A Workshop with Textile Designer Padmaja Krishnan: Kantha Stitching – Berkeley, CA

Padmaja says, “I grew up in Calcutta in the ’80s and was surrounded by great textiles. It was standard for me to accompany my mother to the cloth shops to choose fabric and get clothes stitched by local tailors.” She learned to sew and make her own clothes at an early age.

Padmaja was surrounded by kantha growing up, studied its technical aspects at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), and undertook solid, on the ground research of old and new variants of the craft in various parts of rural Bengal for a UNESCO conference paper. This research led to meeting many kantha artisans and to understanding the socio-cultural context of kantha.

In 2008, Padmaja won The Best Textile Creation, Grand Prix, at the Festival of Quilts, Birmingham, UK, for her original kantha works.

PADMAJA, her clothing brand, creates a modern design language for traditional Indian textiles, and in so doing, maintains a deep respect for the maker and the natural environment. Padmaja has established strong collaborations with artisan communities and engages in playful explorations of handmade processes and natural materials.

Padmaja says, “It’s safe to say that of the many textile crafts I have worked with, kantha remains the closest to my heart. I think what I connected with most is its simplicity. It doesn’t have many stitches, just the one basic running stitch, which goes up and down. So it has a very meditative feel.

Aside from that, of course, there is the philosophy that governs kantha – you work with what you find, you make beautiful things out of discarded bits, you make something that is more than the sum of its parts. I think I have carried that spirit of the craft with me. Besides that, I do still use the stitch quality in many of my works.” – Phantom Hands

Padmaja is an invited artist at the 2026 International Folk Art Market (IFAM) in Santa Fe, NM.