A New Warp- Journey of textiles

New Yarns

2009-09-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Australian weaver Getzner launched its kapok fabric to years ago. light weight and thermo regulating the fibers come from a tree that grows in Asia, W Afric and Brazil.

Japanese denim producer Kuroki includes a new organic cotton denim dyed with natural dyes.

What is new in this case is that the cloth is rope dyed, a process which is traditionally use for chemical colorants, but preserves the quality of water.

Launched some 18 months ago by spinner Maclodio, the Milkofil range of yarns derived from milk protein, can now be seen in commercial fabric ranges. This yarn is particularly suited for contact with the skin in clothing, underwear and bedding and not particularly cheap.

Italian Limonta has launched a new fabric made from Abaca fibres, commonly known as Manila hemp and used to making paper, which has a dry and natural touch. It is made with care for the environment without employing any chemicals and produces a unique hand and look.

A sneak preview.. From Adam to Yves exhibition..

2009-08-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

I have been working these past few days on a very special project...

CIID 's first batch of students are graduating this coming week... And we have a wonderful year end show planned...

Have been workin on posters, banners, the exhibition space, object settings, lighting, catalogue and a year end book, and so much more...

And some very special, secret things too.... for the graduating students.. :)

See more of the student projects here

More pictures from the project tomorrow..

Nesting dolls- How an artistic piece becomes a craft practice.

2009-08-08T04:49:00.001-07:00

Unlike one might imagine, nesting dolls are not from yonder years and unknown origins. Nesting dolls or Matrioshka dolls as they are popularly called, have a very interesting story.

The idea of nested forms were present in Russia in their Faberge eggs. But it was a nested doll from Japan representing the seven gods of fortune that inspired Sergei Maliutin, a painter from a folk crafts workshop in Russia to make the first Matrioshka. In 1900, his wife presented the doll at the Great Exhibition in Paris and won a bronze medal. Soon the production of the doll spread and many places in Russia started making it.

Read more about the dolls and their story here and here.

And interestingly enough, found this on Etsy. A set of Indian nested dolls!

I had a set to play with as a child. They were meant to be displayed during golu. The dolls as I remember were dressed like a stereotype fat Indian lady in a sari, and my father picked it up from a street stall in Vijayawada in Andhra. A picture, soon.

Sutradhar & Marionettes

2009-08-08T04:25:00.000-07:00

This is a picture from a marionette shop in Prague. Marionettes were everywhere. They were being marketed as coveted souvenirs to take back, like the Taj Mahal models or the Staute of Liberty figurines. We got chatting with some of the shop keepers and they were excited tell us about these characters. The sheer range of characters, the stories and the costumes were so intriguing that buying something just for a souvenir didnt feel justified.

They say the art of Czech marionette and puppet making goes back to the 18th century. They were traditionally handcarved from lime wood or made from plaster. They represent all kinds of characters from clowns, kings and princes to the evil villians and devils. The characters from Czech folklore such as Spejbl, Hurvínek, or the Czech literary character of Švejk. Many of these beautiful, elaborately carved Czech marionettes are works of art.

But somehow in the tourist inflated souvenir markets we didnt quite see this skill. Maybe this warrants a longer stay and some trips around Prague.

The marionette usually consists of a central rod to which limbs and feet and the head is attached. Holes at made at nodal points and a string is strung through them connecting the parts. Stringing the marionette is the key to the performance. By the manipulation of the main string, the parts can made to move or programed to move in a particular way. And hence one who conducts the marionette is called a manipulator.

The Indian sutradhar or the thread-puller is also derived from a similar theatre practice. Sutradhar refers to the person who links the performer to the performance.

I do 30

2009-08-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

A really cool, compelling campaign!

Some excerpts from the website:

"In Europe, alone, if every household turns its washing temperature down from 60 or 40 °C to 30 °C, we can actually save 12 million tons of CO2 a year – this corresponds to the annual emissions from three million cars."

"We would all like to help the environment but not at the cost of smelly and stained clothes. Fortunately, thanks to modern low-temperature washing detergents, clothes get clean at much lower temperatures than ever before.

That means that lowering the temperature of your wash gets you clean clothes, while saving you electricity and potentially saving all of us from millions of tons of CO2. With 70 to 80% of the energy usage of a washing machine coming from heating the water, this is one place where we are not just making a goodwill gesture but an actual difference. "

Read more here and watch videos at the Copenhagen Fashion Week to see how the people in the business are making the first change!

