Thus, the fabric had to be stitched lengthwise to make the desired width, which was later embroidered. This practice of stitching two pieces was common among textiles of Punjab in the early 20th century. In West Punjab (now in Pakistan), two or three pieces of cloth were first folded and joined, leading to distorted designs. In East Punjab (now Punjab, Haryana, and part of Himachal Pradesh), they were joined first and then embroidered. Patterns The hallmark of Phulkari is, making innumerable patterns by using long and short darn stitches. There were no pattern books and embroidery was worked entirely from the reverse of the fabric. The designs were not traced. Techniques and patterns were not documented but transmitted from word of mouth and each regional group was identified with the style of embroidery or design The embroidery is done with floss silk thread. Soft untwisted silk floss called , was used for embroidery. The thread came from Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Bengal and was dyed in the big cities by the . The best quality silk came from China. The village ladies obtained the thread from hawkers or peddlers who went from village to village selling daily needs items. The most favoured colour was red and its shades, because red is considered auspicious by both Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab. Madder brown, rust red, or indigo were the usual background colours for a base for the embroideries. White was used in Bagh by elderly ladies and widows. Black and blue were less preferred in Western Punjab, whereas white was less commonly used in East Punjab. Geometrical patterns are usually embroidered on the Phulkaris. Phulkari depicted scenes from everyday life in the villages. Animals and birds represented success, beauty, pride, and goodwill and different fruits symbolized wealth, prosperity, and fertility. Wheat and barley stalks with ears were also common motifs. No religious subjects or darbar (Sikh temple hall) scenes were embroidered. The decorated end of a scarf or shawl, the pallu, has separate panels of exquisite Phulkari workmanship with striking designs. Despite the fact that this embroidery was not originally done on a commercial scale, some of it did find a market abroad in the 19th century. The embroideries for shawls or ghagras (a long full decorated skirt) were used to make curtains for European homes. Specimens of Phulkari cloth from different regions of Punjab were sent to Colonial and Indian Exhibition,