Tako and bowl
interested when I observed June Fiford sewing Kantha-inspired pieces. June is an inspirational embroiderer, well known for her gold work. I was intrigued by the simplicity of the stitch and the way in which it transformed a plain cloth background. June had attended a workshop at a Textile Forum where tutor Dorothy Caldwell, an internationally acclaimed textile artist from Canada, held a workshop using Kantha stitch. Dorothy has researched stitching in
India, Japan, Australia and northern Canada and has works in a number of permanent collections around the world. In Australia there are many quilters using this stitch, including Carolyn Sullivan and Helen Gray, whose work I admire. The women of India and Bangladesh have been making Kanthas for centuries. Using old cloth, including worn saris, two layers are joined together with row upon row of running stitches through both layers of fabric to
recycle what as a single layer would not be functional. Often included in these pieces are motifs depicting everyday village life: animals, plants, figures and other objects. Once the motif has been ‘drawn’ by sewing the shape, the outlines are then shadowed with row upon row of running stitch. This tends to distort the fabric making the motifs stand in relief or make them appear three-dimensional. Contemporary artists use a variety of textiles (usually two layers) such
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