A Swati Shahtoosh shawl in deep navy, with a wide hand-embroidered medallion border in antique gold, copper, rose and pale blue, and a large flowering corner worked inside it.
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 navy
We carry navy in two embroideries, and the difference between them is not subtle. The other piece is restrained — a fine gold line at the edge and a small buta in the corner, for someone who wants navy to stay quiet. This one is the full version. The border is a deep band of linked medallions, each filled with its own rosette and vine, closed along the inside by a scalloped line that runs the whole length of the shawl. The corner is not a buta but a large flowering spray built around a central rosette, and a second paisley sits alone further along the field.
The difference is hours, not design. A single line is one pass with one thread; a medallion band changes colour inside every cell and has to keep each medallion the same size along the full length, then turn all four corners without the pattern crowding. On navy there is the added problem that dark ground swallows thread, so the work has to be dense enough to hold its shape in low light — which is exactly where a shawl like this gets worn.
The colour
Navy is the easiest of our dark colours to wear. It sits with black, grey, cream and denim alike, and warm metallic tones against a cold deep blue is the pairing that makes a piece read formal without being loud — the gold picks up jewellery rather than fighting it.
The ground carries a fine self-coloured diamond lattice, visible only when the light moves across it, so the plain field has texture of its own before any thread goes on.
Details
- Swati Shahtoosh — handwoven in Salampur, Swat, and hand embroidered in Multan
- Self-coloured diamond lattice through the ground
- Wide hand-embroidered medallion border on all four sides with a scalloped inner edge, a large flowering corner and a paisley on the 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.
