With its light gossamer quality, chikan has evolved as a logical answer to keeping cool while also providing adornment and beauty. The name chikan seems to have been derived from the Persian word chikan or chikin or chikeen, which means a cloth wrought with needlework. Different artworks of chikankari includes:-

Taipchi: A type of stemstitch used to make out lines of motifs on sarees.

Phanda: The millet-shaped stitches are used to make flowers and patterns like grapevines.

Murri: The murri stitches are rice-shaped, they are like the French knot.

Jali: The jali is normally worked by tearing apart the warp and weft threads of the cloth and by creating minute buttonhole stitches.

Most of the design motifs in chikankari are Mughal-based, also seen in the ornamentation at the Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. As far as chikan work is concerned, the point of the needle darts back and forth, teasing the weave of the fine muslin, mull or cotton. Each stitch is diligently added till a perfect motif appears as part of a tracery of petals, birds or arabesques. While the nawabs played an important role in preserving the chikan tradition, it has now been given a contemporary touch by the designers.

While chikan is known in India not only for hand-embroidered but hand stitched garments too, pre-embroidered fabrics which offer a blend of international and Indian motifs in Schiflee embroidery have also been traditionally popular. Hakoba embroidery on pastels and white has been a part of traditional summer wardrobes.