Hand-Painted Floral Kurti Design with Embroidered Lace

Introduction:

For the past six or seven months, I have been learning and experimenting with fabric painting. One of my earlier projects was Tanjore painting on fabric, which I used to create a designer saree blouse. Continuing my journey with fabric painting, I tried another wearable-art project—this time, a colourful floral design painted on the yoke of a kurti, complemented with embroidered floral lace.

The floral painting

 Choosing the brown fabric:

I was learning the technique of painting on dark fabrics, so I chose a dark brown cotton fabric for this project. Bright floral designs look especially vibrant and beautiful against a dark background. There was another reason for choosing this fabric—I had a beautiful hand-embroidered floral lace in my stash, and I thought it would pair perfectly with the painted flowers.

 Planning the Floral Yoke Design

The floral design

This floral design seemed perfect for fabric painting, as it covers most of the upper portion of the kurti and creates a beautiful, prominent yoke. The pattern includes two different types of flowers along with leafy motifs. Having two styles of flowers also gave me the opportunity to use two different colours, making the overall design more vibrant and interesting.

Painting the design

Yellow and orange are always a beautiful combination for floral designs, and they stand out particularly well against a dark brown background. So, I chose yellow and orange for one type of flower in the design. For the other floral motif, I used a combination of pink and purple, adding a nice contrast to the warm yellow tones. For the leaves, I went with shades of green with touches of yellow, which helped bring the entire floral pattern together.Your flowers aren’t simply flat yellow. The orange shading gives them dimension.

Adding Embroidered Floral Lace and Beads

I already had a beautiful embroidered floral lace in my stash that matched the painted design perfectly. I attached the lace along the side slits and sleeve edges, which added more colour, texture, and charm to the kurti.

My friend then suggested embellishing the painted flowers with seed beads at their centres. I chose purple seed beads because they create a lovely contrast against the yellow and orange flowers. This small addition gave the floral painting extra dimension and a subtle decorative finish.

The use of small seed beads

I am matching this with pink or green bottom and duppatta.

Love, Laugh and Live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana