WHAT IS
HAND EMBROIDERY?
Adda embroidery is a traditional Indian technique in which fabric is mounted on a wooden frame-called an adda-to allow for intricate, controlled needlework. Practiced for generations in the regions of Lucknow and West Bengal, it is a craft defined by its discipline and refinement. From fine, near-invisible thread work to bold, dimensional textures, every motif is created exclusively by hand—carrying the understated finesse of a seasoned maker and the slow weave of time-honoured language.
PROCESS
PANEL MARKING
Each piece begins in our studio, where garment panels are meticulously cut and marked in alignment with our design patterns—framing the path the handwork will trace.
KHAKHA PINNING
The panels are then sent to our embroidery artisan, Ashraf, and his team. Here, the design is
translated onto tracing paper and pin-pricked along its outlines to create a khakha—a perforated stencil. This becomes the guide by which the design is gently transferred onto the fabric, priming the surface for the handwork to begin.
CHAPPAI (MARKING THE EMBROIDERY)
Using these hand-pricked stencils, the design is carefully impressed onto the fabric using choona (lime) for dark fabrics, or neel (indigo) for lighter ones. This step rests on studied care that holds every motif in balance—allowing the embroidery to unfold withaa symmetry and structure.
SETTING THE ADDA
The marked fabric is then mounted onto a traditional wooden adda, stretched to tension and anchored in place. It is here that the most time-intensive, meditative phase of the process begins.
HAND EMBROIDERY
Thread by thread, the embroidery emerges—shaped slowly, with method and motion. Depending on the intricacy of the design, a single panel may take up to three days—or longer—to complete. Each stitch is placed deliberately, paced by a sense of rhythm and restraint.
MEET THE ARTIST:
MOHAMMAD ASHRAF
Ashraf began his journey with embroidery in the workshops of Bombay’s City Centre, where he learned the foundational grammar of the needle and frame. He moved to Delhi over two decades ago with a friend, both seeking new possibilities. That journey led him to jewelry designer Olivia Dar, the wife of our founder, Rikki Kher—a meeting that shaped the course of his craft. He has worked with her since, and in 2020, joined Kardo.
There’s a quiet, deliberate gesture to his way of working—each movement unhurried, each decision exacting. The needle answers a calm held in his fingers, his attention attuned to the subtle pull of the thread. What is drawn forth is never rushed, never overstated—only composed, thoughtful, and complete in its stillness.
More than an artisan at our studio, Ashraf is a custodian of a tradition—continuing its evolution, thread by thread, in the present.
hands—we couldn’t have asked for anyone better.”
WHAT IS
HAND EMBROIDERY?
Adda embroidery is a traditional Indian technique in which fabric is mounted on a wooden frame-called an adda-to allow for intricate, controlled needlework. Practiced for generations in the regions of Lucknow and West Bengal, it is a craft defined by its discipline and refinement. From fine, near-invisible thread work to bold, dimensional textures, every motif is created exclusively by hand—carrying the understated finesse of a seasoned maker and the slow weave of time-honoured language.
PROCESS
PANEL MARKING
Each piece begins in our studio, where garment panels are meticulously cut and marked in alignment with our design patterns—framing the path the handwork will trace.
KHAKHA PINNING
The panels are then sent to our embroidery artisan, Ashraf, and his team. Here, the design is
translated onto tracing paper and pin-pricked along its outlines to create a khakha—a perforated stencil. This becomes the guide by which the design is gently transferred onto the fabric, priming the surface for the handwork to begin.
CHAPPAI (MARKING THE EMBROIDERY)
Using these hand-pricked stencils, the design is carefully impressed onto the fabric using choona (lime) for dark fabrics, or neel (indigo) for lighter ones. This step rests on studied care that holds every motif in balance—allowing the embroidery to unfold withaa symmetry and structure.
SETTING THE ADDA
The marked fabric is then mounted onto a traditional wooden adda, stretched to tension and anchored in place. It is here that the most time-intensive, meditative phase of the process begins.
HAND EMBROIDERY
Thread by thread, the embroidery emerges—shaped slowly, with method and motion. Depending on the intricacy of the design, a single panel may take up to three days—or longer—to complete. Each stitch is placed deliberately, paced by a sense of rhythm and restraint.
MEET THE ARTIST:
MOHAMMAD
ASHRAF
Ashraf began his journey with embroidery in the workshops of Bombay’s City Centre, where he learned the foundational grammar of the needle and frame. He moved to Delhi over two decades ago with a friend, both seeking new possibilities. That journey led him to jewelry designer Olivia Dar, the wife of our founder, Rikki Kher—a meeting that shaped the course of his craft. He has worked with her since, and in 2020, joined Kardo.
There’s a quiet, deliberate gesture to his way of working—each movement unhurried, each decision exacting. The needle answers a calm held in his fingers, his attention attuned to the subtle pull of the thread. What is drawn forth is never rushed, never overstated—only composed, thoughtful, and complete in its stillness.
More than an artisan at our studio, Ashraf is a custodian of a tradition—continuing its evolution, thread by thread, in the present.
“An exceptionally skilled artisan, with the most brilliant
hands—we couldn’t have
asked for anyone better.”
