This course is an introduction to Kasuti embroidery, approached as both a craft and a way of thinking.

Rooted in a counted-thread technique, Kasuti works on a grid, much like pixels, where each stitch follows a rhythm and structure. At the same time, it carries a quiet expression, much like a poem. Poems have long inspired visual forms, and in this course, we explore how they might find expression through embroidery.

Through this course, we will learn the foundational stitches of Kasuti, while also exploring how patterns can be read, translated, and reimagined. Participants will work with simple grids, motifs, and forms, gradually developing their own compositions.

The course does not require prior experience in embroidery. It is designed for those interested in working slowly, paying attention to detail, and engaging with craft as both process and practice.

Priyamvada Trivedi founded Guddi Crafts in December 2022 in Assam, where her family has deep roots — her parents manage a tea plantation, and her brother, Arjun Trivedi, started the Karunar Kheti Trust and Selenghat Valley School.

Priyam completed her schooling in Lucknow before moving to the US for higher education. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan. She has worked on projects such as Costs of Contention and Sexual Violence and Armed Conflict with researchers at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, and has assisted on a World Bank supported project to build a dataset on electricity access using nighttime satellite images.

After her PhD, she worked at Ashoka University as Associate Director of the Trivedi Center for Political Data and as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science. She later moved to Bangalore to work with Amuse Labs as a Senior Project Manager. Priyam now works as a Visiting Livelihood Development Researcher with the Karunar Kheti Trust in Upper Assam.

The course does not require prior experience in embroidery. It is designed for anyone interested in working slowly, paying attention to detail, and engaging with craft as both process and practice.

• Basic Kasuti stitches and techniques
• How to read and create grid-based patterns
• Translating visual ideas into embroidery
• Working with patience, rhythm, and repetition

• Even-weave fabric such as Aida
• Embroidery threads
• Needle
• Graph paper