Punjabi jutti: construction, makers and materials

Upper and sole

Making a jutti involves more than decorating its visible upper. In Naveen Macro’s 2024 report from Rupana, Sri Muktsar Sahib, shoemaker Hans Raj explains how he begins joining the upper to the sole at the toe. He identifies this as a demanding point in the work. Small strips of leather reinforce the joints in his own method. Buffalo hide supplies the thick sole, while thinner cowhide is used above it. The report also records inherited tools and the gradual learning of a craft from his father. Hans Raj’s account gives the finished shoe a construction history: cutting, shaping, joining and reinforcement all contribute to its form.[1]

Embroidered uppers

The same report follows Veerpal Kaur, who learned embroidery from her mother-in-law. Her work belongs to this household’s division of tasks.[1]

Nandini Agarwal’s field documentation describes another process in Fazilka. Aari embroidery is worked over a paper stencil placed on leather; the excess paper is removed, while paper caught beneath the stitches remains. Her comparison with Patiala follows a different organisation, with households commissioned for separate tasks. These observations locate technique within particular production arrangements.[3]

Materials and designs

Dastkari Haat Samiti’s Patiala documentation shows embroidery beside embossed, punched and other surface treatments. Its photographs include curled fronts and rounded toes, along with heavily ornamented wedding examples. The material range also includes velvet and rexine, and the story records machine-embroidered uppers. Captions dated 2018 make these useful examples of adaptation, rather than evidence that all juttis share a single material or technique. A shoe may keep a familiar shape while changes occur in its upper, sole or decoration. The story credits artisans Sachin Kumar, Sonu Kumar, Satinder Singh and Omkar Dhaliya. These are credits for the documented project, not individual attributions for every shoe shown.[2]