Vintage Embroidered Indian Fabric & Thread Bundle – Red Mirror work

Each bundle includes a curated mix of fabric and thread, anchored by a striking piece of vintage Indian mirror work embroidery. These textiles likely originate from the Kutch district of Gujarat, a region long celebrated for its hand embroidery traditions. The featured cloth is red cotton, richly hand-stitched in bright threads—magenta, violet, yellow, white, and green—with small mirrors (shisha) worked securely into the surface using traditional embroidery techniques.

We acquired this textile in a large panel that had suffered damage along one side. To preserve and share its beauty, we chose to cut it into smaller pieces, allowing it to live on in the hands of other makers.

Mirrorwork, or shisha, holds both aesthetic and cultural significance. As described in Embroidery in India by Lotika Varadarajan, mirrors are believed to “deflect the evil eye and attract good fortune,” especially in ceremonial or bridal textiles. The bold floral and geometric motifs seen in these pieces are consistent with embroidery styles from Rabari and Ahir communities, where women stitch cloth for household and ritual use, such as torans (door hangings), chaklas (decorative squares), and personal bags. According to textile historian Jasleen Dhamija in Asian Embroidery, “Each community, even each family, often has its own vocabulary of motifs and stitches, learned from mothers and grandmothers.”

These traditions continue to evolve, and your bundle includes a thoughtful selection of coordinating materials to support your own textile practice—whether that’s slow stitching, appliqué, or mixed media work. Each set includes:

• Vintage Indian hand-embroidered cloth with mirror work (approx. 10" x 14")
• 1 piece of yarn-dyed Pepper cotton, Morning Glory (9" x 22")
• 1 piece of Essex yarn-dyed cotton/linen, Champagne (9" x 22")
• 3 smaller accent fabrics: yellow, blush, and natural cotton
• 3 skeins of Cosmo 100% cotton embroidery floss in colors 5019, 5025, & 5034. 

Each bundle is thoughtfully curated in our studio. The embroidered cloth is finite in quantity, so when these are gone, they’re truly gone.

We are not experts in Indian textiles and share this information with deep respect for the communities and artisans who created these works. To explore further, we recommend:

• Embroidery in India by Lotika Varadarajan (Oxford University Press)
• Asian Embroidery by Jasleen Dhamija (Abhinav Publications)
• The Fowler Museum’s “Embroidering Futures” exhibition on Kutch embroidery: fowler.ucla.edu