Is Lucknavi Chikankari handmade ?

Yes, traditional Lucknavi Chikankari is a hand embroidery craft. Authentic hand-embroidered Lucknavi Chikankari is created by skilled artisans using a needle and thread, with individual stitches and motifs worked by hand.

The embroidery begins with a design being transferred onto the fabric, traditionally through a process known as chappa (block printing). Artisans then carefully embroider the design using traditional Chikankari stitches such as bakhia, murri, phanda, tepchi, hool and jaali. Depending on the complexity and density of the work, a single piece can take many hours or even several days to complete.

Is all Chikankari handmade?

Not necessarily. Chikankari is also available as machine embroidery, which can reproduce some of the visual appearance of traditional Chikankari but does not involve the same hand-embroidered process.

When buying Lucknavi Chikankari, it is therefore important to distinguish between hand-embroidered Chikankari and machine-made embroidery. Hand embroidery has natural variations in stitch, tension, texture and motif placement because each piece is created by an individual artisan.

These subtle variations are a characteristic of genuine handcraft and are part of what makes each hand-embroidered piece unique.

Why does handmade Chikankari matter?

Hand embroidery represents the skill and knowledge passed down through generations of artisans. Each stitch requires manual effort, patience and precision, making the process considerably more time-intensive than machine embroidery.

At Manjari Chikankari, we value these human elements of the craft. Our Chikankari is created through traditional hand embroidery, where the artisan's skill remains an essential part of every piece.