The Stitch that Found Me Again
An illustrated cultural guidebook
to Phulkari Embroidery
Phulkari, the embroidery tradition of Punjab, has been stitched by generations of Punjabi women, but after the India-Pakistan Partition and industrialization of the embroidery, the handicraft began to eventually fade.
This cultural guidebook is a letter from a pre-partition Phulkari artisan to her granddaughter during the days of her wedding.
The letter begins with her being unable to pick up the needle due to the trauma Partition caused her, while she wishes to stitch a veil for her granddaughter's wedding according to Punjabi rituals. It progresses with an exploration into the types of Phulkari and its stitches, its communal nature, and the reasons the artform declined. By the end, the young bride's courage of starting a new life inspires her to eventually pick up the needle.
The illustrations borrow their bright colors, human figures, and stitch-like geometry from Phulkari motifs.
The Stitch that Found Me Again is a tribute to Phulkari, and the Punjabans who keep its thread alive through generations.