Mater

2009-08-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

So, here is one real story of responsibility I know....
Mater is a design company in Copenhagen. Henrik Marstrand the founder of Mater believes in creating timeless and beautiful design based on an ethical design startegy. Mater creates and sells exclusive home accessories with working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment.

Mater is also involved in projects to improve the quality of life for their vendors India and Vietnam. In India they are setting up a wood drying facility to improve production and capacity at the wood factory. In Vietnam, they are working to implement Corporate Social Responsibility at a porcelain factory.

A very subtle icon in the packaging denotes the country of production. Every single detail in the packaging of the product is so meticulous that the information is there for those who seek it, yet not screaming to be a "eco chic" product. So beautiful!

Kodali Karuppur.

2009-08-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

THE REVIVAL, WORKSHOPS AND THE STORY TODAY.

Last year when I was in India, I happened to visit Kodali Karuppur, the village once famed for its exquisite block printing. It was a casual visit. I was always fascinated by the lovely old karuppur pieces I saw at the Calico Museum. I wanted to know what happened there today.

An industry that came into being in the heydays of the Coromandel kalamkari block printing export

trade. But the uniqueness of the Kodali prints were that they were done on brocaded fabrics with the print and brocade butas matching perfectly to create a

tinsled- pattern effect.

Today it a lost technique.

The weavers who wove at Kodali karuppur, done weave the jamdani style brocade any more. ANd the art of block printing is almost alien to this group.

The Kodali karuppur sari was a favourite of the Maratha rulers of Tanjore. Once the focus of such patronage, the technique has disappeared mysteriously today.

The Weavers Service Center in Chennai decided that this was a craft that required and a craft revival program was planned.

It was after more than a year of this, that I

visited this ce

nter with a handloom officer.

I was shown scale renderings that artists at the weavers service center had meticulously painted. It was so detailed that it looked like a real sari to me. It must have taken so many days to complete an artwork of this scale. In this picture, also see the drawings of the print lines and those with gold work marked out separately.

It almost shocked me that in this day when computers allow us a wider spectrum of visualisation and trials and explorations, are we still painting entire artworks by hand?

many such artworks were rolled up and stacked in a dusty corner.

The local weavers had workshops to train them in weaving the jamdani style jacquard. This had to be modified to suit the existing looms and weaving infrastructure of this area. Thus only small butas were done. They could also weave pattas like cross borders. Bigger ogival patterns were not tried out.

The group also had no skill in dyeing or printing. Hence a small team of printers and dyers were

brought from Masulipatnam who did a 2-day workshop and then printed the samples.

The weavers were also familiarised with natural dyeing. The sari interesting was made with myrabalam dyed yarn. Thus the printing could happen in an off the loom state, not requiring any wetting before the printing.

That way the registration could be maintained.

The society still had a sample of the sari in an unprinted state.

They showed me some fragments of the printed pieces. I felt the blocks could have done better. It lacked a certain finesse. The lines they made were very thick and too clean. It almost looked like a screen print.

The samples were duly packed away to the WSC for exhibitions and display.

The project was complete.

The Kodalikaruppur sari has been revived.

Ofcourse the sari looked like old pictures of the Kodali karuppur product, but what was the purpose of the effort?

The weavers continue to weave cotton saris for the local market and this workshop is soon fading as a memory.

The natural dyeing remains a workshop completed on paper. Today when I want to place an order, the weavers are not able to do it. They cannot block print either. They recommended a screen print!

The story of revival is not always like this. But this is a very likely possibility. How does one make workshops part of the system where there is accountability. The government proposals and guidelines I notice always talk of responsibility. Responsibility and accountability are very different, it turns out.

Craft Revival- The story and issues

2009-08-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

Its true now that there is much more awareness about crafts and people involved in this trade. Yes, the media writes loads about the diminishing reach of the crafst persons, the problems faced by weavers and how some local crafts are completely lost.

One must remember, that "craft" as we see it today is a largely a community activity. How did these come about? How did people organize themselves into guilds and conduct the same activity with such striking visual similarity? Can I propose that craft of today was an artistic expression of an individual in the beginning?

The product was utilitarian- that being its primary role- and art was only an interface to it. The visual identity that we associate with a craft today is a strong stylisation that evolved with time, and has refined into a language.

When one artisan started a brilliant twist to a plain product, the others must have seen a new emerging market and thus adopted it. In plain words, its like social networking in a physical world. And soon, a group of people would have had to work hard together to cater to a demand for this new product. Thus with time, a place came to be known for a style, and a group of people for a craft.

If this explanation was true, then why did these crafts die?

