A Swati Shahtoosh shawl in deep forest green, with a wide hand-embroidered border worked in gold, copper, rose and pale blue.
Block-printed, then embroidered by hand
The design does not go straight onto the cloth. It is first printed on with carved wooden blocks — an outline in washable ink that maps every vine, leaf and petal the embroiderer will follow. The blocks themselves are cut by a separate craftsman and a workshop may use the same set for decades.
The embroiderer then works the whole design by hand over that printed line. The ink washes out at the end, leaving only thread. It is worth understanding what this does and does not mean: the block guarantees the placement is even and the borders match corner to corner, but every stitch, every colour change and all the shading is still done by hand, one needle at a time. A printed shawl would be finished at the printing stage. This one is where the work begins.
A different border from our other forest green
We carry this colour in two embroideries. The classic one puts a narrow scalloped vine at the edge and a single small paisley in the corner — a line of detail, meant to be worn every day. This piece is the heavier of the two. The border is a continuous run of linked medallions, each one filled with its own small flower head, closed top and bottom by a fine running line, and anchored by a large curling paisley set into the corner.
The difference is hours, not design. A scalloped edge is one line to hold steady; a band of medallions has to keep every repeat the same size and the same spacing along the full length of the shawl, and the joins between them have to land in the same place on all four sides. Look closely at the thread and you will see it is finer than the classic border, which is how that much pattern fits into the width without the cloth stiffening under it.
The colour
A deep, cool green that reads almost black indoors and comes alive in daylight. It is a strong colour that behaves like a neutral — dark enough for an evening, quiet enough for a working day — and a long-standing favourite for Eid. The gold and copper in the border lift against it the way brasswork does, and it sits particularly well over camel, cream and brown.
The ground itself is woven with a fine self-coloured lattice, visible when the light crosses it, so the cloth has some texture of its own before any thread goes on.
Details
- Swati Shahtoosh — handwoven in Salampur, Swat, and hand embroidered in Multan
- Wide hand-embroidered medallion border on all four sides with a large paisley in each corner; plain field
- Design block-printed first, then embroidered entirely by hand
- Approx. 40" × 80"
- Dry clean only — store folded and away from direct light
Each shawl is embroidered by hand, so slight variation between pieces is expected and is the mark of hand work rather than a fault.
Ships in Attan's branded box with a thank-you card, ready to gift.
