Embroidery of West Bengal

The chief types of embroidery in West Bengal are the kantha with folk motifs, the chikan, zari work, and kashida. Chikan embroidery is fine and delicate and done on muslin or cotton cloth of a fine texture. The decoration is linear in appearance and done with light-coloured thread. Blue thread embroidery is done on still lighter blue and white embroidery is done on white cloth. White on white is the most popular combination.
Kashida or silk embroidery on cotton is not very common nowadays and is restricted to prayer caps and head scarves for Muslim. Modern embroidery is more contemporary in style, with a mixture of alpana designs, kathiawari mirror work, and Kashmiri stitches. Cross stitch and cutout work are also seen, usually on table linen.