And today what is the relevance of a "revival"?

Some crafts are languishing due to a shrinking local market. Some more have become so prominent in their visual language that the relevance of their utility and form have reduced or disappeared or just become irrelevant in a modern world.

The Government and various craft based NGO and activists have now got engaged in an activity which they term "craft revival"

What is craft revival?

Craft revival could be explained as an effort to work with artisans with many mediators (read designers, technical experts, a local leader etc) and stake holders (a master weaver, trader, exporter or the government) to brief the artisans of the mainstream world, its requirements, its demands and how they can cope with it. Design has emerged as the most prominent tool in this scene.

How does craft revival work?

Designers bring with them a world of exposure, new ideas and inspiration. This makes them ideal agents for change- they can look at the craft objectively, they can understand the artisan as they know the value of time and creation and they come from the real world, where they themselves are consumers. So they know the viability and saleability of a product.

Well, this is an ideal situation.

So in the exercise of craft revival, the designers engage with the artisans, and work with a brief provided by a stake holder and develop new designs. Few designers work on projects as a personal goal, adopting the craft group. Most work on them as short projects.

What next?

This is where the more serious issues begin. So what after this design intervention? In most cases the group continues the products made during these workshops for a while. But design and fashion is fickle- soon many more artisans from similar groups adopt these new ideas into their craft. And soon the craft reaches the same saturation.

Also in the name of revival, the inspiration for design is from old motifs and forms. SO while there is new design for layouts and composition, the inherent visual quality remains the same. The interpretation is never new nor speaking of the aesthetic of the times we live in..

The problem could be that often design intervention is at the surface ornamentation level. If design seeked deeper, and addressed issues of qualities and took inspiration from the genesis of the craft, maybe the outcomes will be more honest and long lasting.

The age of revival is over. The aim of revival of awareness and creating the chance for these artisans to find their path again. That has been well done. If these artisans are to sustain the brutual realities of time and the real world, they will have to learn the how of design .

A craft needs to find its necessity and role in the society today.

A a craftsman has elate himself from being a mere executor.

Now is the time to lay a new foundation of hand crafts. They do not need the cultural baggage of a few hundred years. But instead of they stopped and thought about how they came to be, they might just find the answers to their survival.

Interactive textiles for Diffus

2009-08-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

In December last year, Diffus approached me to work on a rather exciting project- to create an Interactive Sample Book. Elisabeth Heimdal, a masters student at DTU was doing her thesis project with them and she was exploring different interactive textiles for real world applications. The outcomes would be developed as samples that would be filed in a sampler book, a sort of visual metaphor to how fabrics are traditionally presented. But here, the fabrics would be just more than the usual ones. They would react to light, touch, sound and heat.

I was invited to be the textile designer on the project. While Elisabeth and Maria would figure out the technology, my part was to find an aesthetic interface keeping practical applications in mind.

I have added a small module to my website with more pictures here.

On a short note about the process, here is what happened.

I had to experiment with many textures and methods to build my wires, the solar cells, LEDs, optic fibres and circuit.

This is the first fabric that played on absorbing light (by solar cells) and then using that to power elements on the fabric.

A bit galactic, like how the earth absorbs light from the sun and then powers all the life on it.

And so this sort of became the inspiration...

The final method selected was a hand manipulated fabric surface with undulations that played with the light sources, light and also very beautifully camouflaged the solar cells. We just so loved this blue fabric as it lent to the undualted surface, but eventually didnt use it ..

The final circuitry looked a bit like this :)

Ecolabel at 5x70m2

2009-08-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

5x70m2 – Student summer show

Recently, we were in Oslo and had been to DoGA- What exciting shows were on!

The exhibition 5x70m2 which is on at DoGA presents projects from five leading colleges within furniture-, industrial- and product design.

This was a very nice project for eco-labeling, see some pictures above.

I seem to have misplaced my notes, I dont know the student behind this project. How sad!

If any of you know them please let me know!

Recently, I have been seeing so much about eco-labeling and the streamlining required in this system. There are just so many lables that beyond a point the customer stops to care. What should his criterias be? How can one choose from an array of the same product from different vendors? These are questions that various students are trying to answer through their thesis work.

Kanchivaram (2008)

2009-08-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

This is such a breathtakingly beautiful film!

The story of silk weavers set in pre-independant India, before the formation of cooperatives.

The cinematography , with the acting and casting make this a movie for keep-sakes.

Go grab a DVD soon!

See more about the movie here

Made-By

2009-08-04T04:28:00.000-07:00

Made By is a company based in Netherlands that offers a track and trace feature as a service.

