Lac  & Myrobalan dyed handspun Eri Silk with Tilla-Pitaai embroidery

A dear firefly, Radha, once asked me to embroider fireflies on Eri silk. She loves a firefly, and she loves Eri silk. She has been my muse for both for a few years now. She communicates her loyalty to Eri and the varied textures we play with to diversify the potential of these magical textiles. Jugnu is our first stole with Tilla Pitaai embroidery on Eri Silk, giving form to a motif we like calling fireflies, or jugnu. Delicate firefly motifs on Eri lend a subtle elegance to Jugnu. I grew up seeing my mother and grandmothers celebrating pashmina shawls with Tilla work. The similarities in the texture encouraged me to try out the same embroidery on eri silk. Upon beating the embroidery into the woolly texture of Eri silk, an act called Pitaai (beating), the embroidery embraces the fabric, which is my favourite form of texture. Jugnu is light and elegant. With silver and gold, two moods are revealed. 

The eri silk is dyed with the lightest dip of lac residual solution. The charcoal hues are created with Myrobalan. 

Eri Silk is a wild silk with a woolly fibrous filament hand spun into yarn, handwoven on traditional throw shuttle looms of Assam. These are woven on looms that are simplified older looms where the basic main frame is formed using four posts or pillars dug steadfastly into the mud ground. This Eri Silk is handspun by adept spinners of Assam without using Charkha. The journey from cocoons to handspun yarn involves a spinner performing a series of steps for the appropriate treatment of cocoons that can enable hand spinning of yarn. These steps have remained unchanged through generations of the hand-spinning culture of Assam. We have retained the indigenous steps without much alteration.

Jugnu is a one-of-a-kind textile designed to highlight a unique coming together of various techniques and creativity of handcraft. This design will not be recreated.

Param did the beadwork 

Gurmail, the tailor

Zahid Bhai did the tilla-pitaai embroidery

Narmohan Dada, the master Eri silk pioneer

Mumma, Madhu, technical supervision of stitching 

Midtoan.com, the photographer

Designed by Ritika