Photoblog- Visit to Textile Clusters of Indore, Dhar and Maheshwar

Route to Bagh is breathtaking. In the background are seen the windmills. The road is newly laid and extremely well built.

These are a common site in Bagh. The printing is done with natural colors and ingredients like myrobalan. The red is developed with Alum by boiling in Alizarin ( an ingredient of Alum). It is also known as alizarin printing. It is said that the minerals dissolved in the Bagh river provide that extremely rich red color to the fabric. The printing is done on cotton, chanderi, Maheshwari, Modal Tussar and Mulberry.

Printing is done with hand. All the three blocks gad, reikh and datta ( daat ) are used.

There are lots of words of wisdom you will find on the local shops, the above notice says "loan is a magic, we give you and you will get vanished....." so true sometimes !!!!

Visit to Maheshwar is inspiring. The township is reverberating with the sweet sounds of handlooms. A neat and clean place with an all pervasive presence of Ahilyabai Holkar dynasty, which is reflected in their philanthropic institutions.

Maheshwari is a fabric in silk and cotton. The difference from Chanderi, as we are told is in the count of weft and twist constructions of warp. In chanderi twisted yarn is used in the warp. Also in chanderi 100s count is used whereas in Maheshwari 80s count is used. But the real difference is in the woven border of chanderi, the inspiration from which is taken from the carvings of the Ahilyabai fort.

The picture above indicates the dobby used to create the famous Maheshwari Border.

So the iron frames are used to hold the handloom together. Look at the way the warp are arranged.

Look at the way the indigenous drop box motion is provided on the loom to change the shuttle.

Here we can see that gears are finding their way in to handlooms to make the process of weaving faster and painless.

It was enlightening to address a group of weavers. A great job is done there by the Handloom School. It was amazing to see how this next generation of weavers is evolved to take on this e-commerce revolution.

Watching Narmada at the sunset was a treat

It was great to see ambar Charkha spinning Khadi at Womens Weaves

Back in Indore, chance to see the Indigo Alizarin Process of Tarapur Cluster

Chance to Meet Sattar Bhai, doing Dabu with hand block printing

This is not all, in the next blog will write about my learning on the various borders in Maheshwar.

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Why Handlooms are Dying in India- An Economic Argument

This is an adaptation to the answer to the post submitted on facebook by a reader:

Some people say that handlooms in India are dying and the reason is the emergence of powerloom and MNREGA. I agree with them that there is an imminent death of the handloom sector, but the reasons are different than what they site. Powerlooms and MNREGA are just alternatives they have for the handloom. The reasons are purely economic. One, switching of weavers from handloom to powerloom is just analogous to our switching to smart phone from your old phone for the simple reason that it is more efficient and productive. So a weaver, when he finds that the product of a powerloom is not so much different or even better from the point of view of the returns for his family, he will switch to alternatives like any rational human being. Running a powerloom is not as as simple that one relegate the task to some less skilled person. A break in powerloom whether warp or weft can ruin a whole product for the simple reasons that by the time it is noticed and the machine is stopped, a lot of picks have already gone by resulting in a patta or chira as the case may be- of course I am talking about the primitive powerlooms prevalent in our country without the warp or weft stop motions.

They also say that to protect the handlooms they are offering weavers twice the usual wages. However, their offering of double or even triple wages help a little, as their baseline wages are so small in relation to the effort involved that doubling or tripling may not help much.

Khadi sector is already diluted as the “amber charka” is like a mini ring frame taking its inputs from the mill product- roving. Only difference is that it has more defects and it is S-twisted. Genuine Charkhas produce so little that it is only used on the national days.

I feel it is our greed- the high profile elite consumers- that we let the weavers stick to the handloom when they have much better alternatives including powerloom. Let us not bind them into their age old professions for our greed by throwing them with yarn subsidies and increments in wages which are abysmally low as compared to their efforts. And they are realising that which is the effect you are witnessing across all the clusters. We need to remember that while business is talking numbers, they are also understanding numbers and taking actions which are good for their survival. Lets not make them the slaves of the handloom in th name of protecting the handlooms. 

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Technology of Charkha Spinning

This document is for textile technologist. You can download it from   here  or from here.