Isnt that so cool??

What we at Fennel try to do as a studio practice, here they make this available to many fashion companies. What better way to spread a culture?

See more of their track and trace feature here

And if you have bought any of the clothes marked with the made-by Blue button, pass it on to us! We would love to show to all the others.

Toxic Textiles?

2009-08-04T04:17:00.000-07:00

A very thought provoking story on how pesticides are affecting our lives. Used very widely in cotton cultivation in India and other cotton producing countries, the pesticides today are not just a problem of the people who use them in farming. They have become a big concern for people who are exposed to them later while weaving, or making them into products or even using them.

see the video here

The Hindu, India's leading daily wrote a story here

Some excerpts:

"You see, if a person handles even a beedi without properly sanitising his hands after a spray session is liable to develop acute poisoning symptoms,”

The normal practice for farmers is to consume alcohol soon after returning from the fields.The giddiness and uneasiness caused due to exposure to the poisonous vapours goes away after a few drinks

RECYLCED CHIC

2009-08-04T02:24:00.000-07:00

I love recycled stuff, but am not a big fan of recycled kitsch, but this line of fun jewellery by Yoav Kotik keeps me completely stunned!

Yoav Kotik, the designer of the "precious metal" jewelry line is a graduate of the Bezalel academy of art and design in Jerusalem. His works were presented in galleries across Israel, the UK, the Netherlands and Japan.

New Delhi Journal; As Looms Fall Silent, India's Social Fabric Frays

2009-08-04T02:11:00.000-07:00

A version of this article appeared in print on Wednesday, October 7, 1992, on section A page 4 of the New York edition of New York Times.

Some excerpts from this article:

"We produce just a little on our hand looms," said Mr. Nobatram, 74 years old, body gaunt but wiry in a baggy undershirt with a zippered belly pocket. "But a machine can produce so much more than we can. Our looms take more people to run, so we can't make as much money."

"Khadi has today become something that is a cliche, the uniform worn by corrupt politicians," said Jaya Jaitley, a social activist who has championed the cause of India's crafts for two decades. Indeed, at election times, India's politicians, who are normally attired in only the finest fabrics, suddenly appear in public swaddled in hand-loomed clothes. "But hand looms are dying out," Ms. Jaitley continued. "Here in Delhi, in Sewan Park, where most of the khadi is made, 5,000 looms are now idle."

Very nice article. Read it here

Mass production of saris leaves traditional Indian weavers in dire straits

2009-08-04T01:57:00.000-07:00

Picture of taken from "Golden Sprays and Scarlet Flowers"

Excerpts from an article that appeared in New York Times in 2007:

"The northern city of Varanasi is to hand loom saris what Darjeeling is to tea. Yet despite producing some of the most coveted saris in the Indian subcontinent, the weavers - said to number between 200,000 and 500,000 - have never been rich.

Now, with the market flooded with cheap machine-made saris, they are poorer than ever, with some turning to farming and manual labor and others resorting to begging.

The weavers are typical of the millions of Indians left behind by market forces even as parts of the country's metropolises enjoy increasing prosperity from a booming economy."

Read full story here

Silk and the Sino-Indo-European trade

2009-08-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Dug these pictures out a few weeks back for a paper I am researching on Parsis. I am writing on Parsi textiles, once more :)

These quaint labels, are a testimony to the silk trade that once thrived between Japan, China and the West. Europe and America were big consumers of silk as fads like Chinoiserie and Japonism surfaced in sartorial tastes. India was often the trading point with business communities like the Parsis and Sindhis offering much support.

Surprisingly, South India remained quite inert to this trade. Imported silk yarns from China were used for weaving in Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab. But somehow the local penchant for silk in the South and their liking for certain qualities dettered weavers from experimenting with lighter Chinese silks.

Now, Chinese silk yarns have flooded the market sending local silk prices into a dizzy. The Government has come down heavily on imported yarns and dumping from China. In the past year silk yarn prices have almost doubled I hear...

More to come...

Lungi

2009-08-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Old lungis, South India

I am currently working on a monograph comparing the Lungi weaving traditions in many regions. Lungis are strikingly similar across many cultures.

Vijaykanth, Rajinikanth- Style on a kerchief

2009-08-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Town market, Cuddalore

2009-08-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

After a long day of field work, we arrived in this beautiful old house in Cuddalore. Built with a low roof, and dim and cozy, it was such a relief to the hot scorching sun. This lovely chair lay there by the verandah, old, bleached by the sun and worn out. The colors had attained such lovely patina...

