Mirror Works – The Great Indian Traditional Works

By Author: Lakshmi
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Mirror or Shisha or Kaanch works are very intricate handy works specially made with lightweight pieces of mirrors. These are extremely popular embroidery works made in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan of India.

The beauty and elegance of a woman comes through when she is draped in a nice Saree. Mirror works of embroidery are the latest trends that evoke fashion.

Shisha or shisheh means glass in Persian. The decorative work made on a fabric using small decorative mirrors is known as Shisha work or Mirror Work. It is popularly known as Abhala Bharat in Gujarat. Mirror work with embroidery provides an extraordinary look and feel to the saree. Mirror works are renowned for their traditional designs and are artistic adornments for Indian fabrics.

Mirror works or Shisha works have their origin in India, right from Mughal times.

While it is a challenge to designers on the best use of mirrors in a design, It’s a painstaking process for the traditional practitioners of the art since they must use their concentration and skill to make the design look beautiful.

A kind of embroidery work it ...
... involves the skillful attachment of lightweight pieces of mirror to a fabric. Dark or Heavy coloured clothes are best suitable for Mirror works. Mirrors used in this work are mostly thin layered glasses as they are machine cut and may be of any shape like triangular, circle, rectangular, etc.

To hold the mirrors in exact place, the designers use satin stitch, herringbone stitch and chain stitch. The designers use coins, glasses, silver, tin and mica (an aluminium silicate mineral) to decorate the pattern. The works varies in shapes and sizes. Antique Shisha is especially hand-blown, as it is a hand cut or handy and varies in shape and size.

To accentuate the beauty of a design, designers use different types of embroidery works. Mirror work sarees are available in all cities of India at affordable prices.

Latest designs with big mirrors and pallu with different colours are really subtle. These saris are especially part of bridal collections. These sarees are also suitable for grand occasions and festivals. The salwar kameez with mirror work looks traditional as well as trendy.

The outcome of the design sometimes makes a fabric appear more stylish than the original vision of the designer, because it has in the process acquired a strange fashionable look. we must be thankful to the designers of Shisha.