Sujani embroidery originated in the late 1920s in Bhusra, Bihar. This craft is said to be practiced by Rajput women in their free time for personal use. They weren’t allowed to go out of their house and Sujani became a means of expression for them. Historically, it began as a form of quilting to create blankets for new born babies. Old pieces of cloth were sewn together where even the threads were pulled out from the loose ends of the fabric. This was done to envelope the baby in the soft embrace of a mother.

The running stitches all over the base of the fabric create a rippling effect which makes the motifs in the foreground stand out. This creates a more striking composition visually. One more feature of Sujani embroidery is that the running stitch is always done in straight lines. This form of embroidery is similar to Kantha embroidery of Bengal, where stitches can be made in any direction.