Beautiful Handlooms from Kerala

2009-08-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

via Note to Yourself, a lovely Danish blog.

What a lovely find!

Kara is a creative venture with a social cause, born out of the felt need to give the Kerala handloom industry a much-needed impetus. Kara is a group of women (Indu Menon,Sreedevi, Suryakala Satish and Revathi Menon) who work with independent teams of weavers across the state and small sets of rural tailors to create handmade home furnishings of the highest finish and quality.
Apparently this is a first-of-its-kind attempt in Kerala hopes to bridge the gap between this traditional weaving art form and a contemporary lifestyle. And whats more they offer online sale! Go on and buy some lovely cottons for you kitchen and home.

This so reminds me of the project I did with the Kanhirode Weavers Cooperative last year. It is just so sad that the cooperative lacked the vision to take this forward in an enterprising way.. We received such fantastic response for the collection both with the Development Commissioner of Handloom in Delhi and the trade fair in Bombay. When I showed the products here is Copenhagen too, there was so much excitement.

But I am so happy for Kara Weaves!

Fennel at the Sustainable Fashion Exhibition at Kolding

2009-08-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

In May 2009, Koldinghus was the location for a unique exhibition. Fennel was also chosen to be at the Fabric for Thought exhibition!

We also got an invite to sell at a special exhibition organised on the 21 st and 22nd May to meet people and show them our ecoware.

Here are some pictures

Kolding Hus and our stall inside.

Our products on display at the show.

From Top, Fossil Palm Leaf Scarf in emerald colour, Fossil Skin scarf in white and our innovative paper scarf in violet.

Curated by the lovely Thit Juul Madsen, this exhibition for the first time brought together players in pursuit of ethical fashion values from America, Asia and Europe. The exhibition introduced designers at various levels- the creations of haute couture houses, the ethics and philosophies in the design of big fashion houses, the eco- recycle movement from smaller individuals and young design studios and the role played by big chains like H&M and Zara.

So finally, these values and ethics that many of us were talking about didnt seem to remain in the domain of some intellectuals. Everyone from LMVH to Zara had some stake in this, no matter how big or small.

The exhibition also brought together small jewellery designers who are trying to fight the odds of exploitation in mining and jewellery making.

You can now buy any of these products or browse our other products at www.fennel.dk

The Last Six months

2009-08-03T06:06:00.000-07:00

I have been away from blogging for a while now, and ofcourse not doing very much for Fennel on the online front. But here is a quick update on what has happened in the last few months. November saw our first retail entry in Copenhagen. The Fossil collection went out to a beautiful scarf shop in the center. The scarves were in time for the holiday season.

All of February and March I travelled twice to America showing our products in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Inspite of the economy, we received some very positive responses and are working out retail details now!!

How exciting!

Spring in Copenhagen was beautiful, with the museum shop in Trapholt and the Kunstindustrimuseet wanting to display our products. What lovely places to be in!

A Nordic map conference was held in the Black Diamond. And our lovely Copenhagen map scarves were the best things in the Diamanteboghandel. Perfect, hand drawn maps for the city explorers..

We have some new collections ready, small jewellery in the pipeline.... And a brand new online store...

Stay tuned for more updates, soon!

Find Fennel on Facebook!

2009-08-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

Become a fan of Fennel !

Find us on Facebook now.

Click right here and see our latest updates.

Creating Value for All

2008-12-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Read the full report here

Growing Inclusive Markets

2008-12-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

Growing Inclusive Markets (GIM) is a new initiative led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with an unprecedented coalition of thinkers and actors in the fields of business, academia and human development. We believe that in the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, the greatest untapped resource is the private sector. Growing Inclusive Markets is designed to make a substantial contribution to both business strategies and human development by offering mapping tools and a strategy matrix, distilled from a broad pool of case studies.

“The power of poor people to benefit from market activity lies in their ability to participate in markets and take advantage of market opportunities.

Kemal Dervis, Administrator, UNDP

Some interesting tools on the website :

1) Heat Maps

2) Strategy Matrix

3) Case Studies

Human Centered Design

2008-12-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

A team at Ideo led by Tatyana Mamout and Jessica Hastings has been working closely with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently to develop this toll Kit that will help NGOs and field activists to apply human centered design methodologies to the work they do with small holder farmers. the toolkit maybe adapted to other such initiatives in other categories but on a larger scale, it will serve as a starting point for many who are working on design problems for the poor and the under served.

