Craft Patterns Plus

At a Mughal Court in India, over a thousand weavers were employed to make shawls using a very labor intensive tapestry twill weave, with each color of the pattern laid in separately. A single shawl would many months; but in the early nineteenth century, as patterns became more elaborate, the work was divided between several looms and the parts joined together by stitchery. That was the start of the ‘embroidered’ shawl.

When one maharajah put a tax on woven shawls, embroidery naturally became more popular. The entire surface of the earlier shawls was covered with elaborate stitchery in fine wools. By the end of the century the patterned area became more spaced out as the embroiderers competed with machine products. Lovely shawls, in cashmere wool from the mountains are still made today.

 In the Delhi area the ‘buta’ flower motif decorated the ends of the wool and silk shawls popular with the British wives in India. The embroidery, worked in brightly colored silk floss, was also used on tea-cosies, bags, cloths and mats. These would be taken home to England and ‘Indian’ silk embroidery became very popular in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Conversely, English white-work was copied by the Indian embroiderers for the European mem sahib’s baby gowns and christening robes.

There was a similar craze for all things Indian in the late eighteenth century. Merchant ships with cargoes of tea and spices from the East Indian seas introduced imports of the famous Kashmir woven shawls and started a fashion that was to last for nearly a hundred years. The British government, alarmed at this influx, put a heavy tax on the shawls. In response, our weavers tried to imitate the coveted items. English wool proved to be far too heavy so it was decided to import herds of the precious mountain goats.


The females were separated from the male goats and put on different ships.  Sadly, the ship with the female goats sank in a storm and all were lost. The poor lonely males pined away and died. Even when they finally succeeded breeding from new goats, the soft under- down was not grown in England’s temperate climate. A final solution was to weave with a stronger silk warp and a fine wool weft.


 In Norwich, the weavers used their traditional skills of silk-weaving to produce beautiful shawls. Their designs, often taken from the French weavers, were so popular they could not keep up with demand. They offered employment to the Glasgow weavers in Paisley, little thinking that the Scottish weavers would become leaders in the trade. The Paisley products were known worldwide, and the name became synonymous with the design, still known as the ‘Paisley Pattern’   


The old draw looms, were each shaft was lifted by the weaver’s assistant in pattern order, gave way to the jacquard loom where the pattern was selected mechanically by a system of punched holes a roll of Pianola music. This enabled complicated patterns to be woven covering the entire shawl surface. The shape of the shawl altered, becoming larger as the crinoline skirt widened. It was used as an outer garment, folded in half and draped around the shoulders like a cloak. When the bustle came into fashion the shawl was no longer viable, and the industry collapsed.   


But the Paisley Pattern did die. In the 1880’s, Anglo-Indian embroidery became popular. Fabric squares printed with Paisley designs were imported from India as handkerchiefs, thus avoiding import duty! The ladies loved to embroider these squares, covering every inch of squares with silks or wool. Today, the Paisley pattern is as popular as ever. Courtesy of Needlework Magazine July 1995