The price of chikankari depends mostly on time. Fully hand embroidered pieces, dense embroidery, slow stitches like murri and jaali, larger embroidered areas and finer fabrics all add hours of skilled work. Machine embroidered pieces cost far less because they take minutes, not days.
Hand or machine
The single biggest factor. Hand embroidery takes days or weeks for one garment; machine embroidery takes minutes.
Density and coverage
A few scattered butis take far less time than an all over pattern. The more of the garment that is embroidered, the more it costs.
Stitch types
Raised murri, phanda clusters and jaali are slower than simple tepchi outlines, so pieces rich in them cost more.
Fabric
Georgette, chanderi and organza generally cost more than cotton, and they take more care to embroider.
Finishing
Washing out the blue print, starching and finishing by hand all add to the time a piece takes.
Questions people ask
Why is some chikankari very cheap?
Very low prices usually mean machine embroidery, very light embroidery, or printed patterns made to look like embroidery.
How long does a hand chikankari kurta take?
It depends on the design. A lightly embroidered kurta can take days, while a densely worked piece can take weeks.
Keep reading
What Is Chikankari? · How to Identify Real Hand Chikankari · Chikankari Stitches: A Glossary · Chikankari Fabrics: Mulmul, Georgette, Chanderi and More · The History of Lucknow Chikankari · How to Care for Chikankari