See toolkit here

(via Putting People First)

Feasibility vs Viability

2008-12-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

fea.si.ble

- adjective

1. capable of being done, effected or accomplished : a feasible plan.

2.probable; likely : a feasible theory.

3.suitable: a road feasible for travel.

usually used in the context of do-ability, possibility

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

vi.a.ble

- adjective

1.capable of living

2.practicable; workable: a viable alternative

3.having the ability to grow, expand, develop, etc: a new and viable country.

usually used in a financial or economic context

Why Fennel?

2008-09-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

In June 2007, I moved to Denmark, leaving behind a design practice and consultancy in India. Moving was not easy. I have in the time since tried to sit down, and spend some time in thinking where I wanted all the energy to now go.

There were many issues that struck me as I jostled through projects in India. Craft technologies, their redundancy in may cases, they impending future, identity and posterity were issues that plagued me as I worked in the craft sector. Working conditions, humanitarian factory culture, the widening gap between the owners and the tailors and staff and the value of time for a labourer living in a country like India affected me. But work and a string of projects barely gave me the time to reflect.

Copenhagen was the change I needed. Calm, and some time.

In the winter of 2007, my husband and I decided that much of our thoughts about how such production systems work and should work would be deemed idealistic, if we didnt try them out for real. We decided to go back to set up a pilot run workshop in India. My familiar territory in textiles only provided a ready ground.

And so the initiative and all the people who joined it received a name. Fennel.

Fennel is a design brand. But working for it is not a n anonymous group of craftsmen. Every person who makes an article for Fennel is part of an open expressive process that makes each one create unique pieces. Thus as part of the production process here, every artisan gets due credit for the piece he or she makes. For the consumer, it is a great opportunity to know not just what went into the process of making the product but also know who made it.

We want to be able to create a streamlined process for delivering payments to every single person involved in the production process. This means that much of the unpaid labour in the hand weaving industry will now to be accounted for.

We want to establish the day wage norms as set by the Government of India.

We want to not just pay them, but be able to deliver the payment in forms that will be help create the financial infrastructure for our artisans.

It has taken a dozen months to merely establish the right supply chain and identify all the stake holders. But it is now that the fun will begin!

Watch this space for new products and see how you can be a part of this change!

Mikael provides a contrast

2008-07-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Mikael of Copenhagenize ( a blog all about the cycling in Copenhagen!!) just wrote about how our bicycle wheels are converted into spinning wheels. And with what a lovely contrast of that picture of cast away frames in Paris!
Truly, two different worlds.

See Mikael's post here:
Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: Them and Us#links#links

Hand woven table Spreads

2008-07-13T05:38:00.001-07:00

Loved that this was so summery and ideal for picnics. Handwoven in a very compact calico construction, and the design was composed to the entire piece. That made for an interesting display, and utilized the capabilities of the handloom fully. No repeats along the warp and the weaver could do different colours on the weft, again following no repeat at all,

We enjoyed shooting it by a really secluded rocky part of this beach by the Arabian Sea.

Table Mats

2008-07-13T05:24:00.001-07:00

When we had to make these table mats, one thing that was important was its structure and feel. So we worked on that and created these really compact cotton tabel mats that are absolutely nothing like what you could have used before. Taut and yet very soft, these are very colourful, ideal for a nice summer lunch.
One thing we learnt about this was these table mats (I mean of this kind) could only be made on a handloom. Hence the powerloom industry could not over take this product. It is still woven on a handloom.
P.S They are colourfully reversible. :)

Weaving the Table Mats

2008-07-13T05:14:00.000-07:00

The table mats being examined by the weaver at the community weaving shed.
They are continuously woven and then cut out individually and tasseled to make a good finish.

These would then be exported to European countries. This society has been trying its best to fight the cheaper hand made goods from Karur in Tamil Nadu, India. Their explanation for their pricier goods is that they offer better pay, medical insurance and pension to all weaver members. Seems to be a good reason to pay that little extra?
I am now involved in helping them design more and market these goods. Its a tough struggle with the constant comparison to goods from karur. We have a long way to go.

The Cycle wheel Charkha

2008-07-12T02:59:00.000-07:00

A cycle wheel now made into a charkha to wind yarns. This is the most common contraption I saw during most of my travel. Isnt it just so indegenious? A rusted old cycle wheel now repurposed to a spining wheel /yarn winding device?

Caravana is closing down?

