CREWEL THE FINEST CRAFTSMANSHIP IN THE WORLD
The vivid beauty and the attractive glamour on a luxurious crewel has a very humble beginning. Let’s take you deep into the journey of this unbelievable craft, right from England where from it is conjured, through narrow valleys of Kashmir, to luxury stores all across the world. In Kashmir, crewel embroidery has been a timeless art, mostly done by skilled craftsmen in the valley of Kashmir. The most traditional crewel design features a style known as the modern-cotemporary and Jacobean style. It features abstract, portraits, camouflage, paisley, floral and animal motifs, with vines and leaves twining about. From traditional motifs like lotuses and the tree of life to fanciful flowers perceived only in the imagination, modern Kashmiri artisans have created refreshing modern works interpreted in the palette of coloured silks and wool. You see water lilies on royal ponds, hidden gardens, and wild nature portrayed in heart-stopping colour and sheen. Flowers have always conveyed a deep meaning to people throughout the ages, and these artistic representations, interpreted into art for crewel curtains have much to say.
Crewel weaving and the intricate embroidery has always been a very laborious work. The number of man hours put in through all these stages is astonishing. Crewel is the delicate art of hand-weaving premium fabrics like cotton duck-velvet and silk use into deluxe crewel curtains-drapes-bed-throws-cushion-covers-sofa covers and many other home furnishing accessories. The elegant art form specializes in uniform and consistent stitches done patiently with fine thread knots.
We truly believe that ‘your home is a reflection of you’, and that is the reason we provide our customers with an dazzling range of premium quality crewel curtains, table covers, cushion covers, and a wide range of other home accessories.
CREWEL IS A FORM OF A MAGICAL WEAVING
Crewel – A special kind of embroidery done with a hook known as crewel is commonly used for drapery and upholstery. Rows of chain stitch done with hook from solid patterns usually rotating from centre & creating an embossed effect to add richness to the textile.
Crewel embroidery is done on thick material popularly used for furnishing and usually carries floral and creeper designs. The designs are available in assortment of colours ranging from a single colour to multicolour embroidery. The width of the material is 54 inches and is available in running meter wise. The price is related with the amount of embroidery done on the material. This craft is also available on bed spreads in various sizes ranging from single to king size
Crewel Embroidery is usually done on bolts of fabric in varying widths – 56″ wide “cotton duck” manufactured in looms locally in Kashmir being the most common. Fabric bolts may be 20 to 33 yards in length, although custom orders at times require longer yardages per bolt.
How do you care for crewel embroidery?
Crewel Embroidery is a delicate art and needs to be cared for properly. Over time your fabric may become dirty requiring it to be cleaned. Most crewel fabrics are suggested to be professionally dry cleaned to avoid dye bleeding from the embroidery yarns.
Once a fabric is embroidered, it will be sent for washing to remove all traces of dirt and stains it may have accumulated during the embroidery work. The drying process can take up to a day and once done the fabric is steam ironed in a rotary steam iron (fabric goes in full width) that results in a nice crease-free fabric ready to use.
Crewel work is a hand-embroidery technique traditionally done in Kashmir. It uses a hook (“aari”) and mostly woollen yarns in single (white or coloured) or multicolour shades. Crewel Embroidery done in Kashmir is different in that it is done (mostly) using woollen yarns unlike other places of the world where it may be done using synthetic or cotton yarns and also on a much larger scale which allows it to form an important sector in the local industry. Crewel Embroidery is usually done on bolts of fabric in varying widths – 56″ wide “cotton duck” manufactured locally in Kashmir being the most common. Fabric bolts may be 20 to 33 yards in length, although custom orders at times require longer yardages per bolt.
Crewel embroidery is of two types:
1-ply embroidery: A single ply woollen yarn is used for this type of embroidery. The lower yarn cost results in a cheaper fabric which allows for more range when selling the product to customers.
2-ply embroidery: Using a more durable 2-ply woolen yarn for embroidery, it is costlier of the two and is known to last decades if cared for properly. The finer wool gives these fabrics a more neat and uncluttered appearance in comparison.
The crewel making process begins with the selection of a design – “Tree of Life”, “Jacobean” and “Maple” are some of the most commonly used designs by manufacturers in Kashmir. Custom designs whether traditional or modern are also made specific to customer request.
DESIGN: The designer initially makes a rough sketch on a 56″ wide (or different depending on the width of fabric to be printed) translucent paper long enough to accommodate at least one pattern repeat but wide enough to cover the entire fabric width. Once the process is finished, he will then punch holes following the design sketch, correcting any deviations using skill and experience to perfect the design for the next step.
PRINTING: Once the design is ready, the pattern sheet is placed on an already laid out fabric and an ink soaked cloth (preferably woolen yarn as it soaks less ink) is wiped all over the design so that the ink seeps through the tiny pores in the design sheet to cast a nice and clean imprint on the fabric underneath.
CREWEL FABRIC
Crewel fabric is a hand-crocheted embroidery fabric made in Kashmir. The embroidery is done using a hook (locally “aari”) with woolen yarns on a cotton, silk, velvet, linen or jute ground fabric. Crewel work fabrics are mostly used for drapery (curtains, blinds) and upholstery (sofa, chairs). Other uses include making bedspreads, pillows and throws. Crewel fabric may be used to cover chairs or sofas and even made into table runners. All our fabrics in cotton and cotton-velvet are Upholstery grade. Colors add to the variety of crewel fabric; besides white, you may find black, navy, maroon, cream, beige and other background colors used. Embroidery may be single color, 3 shades of one color or a range of colors (multicolor).
Crewel fabric is a hand-crocheted embroidery fabric made in Kashmir. The embroidery is done using a hook (locally “aari”) with woolen yarns on a cotton, silk, velvet, linen or jute ground fabric. Crewel work fabrics are mostly used for drapery (curtains, blinds) and upholstery (sofa, chairs).
Crewel embroidery or ‘crewel work’ is very popular. A decorative form of surface embroidery, it uses wool and a variety of embroidery stitches to follow a design outline applied to the fabric – traditionally a linen twill. The technique is at least a thousand years old. It was used in the Bayeux Tapestry, in Jacobean embroidery and in the Quaker Tapestry sewn in the 1980s.
I love the technique as it’s usually full of colour, texture and stitch variations. It’s a technique you can play with and almost anything goes!
With many forms of embroidery, it’s traditional to stick to a single colour palette, but with crewel work, clashing colours isn’t unusual. There really are no rules, and the common themes of flora and fauna can be completely disproportionate to one another – for example a giant flower next to a tiny stag. Crewel the finest craftsmanship in the world.
We truly believe that ‘your home is a reflection of you’, and that is the reason we provide our customers with an dazzling range of premium quality crewel curtains, table covers, cushion covers, and a wide range of other home accessories. These timeless classic crewel curtains will decorate your home with fresh effect, delicate hand embroidery pattern adds an aesthetic look to decked out graceful and chic appearance to any space, creating a festive mood, perfectly match any home styles.
Our crewel curtains are made of high quality fabric Like 2 ply cotton dusoot, 2 ply velvet that is resistant to shrinkage. Being premium silk dupion fabric it does not shrink on repeated washes and its color remains same. The color of the crewel curtains does not fade away as the other material curtains does. It is a delicate art and needs to be cared for properly. Over time your fabric may become dirty requiring it to be cleaned. Most crewel fabrics are suggested to be professionally dry cleaned to avoid dye bleeding from the embroidery yarns.