I recently attend a class on 'Kantha Inspirations' at my local branch of the
Embroiderers' Guild. Kantha originates from West Bengal and Bangladesh. Kantha stitches are essentially running stitches, they were used to layer old saris to make quilts. This resourcefulness did not stop at recycling old saris, the thread used to sew was often drawn from the borders of the used cloth. Traditionally the running stitch would be decorated into birds, flowers and whatever else the embroiderers' found as inspiration in their day to day lives.
In our class we used pre-prepared stencils and acrylic paints to transfer motifs on to brightly coloured cloth. Once dry we layered fabrics together to create a wavy, quilted surface. Here I used a golden organza at the top, pink turban cotton, followed by white muslin. A pink bird is stencilled on the organza. Running stitches surround the bird, with flower and sun details added. The stitching scrunches up the fabric, enhancing the shimmering of the golden organza. Interestingly the central bird looks almost appliqued, I think this is due to the pink cotton behind creating a depth to its colour. Kantha embroidery used such a simple stitch, yet creates a strong effective technique. I have many more fabrics to embroider that I printed at the class - should keep me busy for a while!
Imperial China had very defined clothing regulations, these became all the more rigid during the Qing dynasty. You would have been able to identify someones rank from a distance, by their badge on their chest, and also their hat. Often the badge would have also been on their back and sleeves of their robe. Round rank badges (dragon roundels) could only be worn by the immediate imperial family. If you were very important your dragon faced forwards, lesser members of the family had their dragon side-facing looking at the sun (the sun symbolised the emperor himself). And members of middle importance may have had a combination of 2 forward facing dragons and 2 side facing dragons! It didn't just end there, the background colour showed how important you were, with yellow (the colour of the emperor) being the highest, with apricot and brown closely following (as they were seen to be derivatives of yellow). Even the number of claws your dragon had was prescriptive, with 5 clawed dragons were the most superior, down to 2 clawed dragons being left for consorts or low ranking princesses! 
This system of attire was spread throughout the civil service and the military, though these groups had square badges (hence, the name a Mandarin square). In both systems there were 9 ranks, with the civil badges represented by birds, and the military by animals. Again these would face the sun, to show their allegiance to the emperor. It was possible to move up (and down) these ranks, so some people had background squares made, and would applique the bird or animal on. On closer inspection the embroidery stitches were perfect, it was hard to believe that these were done by hand. 
Couching of gold threads were frequently used with brightly coloured silk threads. The badges could be embroidered, brocaded or tapestry woven. Weavers could also incorporate peacock feather filaments into the weave, to add extra value and sheen. 
The talk was fascinating and the collection stunning. To imagine what experiences these textiles have seen, it is amazing that they still survive so it is a pleasure to see them close up. Note the pictures here come from Millers Collecting Textiles.