2008-07-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Caravana did its rounds in the blogs some months ago. I was thrilled that here were 2 girls who trying to support women artisans in Central Asia and their brand spoke of a spirit so much like my own. Alas! all good things draw to an end, I suppose, I just read on their website that they are bringing this wonderful journey to an end. See more of Caravana here

Calicoes from Les Indiennes

2008-07-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

"Les Indiennes" by Mary Mulcahy is a beautiful range of Indian calicoes made in a fair trade enterprise. The production of their fabrics does not pollute or disrupt the normal life of their artisans and is peacefully carried out in their villages. She says it provides fair trade employment for about 50 families improving their quality of life and leaving the least eco foot print. Isnt that really nice?

See more of Les Indiennes here.

for the weft

2008-07-10T09:00:00.001-07:00

Silk yarn beautifully wound on small reels. Often done by the older women and wife of the weaver.

Silk accessories

2008-07-08T02:27:00.001-07:00

From my latest project in Thirubuvanam. They were shot in a quaint church in Coimbatore.

Bamboo Reeds

2008-07-08T02:13:00.001-07:00

Different reeds for different sarees. There is a lot of science to this.

The green markings which denote a gunjam which is approximately 1.5 inches. This was the traditional unit of measurement and the ends / inch and picks /inch are still denoted on this basis.

Reed Making

2008-07-08T02:11:00.001-07:00

Meticulously split bamboo reeds are laced together to make these beautiful bamboo reeds. Once the only way out they are fast being replaced by metal reeds which is very unfortunately affecting the livelihood of the reed makers.

Weaver-Designer

2008-07-08T02:08:00.001-07:00

Arasu is a smart weaver. He doesnt weave, but makes the jacquard cards that are so imperative to the weavers. And he is a designer! He designs pretty gold sarees for the locals. Quite happily filled with gold zari, these sarees cost 30,000 or 50,000 rupees and are nothing short of extravagance!
Here he shows Dad his new design library - a set of neatly printed sheets with number of colours and other details written out. He was so happy that he learnt it while working on my project that he came and showed it to us. We taught him Corel Draw as well. Isnt that cool??

Recycled Door mats

2008-07-08T01:50:00.001-07:00

Coarse, but very utilitarian door mats woven from recycled waste cotton yarns on a coarse warp. They are very absorbent and hardy. The assorment of colours make them unique too. Woven by the lungi weavers in Cuddalore, this is now a common product in many weaving areas. Also in Coimbatore and its neighbourhood, the jersey wastes of Tiruppur make for interesting wefts.

Some product diversification please??

Warping

2008-05-04T08:35:00.003-07:00

Indegenious! Tin boxes are recycled to become bobbins in many weaver homes. So commonly noticed in the handloom areas. Impressive improvisation.

Here, a warp for a lungi is being readied. You can already see the stripe warp for the lungi being wound on the beam. The beam itself is made of bamboo harvested locally.

Weaver, Naduveerampatti

2008-05-04T08:35:00.001-07:00

A lungi weaver in Naduveerampatti, India

The grim look on his face says it all.

The Designs arrive on cards

2008-05-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

When I arrived at this cooperative, the members showed me some new designs they had been weaving. The society had purchased the designs from a studio in Delhi. The design sheets only had a visual drawing (like what you see) and absolutely no instructions or specifications.

The style was remote from what the weavers wove or were familiar with.

As is expected, they had huge stocks that they could not get rid of..

Why doesnt the government ever undertsnd that design is not always superficial, like drawing pretty flowers and tress? The entire silk saree weaving business is huge and booming now in South India. But I am not sure where it is heading. There are ofcourse, some very few people involved in weaving bespoke and stunning designs, both structurally and visually.

Mannarkudi, India

Attempts at tie-dye

2008-05-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

Attempts at tie-dye,

I think these are rather nasty attempts at trying tie-dye on south Indian silk. They should just leave it to the skilled artisans from Patan. They neither have the finesse for scale or perfection.
This was introduced here at a small (half-baked) workshop conducted by weavers service centre, Chennai
Mannarkudi, At the Weavers Cooperative

Mannarkudi,Hand loom

2008-05-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

Mannarkudi,Hand loom, originally uploaded by priya mani.

Beautiful sunlight roof, casting brilliant light on the handloom. See the jacquard box for the silk saree.

Handloom vs Powerloom

2007-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

In probably no other state you would see how much the powerloom industry has taken over the handloom industry. I have never known if it was always for the better. Purists (me included) have often claimed that this is homicide in the handloom industry. How else can we justify the complete capture of product markets by cheaper, often of more durable quality, powerloom goods?