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What is the difference between Khadi and Handloom

Khadi means a cloth woven on Handloom using Hand –Spun Yarn. Handloom means cloth woven on Handloom using Mill-spun yarn.

Khadi cloth is generally much more porous. This gives Khadi a soft and well ventilated feel. The twist of the hand woven yarn is generally less than that of mill yarn. This less twist helps improve its absorption properties.

Yarn spun on Charakhaa has a twist in the direction of letter 'S'. If we twist the yarn in the direction of normal tightening of the right handed screw, the yarn gets more twist. ( The mill yarn has an opposite twist in the direction of letter 'Z').

Interestingly the count of Khadi is measured in km/kg or N/m. The general relationship between Nm and English count is 0.59 x Nm. Thus khadi that is sold in the khadi store as 250s count khadi is actually 250 x 0.59= 147s count, which is also very good.

Generally 1 meter of roving is converted to 20 m of yarn for Amber charkha.

It would be curious to know that one tree yields 1-2 kg of raw cotton. 40% of it can be used for spinning. As a thumb rule, from 1 kg of yarn of 40s count we can weave 7 to 8 sq meter of cloth ( of course, it also depends upon the reed and pick).

As a trivia, it takes 5-6 hours on Amber charkha to make a yarn required from 1 sq meter of cloth. One weaver family can weave about 200-250 meters of cloth per month.


Source 

Watch this movie on Khadi

and this movie

This movie narrates self employment through Khadi:

http://www.kvic.org.in/kvicres/images/KHADI_Englilsh_Compress.mp4 

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What is Khana or Khunn Saree Blouse Fabric

Guledgudd Khana is the name of the fabric which has obtained the Geographical Indication ( GI) Registration.

The small design motifs are a speciality of these fabrics. These designs are produced using extra threads and make the motifs appear bolder and enhance the attractiveness of the fabrics.

The basic raw material is silk, viscose and cotton yarn. However, increasingly polyester is also used. Dyeing of cotton and silk yarn is done in open using firewood. Indigo dyeing using buried earthern pots is also practised.

Street sizing is practiced. Weaving of the Khana requires a dobby attachment in both handlooms and powerlooms. The handlooms are either pit looms or plain looms. These are narrow width looms of  32 to 36 inches width.



Guledgudd is a cluster of villages in the Badami area of Bagalkot district of Karnataka. This is a great compliment to Ilkal sarees and other sarees also woven in Karnataka. Most of the designs are replicas of Suranarayana Mukta ( Sun God), Siddeswar Mukta ( Siddeswara God), Theru ( Chariot), Ane Hejje ( Footsteps of elephants), Tulsi Pan or Sooji Mallige ( Frangrance Giving Flower).These are woven by Devanga and  Veerashaiva community.

The structure of a khunn Fabric is like this:

1. Extra Warp: It is usually in viscose with yarn count of about 75/2. Sometimes silk of 16/18 denier is also used.

2. Ground Warp: It is usually of silk of 16/18 denier or polyester 80s or 30s count.

3. Border Warp: It is usually of silk of 16/18 denier or polyester 80s or 30s count. Sometimes mercerised cotton of 120s count is also used.

4. Weft: Most of the time it is of cotton of 40s or 60s count.

A few of the designs:

Deepa

Kalawar Balli

Karamantikki

Kavalihuva Putani

Navalpari

Suryanarayana Sudarshna

Kolu Teru

Bairihuwu

Reference

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Jamnagri Bandhani

Jamnagri Bandhani Technique is an ancient tie-and-dye technique practised in the regions of Saurashtra and Kutchh in Gujarat of India.

In this process, the fabric is tied in various patterns using nails, beads or grain which prevent the color from coming in these tied areas during dyeing.

You can go through the complete process here. However, briefly the process is as follows:

a. The bleached cloth is printed with design using wooden blocks.

b. The cloth is then rolled and tied using thick threads, wound usually an interval of one inch. The process is done by women. The dots to be resist dyed are pushed up from the reverse side of the cloth by the nails of artisan's left small finger, then the heads of the pushed up parts are tightly tied in knots. Cotton threads are used for knots.

c. Then dyeing commences. The first shade before tying is yellow shade. Then it is dyed in other colors.

A few of the products using Jamnagri Bandhani Technique are mentioned here

1. Panetar

Panetar is a white saree with red tie-dye border. Traditionally in Gujarat region, the wife wears panetar saree gifted from her mother's brother. Later she wears the Gharchola sari gifted by her in-laws.

