Large orders – hundreds of pieces – are only possible with many trained hands working to one standard. In Kasuti, those hands are mostly in clusters, cooperatives, training centres and self-help groups in north Karnataka. This lesson is about working with them in a way that is fair, steady and good for the craft.

What you’ll learn

  • Why large buyers work with clusters rather than single embroiderers.
  • The kinds of artisan organisations that exist, and how to find them.
  • How to run design workshops and training pipelines.
  • What large and overseas buyers will ask you to prove.

Why clusters

A cluster is a group of artisans in one area who share skills, sometimes a workspace, and often an organisation such as a cooperative society. Working with an established cluster, rather than a single person, helps keep quality consistent and makes bulk and repeat orders realistic (ebook ch. 19).

Who to work with

  • The state channel. The Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC), which holds the Kasuti GI, is a natural starting point for verified contacts (ebook ch. 19). State training centres, notably in Hubballi, have been reported to train women in Kasuti (ch. 17).
  • Cooperatives and NGOs. Craft sources describe women’s cooperative societies across Dharwad, Hubballi, Kalghatgi, Gadag and Mundargi, supported by bodies such as Bhagini Samaj and Janata Shikshana Samiti, reportedly with several hundred embroiderers (ch. 17). The IDF SHG Foundation, with the Kaikrafts initiative, is reported to have trained and employed women in Kasuti. Banjara Kasuti works with Lambani women around Vijayapura on skill-graded wages.
  • Craft councils. The Crafts Council of India and regional craft bodies can help connect designers with artisan groups (ch. 19).

Details of these organisations change. Contact them directly to confirm who they are, what they make, and how they work today.

How to work well together

  1. Meet in person. Visit, watch how the group works, see their best pieces – front and back.
  2. Run a design workshop together. Bring your market brief (sizes, colours, products); let the artisans show how motifs fit the counted grid. New products should respect the counted-thread logic and the artisans’ way of working.
  3. Specify by stitch name. Gavanti, Murgi, Neyge and Menthe are the artisans’ working vocabulary. Use them in every specification and purchase order (ch. 19).
  4. Cost transparently. Neyge is the slowest stitch, and a motif can hold thousands of stitches. A quote that seems too fast or too cheap is a warning sign of an unrealistic timeline or reduced, partly machine work (ch. 19).
  5. Build a training pipeline. Graded skills, so new embroiderers can join, learn and move up.
  6. Pay fairly, document it, and allow no child labour. Large and overseas buyers will ask for proof.

Government support

The office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) and the state handicrafts corporation run schemes for training, design and marketing from time to time. Schemes open and close; ask what is open now.

Worked examples

Example 1: a first order with a cooperative. Start with a small trial: one product, a limited quantity, a fixed sample to match. Agree the stitch map, the delivery date, the price method (hours × an agreed rate per grade, plus materials and the group’s overheads), and when payment is made. Review together after delivery before placing a larger order.

Example 2: a design workshop agenda. Morning: you share the brief and photos of the market. The group shows traditional motifs and how they scale. Afternoon: together you chart three new pieces; makers stitch quick samples; everyone times them. End: agree which go forward.

Example 3: documenting fair pay. For each order: the makers, hours worked, rate per grade, date paid, and how paid. Keep copies of payment records. This is the evidence a large buyer will ask for.

Tips, tricks and hacks
  • Bring the market to the artisans: photos of where pieces will be sold and who buys them.
  • Leave a signed approved sample with the group and keep a matching one.
  • Pay part in advance so the group can buy materials without borrowing.
  • Agree delivery in batches; problems surface early.
  • Respect the calendar: harvest, festivals and family events affect working time.
  • Credit the group on labels and in listings.
  • Return to the same groups; steady orders matter more to them than one big one.
  • Use a local coordinator who speaks Kannada and knows the makers.
Problems and how to fix them

The batch doesn’t match the sample.

  1. Compare piece by piece with the signed sample; agree which need fixing.
  2. Find the cause together: thread lot, stitch map, a new maker.
  3. Prevention: a halfway check visit or photos of first pieces.

The group can’t meet your deadline.

  1. Agree a partial delivery and a later date for the rest.
  2. Simplify the design for volume.
  3. Prevention: plan dates from the group’s real hours, not your buyer’s wish.

A middleman offers a much faster, cheaper route.

  1. Ask who stitches, where, and how they are paid.
  2. Check the backs of samples for machine work.
  3. Prevention: work directly with documented groups.

Makers leave the cluster for other work.

  1. Ask why; pay and timing are common reasons.
  2. Offer steadier orders and on-time pay.
  3. Prevention: a training pipeline and fair rates.

A buyer asks for proof of fair practice you don’t have.

  1. Start documenting now, from the next order.
  2. Ask the group what records they already keep.
  3. Prevention: records from the very first order.
Mistakes to avoid
  • Sending a design without asking the artisans whether it works on the grid.
  • Squeezing price until the hours can’t be paid fairly.
  • Using the group’s photos and names without consent.
  • Big orders with no trial.
  • Disappearing after one order.
What to ask your CA, lawyer or the office
  • Office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts): “Which training, design and marketing schemes are open now, and who may apply?” (Check current.)
  • KSHDC: “Which cooperatives and training centres can you connect us with?”
  • Lawyer: “What should a supply agreement with a cooperative cover – quality, delivery, pay, credit and design ownership?”
  • Lawyer or the labour department: “What wage and working-condition rules apply to home-based and cooperative embroiderers, and what records prove we follow them?” (Check current.)
  • CA: “How should purchases from a cooperative be recorded, and what documents should they give us?”

Note: rules on tax, registration and export change. Check the current position with a chartered accountant or the office named before you act – this lesson tells you what to ask, not the answer.

Sources and uncertain points
  • The cooperatives, NGOs and initiatives named here are as described in craft sources used by D&D’s Kasuti ebook (ch. 17 and 19). Numbers of embroiderers and areas of work are reported, not checked by us. Confirm directly with each organisation.
  • Government schemes change often; this lesson names offices to ask, not schemes to rely on.
Check yourself
  • Have you met the group and seen their backs?
  • Do your specs use stitch names?
  • Do you start with a trial order?
  • Do you document pay for every order?
  • Do you know which office to ask about schemes?
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