andartisans.com/ kantha-embroidery-of-west-bengal.html
Kantha originated primarily as a baby craft and not all women who made them were rural.
Traditionally, kantha is a quilt made of soft cloth, usually old saris or dhotis, comprising several layers, meant for babies. Old cloth was used mainly because, having been washed many, many times already, it would feel very soft to the tender skin of babies.
Quilting was done by sewing several layers of cloth together. The main stitch used for this was the simple running stitch (now better known as the kantha stitch) which virtually anyone could manage to do. Kanthas were embroidered with simple designs and the running stitch was used for doing this too. Sometimes other stitches — the herring-bone, feather stitch, satin stitch, etc — were also used as part of the embroidery.
The popularity of the soft baby coverlet sometimes prompted women to make full-length quilts as well, which were used by the elderly people at home. These often had really elaborate embroidery all over and were called 'nakshi kantha' or a 'kantha with patterns'.
Some of them were rather like the decorative sashiko quilting you find in Japan. Although nakshi kanthas were made in all parts of Bangladesh, Mymensingh, Rajsahi, Faridpur and Jessore were particularly famous for the special craft.
An interesting anecdote states that the disciples of Buddha used to protect themselves from the cold weather by stitching rags together like kanthas. Poor people who could not afford anything but rags also stitched them up similarly.
Original 'kanthas'
Most women wore cotton handloom saris in those days which had pretty borders. These were used for making colourful borders for quilts and giving them added strength to withstand frequent washing. Sometimes colourful motifs were also cut out from the border and stitched into the main quilt like appliqué work.
Since most women wore red or black-bordered white saris in those days, the early kanthas mostly had a white background and the embroidery was done in black and red. Gradually, as saris of different colours became more popular, other colours — yellow, green, pink and blue — came to be used for the background, border as well as the embroidery.
I still remember my grandmother storing rolls and rolls of pretty borders for making kanthas later on. I also remember her pulling out strands of coloured threads from the borders carefully, which she kept in separate batches and used later for embroidering the kantha.
It was a common practice and most people did this rather than use new thread from the market. The main reason was, having been part of the sari used for the kantha, the colours matched the embroidery perfectly. Also, the colours had already been proved to be fast so there was no chance of their running out and spoiling the design.
Family activity
In olden days, whenever the advent of a baby was announced, the entire womenfolk in the family got busy making kanthas for the new arrival. I still remember with what gusto my mother, aunts, mother-in-law and aunts-in-law started making kanthas when I was expecting my first baby.
I still marvel at the variety of kanthas they produced, each different in design and colour. The only common factor was their softness. But people had a lot of time those days. Now, people neither have the time nor the desire to make kanthas anymore.
But the old baby craft has acquired a completely new dimension now. Kantha is no longer a simple quilt. You have quilted dresses, bags, covers, shawls, stoles and many other pretty things. And most of all, kantha stitch is used for embroidering saris, scarves, dupattas and similar apparel. Since one has to do them by hand, which is really time consuming, the material used (in most cases) is either silk, tere-silk or tussar. And they are all really expensive and classy.
In places where one cannot wear silk, except in winter, you'd also find cotton saris with kantha stitch and they are expensive too. Bolpur in West Bengal is particularly famous for kantha stitch items and are a popular tourist attraction. They are now widely available in shops and handicraft centres. Those particularly interested might like to look up: www. craft andartisans.com/ kantha-embroidery-of-west-bengal.html