2. Gharchola

Gharchola is white and yellow tie-dyed on a red background with checked pattern of gold plated thread. It has auspicious patterns like elephant, flowers and mango.

3. Virbhol

4. Barbaug

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 

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Basic Quality Parameters of Handloom Products including Sarees

India Handloom is an initiative by the Ministry of Textile to bring the best of the handloom products to the users. They have produced a table of the basic quality parameters of the handloom fabrics, specifically sarees. 

It is useful for buyers of traditional sarees who would like to know the quality parameters such as count, constructions, length, width and fabric for Indian traditional sarees. 

7 August is celebrated as the National Handloom Day. 

To download, you can go to this link or  this link.

They have also published a list of registered users which can be a treasure for any sourcing professional.

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Patteda Anchu and Gamcha Sarees

I had the privilege to attend the launch of Patteda Anchu and Gamcha Sarees in Bangalore. It is amazing to find that there are so many kinds of art and craft of this country that are still getting discovered. 

Patteda Anchu

I met Hemlatha Jain, who has done this commendable work of reviving the Patteda Anchu Sarees which are in records since the 10th century. As a part of her PhD project, and with a support from Dastkari Haat Samiti, she was able to get these sarees produced for the first time. She recalled how she learnt Kannada to communicate with weavers. 

Briefly speaking, the saree is named after the borders and check patterns. It is also known as dundina, devaru or laxmi sare. 

Speaking on the technical aspects of it, she told us it is woven in the count combinations of 20s x 40s cotton yarn. The typical length of one warp is six sarees and is woven on the traditional pit looms. She used cold reactive dyes to dye the yarns, which are then woven with three shuttle technique.

Gamcha Sarees

These have their own story of the revival. On a trip to Phulia, Jaya Jetly of Dastkari Haat Samiti found that there were beautiful Gamchas woven in the areas of Nabadweep. The weavers used to get a pittance while weaving these. She thought it would be great if these Gamchas are woven into sarees so as to ensure its wider reach as well as ensuring a better livelihood for weavers. At the same time she did not want to put these sarees out of reach of common masses. So she started discussion with Ankit, a NIFT graduate, who in his remarkable way, had to convince the weavers to set the sarees. He not only gave them designs but also technical inputs on how to weave the sarees. Finally the first set of sarees came and are sure to create waves among the consumer communities. 

The typical length of warp is 100 Sarees which are then distributed over four  looms with 25 sarees on ach loom. 

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Is every double Ikat a Telia Rumal

Ikat is a yarn resist technique wherein the yarns are tie-dyed, and on weaving a pattern is created on the surface of the fabric.

In single Ikat fabrics, either warp or weft is tie-dyed and woven with the other thread ( weft or warp) of solid color. In double Ikat, both warp and weft are tie-dyed according to a pre-determined pattern and then woven to create design on the fabric.

Double Ikat

Telia Rumal traditionally woven in Chirala, is originally a square constructed. However now the fabrics, or sarees are woven in this construction. A Telia -as it called today- is a double ikat construction with a typical color and design pattern.

The typical colors of Telias are Terracota red and black using natural dyes. The fabrics are mordanted with iron solution and alum so that on dyeing with alizarine, areas with iron become deep black and the ones with alum turned red.

As far as design is concerned, the layout of typical Telia comprise of a geometrical grid like patterning with borders all around, thereby creating small squares at the four corners.

There is also a confusion between Pochampally Ikat and Telia. Pochampally is a commercial application of Telia Rumal technique as well as patola technique of Gujarat. They use single, double or combined ikat techniques to produce sarees and fabric which are cost effective and popular.

Source

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Indian Traditional Embroidery- How to Recognise-2

West India

Continued from Part-1

1. Gujarat Kutchh

Abla Bharat

Mochi Bharat

Soof Bharat

2. Parasi

Central India

1. Chikankari- Uttar Pradesh

2. Phoolpatti- Uttar Pradesh

3. Zardozi- Uttar Pradesh

South India

1. Kasuti- Karnataka

2. Lambani

East India

1. Kantha- West Bengal

2. Sujani- Bihar

3. Pipli Applique- Orissa

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