Chain Stitch Tapestry

Tapestry

These chain-stich tapestries are an ancient Kashmiri art form. Using jute and a cheese cloth-like fabric, the designs are first sketched on the fabric and then, using a tool much like a latch hook, the wool is pulled through from the back in a chain-stitch fashion, first the outline and then the fill colors and detail. Using images they see around them as well as images from their imagination, artisans use these tapestries to depict their lives in the villages. These tapestries are intended to be hung on the wall, not used as floor covering or pillows.