What is schiffli embroidery on lawn?

Where the name comes from

The schiffli machine was developed in Switzerland in the 1860s, and its name is Swiss German for “little boat”, after the boat-shaped shuttle that carries the thread on the back of the cloth. Each needle at the front forms a lockstitch with its own shuttle behind, while the fabric is held taut in a tall frame that moves to trace the pattern.

The same method produces eyelet fabric, known in English as broderie anglaise, where small holes are pierced and their edges bound with stitches. Today the word is used loosely. Lawn sold as schiffli may come from a true schiffli machine or from modern multi-head machines, and in a shop it mostly describes the look: all-over embroidery that usually includes eyelets.

Schiffli vs chikankari

Schiffli lawn is often sold as chikankari lawn or chikan fabric, because white-on-white flowers and eyelets recall the hand embroidery of Lucknow. They are different things. Hand chikankari takes far longer and is valued accordingly, so a listing should say plainly which one it is; our chikankari guide describes the hand stitches.

• How it is made: chikankari is worked by hand with a needle. Schiffli is machine work from start to finish.
• Repeats: schiffli motifs are identical along the whole length. Hand work varies slightly from flower to flower.
• Shadow effect: chikankari’s shadow work is stitched on the reverse so that it shows softly through sheer cloth. Schiffli stitching sits on the surface.
• Openwork: chikankari jaali eases the threads apart without cutting them. Schiffli eyelets are pierced holes with a stitched rim.
• The reverse: schiffli shows even rows of machine stitching and sometimes trimmed thread ends between motifs.

What it means for lining

Eyelets are real holes, and the lawn between them is fine, so a schiffli kameez is more see-through than printed lawn of the same weight. Most people line the body or wear a slip underneath. A lining in the same colour keeps the look quiet, a skin-tone lining lets the eyelets fade into the background, and a contrast lining, such as a pastel under white, turns the eyelet pattern into a feature.

Sleeves are often left unlined so the outfit stays airy, and trousers are normally cut from plain cotton or cambric, not from the embroidered cloth. Our guides to whether a kameez needs lining and choosing lining for an unstitched suit go through fabrics and colours.

What it means for cutting

Schiffli has to be cut with the embroidery in mind, not only the measurements. Check the label first: some suits give embroidered cloth for the whole kameez, others only for the front, with a plain back and sleeves.

• Scalloped edges: many schiffli lengths have a finished, scalloped border along one or both edges. It can become the daman or the sleeve ends, but that fixes the length there, because a scalloped hem cannot be turned up later. Decide your kameez length before anything is cut.
• Motif placement: a row of motifs should run down the centre front, and the two sleeves should mirror each other. Placing pieces for the pattern uses more cloth than cutting plain fabric.
• Seams and darts: stitching through dense embroidery is bulky, and an eyelet that lands on a seam line can gape.
• Shrinkage: embroidery thread and cotton lawn can shrink by different amounts, which puckers the cloth round the motifs. A cool, gentle wash keeps it to a minimum.

Having schiffli lawn stitched

If you already own a schiffli suit, Stitching Only is the route. Send photos of the fabric, including any scalloped edge, with the lengths from the label, and we confirm that it is suitable and that there is enough for your design before you post it to Pakistan. Say where you want the scallops to fall and whether you want a lining. You can start a Stitching Only quote with the photos you have.

If you would like us to supply an embroidered lawn of this kind, describe the look or send a photo, and the written quote confirms what is possible; no particular fabric is promised in advance. For embroidery added to plain lawn instead, see how much embroidery lawn can carry and the custom embroidery page.