What is Kantha?

A utilitarian art form: 

The craft was born out of necessity to repurpose discarded textiles and has evolved into a cherished art form with unique, handmade pieces.

As with all traditional textiles, kantha was influenced by external factors such as material availability, daily needs, climate, geography and economic factors. Historically, textile production was one of the most labour-intensive industries, and as such, textiles were highly valued. Thus, the recycling of well used cloth-turned-rags was a natural step in the lifecycle of textiles the world over. Given that this recycling was home-based work, it usually fell to the women of the village to prepare, cut and stitch the rags - giving old textiles new life.

Traditionally, old cotton saris, which had turned incredibly soft through wear, were used to make kanthas, with the thread for the stitching drawn out from the fabric itself. Recycling at its best!