Discovering Textiles from across the world

We give a brief dictionary on traditional work from Rajasthan, a lot of which finds its way to Jaipur. The intricacies of each process varies and is complicated to say the least - from making the blocks to the process of printing, from tying the knots to the dyeing. We provide a brief glimpse of the same. Weaving Though now most of the work of dyeing, printing is done on fabric procured from elsewhere, Rajasthan did have a tradition of its own weaving. Masuriya Cotton – The very fine, muslin cotton is termed masuriya. Now even combinations with silk is called masuriya. Kota Doria – Here two types of yarn one thicker like 80 counts is combined with finer yarn counts of 120. The handloom weaving results in the fringes of thicker counts whicle the inner is of finer counts. The uneven counts in the cloth can be seen and this results in a better fall for the fabric. Dyeing Bandhej – The traditional tie and dye technique. There are variations in terms of designs that are formed e...

Rajasthan is a treasure trove of textiles both traditional (handmade) and machine made. Of this Jaipur can be called a microcosm of that what can be found in Rajasthan.   Not only for textiles, it is a hub for other range of handicrafts. What works for Jaipur is its ability to apply traditional techniques to create contemporary textiles, transfer paper designs on to fabric at very affordable prices. Jaipur as a fabric hub, is seen more as a place for processing – dyeing, printing or embroidery than for fabric manufacture. The basic fabric in white, off white or coloured is procured by the exporter / fabric manufacturer and then give to the processors on a job work basis. The designs, colours are all explained to him and he processes the fabric accordingly. Though the traditional printing was carried out using vegetable dyes, today it is only for the discerning few that vegetable dyes are used. The non availability of a varied colour palette in vegetable colours and the inability ...

A very old article written by me popped up. It was time to review and know more about how the textiles in Bhutan and the Royal Academy of Textiles was doing. The following is the old article. A further update and article, I will post a bit later. Image courtesy -  Royal Textile Academy, Bhutan  This little Himalayan Kingdom which measures its GDP not as a measure of money or currency but as a Happiness Index – the term Gross National Happiness has its enviable repertoire of textiles. The textiles which I had seen at the various exhibitions organised by Dastkar and Dastakari Haat Samiti, came into their cultural and historical perspective at the exhibition organised at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi, where a host of textiles and jewellery were displayed. Further research via the Bhutanese Embassy led to the email exchange of information from both the Royal Textile Academy and The Textile Museum, Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affai...

This article of mine appeared in Silkmark Magazine, published by Silkmark Organisation of India (SMOI)  The one place stop for Textiles of Bhutan, a veritable living museum as it is termed is the RTA – Royal Textile Academy Image Courtesy - Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan    A very old article written by me popped up. It was time to review and know more about how the textiles in Bhutan and the Royal Academy of Textiles was doing. The following is the old article. A further update and article, I will post a bit later.  Mrs. Dorji, the  Executive Director, Royal Textile Academy  recounted the origins of the RTA -  “ In 2001, the country's first permanent Textile Museum was opened by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen   Mother Sangay Choden Wangchuck.  This was an important step towards collecting, documenting and displaying our exquisite textiles t...

Silk, the world loves it and it is one of the most premium and luxury fabric in the world. We take you on a brief on innovations of silk. Silk one of the oldest of fabric known to mankind has held its own in the world of luxury. Silk has been coveted, traded and zealously guarded. Given this romance around silk, there has been a continuous process for innovation in it. Along with it there have been innumerable research to create parallels from other plant and insect bodies. The results have been interesting, but the fact remains that Silk has managed to hold its own. However, it is interesting to trace the efforts made for these innovative alternatives. Read on and enjoy the brief compilation. The most recent in 2012 has been the weaving of cloth - the world’s largest pieces from spider silk. Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley worked on an unique five year long project, and silk from over one million female golden orb-weaver spiders were collected from Madagascar.  This was woven ...

( We had briefly given an introduction to Hungarian embroidery or Embroidery from Hungary in the earlier article. Here we look at different types of embroidery from Hungary very broadly. We hope these intricate stitches give you inspiration.)   Different types of Embroidery The stitches common to Hungarian embroidery include satin, cross stitch, daisy and chain stitch and darning stitches. Apart from the fine painstaking Matyo needlework, the Kalocsa embroidery centre is another well known place. Hodmezovasarhely the embroidery style popular in the 17 th /18 th Century is being revived and made into contemporary home furnishings. Cross stitch embroidery from Bereg, red and blue Paloc embroidery, Sarkoz, Transdanubia consisting Rabakoz and Buzsak. Each centre well known for its share of needlework. Halas lace is unique and stands out. The most painstakingly done embroidery, which is outstanding, is embroidery from Matyo. It is beautiful to say the least.  Done using minute...