"Pakistani Embroidery Styles: Phulkari, Sindhi and Balochi"

Pakistani embroidery is not one style but several regional traditions, and each is easy to recognise once you know what to look for. Phulkari from Punjab is floral darning stitch in silk floss on coarse cotton. Sindhi work is dense and packed with small mirrors. Balochi needlework is geometric, precise and built around the front panel of a woman's dress. Kashmiri shawls carry fine sozni or chain-stitch aari work, and Hunza's women work bright cross-stitch on caps.

This guide explains how to tell the main styles apart, what each is used for, and where in Pakistan to buy a genuine hand-made piece rather than a machine copy.

What is phulkari?

Phulkari means "flower work", from phul (flower) and akari (shape). It is the embroidery of the Punjab, and historically it was made across districts that are now in Pakistan, including Hazara, Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Peshawar, as well as in Indian Punjab. The term appears in Waris Shah's Heer Ranjha, written in the 18th century.

The technique is what sets it apart. The embroiderer works a darning stitch from the wrong side of coarse hand-spun cotton (khaddar), using untwisted silk floss called patt, and counts the threads of the cloth instead of following a printed pattern. The result is a glossy surface of long, straight stitches that catch the light differently as the cloth moves.

The best-known type is the bagh, "garden", where stitching covers the whole cloth and the base barely shows. A chope is a bride's piece embroidered along both borders, and tilpatra has stitches scattered thinly, like spilt sesame seeds.

Hand-worked phulkari declined sharply in the 20th century, and most of what is sold as phulkari today is machine embroidery or print on dupattas and kurtas. For Punjab's other crafts, including Multan's khussa, see our guide to Punjab handicrafts.

How do you recognise Sindhi embroidery?

Mirrors. Sindhi embroidery is one of the richest mirror-work (shisha) traditions in South Asia: small discs of silvered glass held in place by a ring of buttonhole and other stitches, then surrounded by filling stitches, ladder stitches and counted cross-stitch. Common motifs include peacocks, lotus flowers and paisleys. The named stitches you will hear include pakko, kharak, soof and aari, and the variety is the point: a design could once tell you the community and even the village of the woman who made it.

The work goes on women's wedding clothes, especially the gaj, the embroidered front panel of a tunic; on wedding shawls; on small dowry purses; and on trappings for camels and oxen. Tharparkar, Umerkot, Badin and the country around Hyderabad are among the main centres. The mirror-work Sindhi topi is the version most visitors take home.

Thar's mirror-work and its rilli quilts have their own guide, covering what to pay and how to buy in Mithi: Thar handicrafts.

What makes Balochi needlework different?

Balochi embroidery is made by women across Balochistan and the Baloch areas of Iran and Afghanistan, and it is the most geometric of the Pakistani styles. Common motifs are arrows, diamonds, flowers and a pattern called "chicken feet", and each tribe has its own designs. Where Sindhi work is loose and pictorial, Balochi work is tight, regular and laid out in panels.

Mirrors appear here too, but the stitching does most of the work. Traditional pieces used cotton thread on heavy cotton cloth in natural dyes, so older work has muted reds, browns and indigos. Pieces made for the market now use much brighter colours. The work goes mainly on women's dresses, and also on caps, cushions and men's clothes. A fully hand-embroidered Balochi dress, known as a duch, can take months to finish, which is why a genuine one is expensive.

Our guide to Balochi dress covers the clothes themselves. If you plan to buy in Quetta, note that the UK government advises against all travel to Balochistan. Pakistani shoppers still use the city's bazaars, but check local news first, or buy Balochi work in Karachi or Islamabad instead.

What about Kashmiri and northern embroidery?

Kashmiri embroidery is mostly seen on shawls. Sozni is fine needle embroidery in floral and paisley patterns; aari is chain stitch made with a hooked needle, faster and bolder; tilla is gold or silver metallic thread, used on wedding pieces. Much of it is now applied to suits and bridal clothes as well as shawls. The fibre and the weave matter as much as the stitching, which our Kashmiri shawl buying guide explains.

Hunza embroidery is small-scale geometric cross-stitch in reds, greens and golds, seen at its best on the round caps women wear under a chador. The same patterns now go onto bags, belts and cushion covers sold in Karimabad; see our guide to Hunza embroidery.

Kohistan has its own tradition of embroidered wedding dresses, and Kalash women in Chitral wear long embroidered dresses. You are more likely to see either in a museum gallery than in a shop.

How can you tell hand embroidery from machine work?

Most embroidery sold in Pakistani markets now is machine-made, which is fine if the price reflects it. To check what you are looking at:

1. Turn it over. Hand embroidery is slightly uneven on the back. Machine work shows a uniform bobbin thread running underneath.
2. Look at the mirrors. Hand-set shisha sits in a ring of stitches that varies a little from mirror to mirror. Glued or machine-held mirrors are identical and often sit flat on the surface.
3. Look for repetition. Hand-worked motifs vary slightly in size and spacing. Perfect repeats across a whole dupatta mean a machine.
4. Compare the price with the hours. A fully covered bagh or a hand-worked Balochi dress front represents weeks of work. If it costs the same as a printed lawn suit, it is not hand-made.

Where can you buy Pakistani embroidery?

The best single place to compare styles is Lok Virsa in Shakarparian, Islamabad. Its museum galleries show embroidered costumes from every province, and its craft and artisan bazaars sell work from across the country. The annual Lok Mela, also held there, brings artisans from each province to sell their own work. See our Lok Virsa Museum guide for tickets and timings.

Otherwise, buy close to the source where you can:

• Sindhi mirror work: Hyderabad's bazaars, Umerkot and Mithi.
• Balochi needlework: Quetta's bazaars, or Balochi shops in Karachi and Islamabad.
• Phulkari: specialist boutiques and craft fairs in Lahore and Islamabad, since hand-made pieces are now rare in ordinary bazaars.
• Kashmiri embroidery: Muzaffarabad's markets, and shawl shops in Lahore, Islamabad and Murree.
• Hunza embroidery: craft shops in Karimabad.

For other things to do and see around Pakistan's craft centres, browse our experiences page.

Is it worth buying hand embroidery?

If you want something that will last and that is clearly from one place, yes. A hand-worked Sindhi gaj, a Balochi panel or a sozni shawl will outlive any number of brand suits, and buying directly puts money in the hands of the women who make it. If you simply want the look for a wedding or Eid, machine-embroidered versions are a fraction of the price and perfectly acceptable, as long as you know that is what you are paying for.

Frequently asked questions