What the Government has done? :

Handloom Reservation Act
The Handloom Reservation Act was enacted in 1985 and implementation began in 1993. Under this Act, 22 textile items were reserved for the exclusive production of handlooms. Later in 1995, the Mira Seth Committee recommended the reduction of the number of items reserved from 22 to 11.
However, despite the demands of weavers, the Act has never been implemented efficiently and effectively. Government officials themselves feel that reservation is uneconomical.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry has recently requested the government to scrap this reservation.

Good for Women

2007-08-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

It was heartening to see how women actually found a great source of income in these kind of small activities. Any small extra income is always welcome.

The product finishing - edge sticthing, taselling all need a repetitive actions of nimble fingers, and ofcourse call for working in a confined environment. this just suits these women fine.

They earn anything between 40-50 rupees a day. They are employed by these small industries.

Mat making- Plain weave + Jacquard

2007-08-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

You can see the drop boxes from side view. Pity, there was such bad lighting in this space. This was the best I could shoot with a flash +photoshop!

Maybe just tells you a bit more on the working conditions??

Mat making, On the highway near Jeyamkondam

2007-08-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

The drive from one town to another, often is quite not continuous for me. Little activities, sellers, markets, ponds, fowls, grazing animals - all make you curious- and amongst these curious sights are often small, lesser known entrepreneurs, creative artists, who more than often contribute to the economy of the villages they live in, often building a chain of such linked manufacturing and trade activities.

One may have seen these colourful (sorryfully dyed in chemical dyes )straw mats in various sizes, usually in public spaces in South India. I always thought they were handwoven, for some reason of prejudice. But here I was, shocked, that all of them were actually made on very indegeniously made powerlooms! The looms had drop boxes for upto 4 colours and straw picks were stacked in each slot and woven in precarious patterns. The jaquard looms with upto 120 picks were even more shocking!

Maybe it is not always best to hold on to tradtion and expect these people to make them painstakingly oh the handloom, for vanity? SOme pictures on these powerloom mats for the masses.

new varieties at Sholingur

2007-08-08T09:08:00.001-07:00

Some new varieties have been explored here. This includes the supplementary weft technique used in the popular bengal cotton saris.

Now, here its makes for an interesting dialogue. Should the weavers in Shlolingur adapt a technique for its visual resemblance to a more market savvy product (here- the bengal cotton.)??

Looking forward to your comments.

Interesting FDS saris- recycling yarns

2007-08-08T08:02:00.000-07:00

The sarees are mostly solid (unlike the stripes seen here). These are made from recycled yarn to create stripes and different pallav patterns. The yarn therefore is usually used completely and often gives the bored weaver a little scope for creativity. Have bought some of the regular FDS saris for my keepsake. Will post pictures of them soon.

There used be a profuse use of dobby (24 shaft) till about even 4 years backwhen they were not fully into the FDS system. But now none of these are in use. Weavers have probably sold off the dobby box. Only 2 weavers have retained them, and these saris are their produce.

These saris are quite loosley woven. If it is 100% cotton then it is usally 40s x 40s (cotton).

But now most of it is Poly-cott and the counts are 40s x 80Dn ; construction 56 x 60

With some intervention through implementing agencies like Co-optex and DCH, skill upgradation has been considered. They can now also weave 60s x 60s (cotton) and the construction is 64 x 60.

How is a sari typically folded before it reaches the shops

2007-08-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

PRODUCT PRESENTATION:

The cotton sari in Sholingur and many parts of Tamil Nadu is folded keeping a paper for support (and to maintain the crispness of starch while handling) and two iron rods, handled by 2 people are used to create impressions and fold it. The stages in order are;

1. Fold into half along the width.(so 5.5 mtrs into half)

2. Keep the paper 1/3 rd this width in the centre. Fold in from left and right. ( 1/2 into 1/3 parts)

3. Fold into half again ( 1/3 in 1/2 half again)

4. Now fold across (follow the pictures) and crease with the iron rods.

5. The design on the pallav always shows on top ( marketing reasons!)

Sholingur- technology- 1

2007-08-02T08:13:00.002-07:00

Split bamboo lengths are used as temples. Their ends are secured well with yarn and then these are pinned on to the selvedges to make effective temples for maintaining the width of the fabric.

The next generation?

2007-08-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

Weaver, on her loom as her grandson comes around to play with her.
Sholingur, TN, May 2007

He goes to a school and does not learn to weave. He will never learn to weave, if the distressed family have their way

The FDS scheme in India

2007-08-02T07:25:00.001-07:00

The FDS or the Free Distribution scheme or more commonly known as janta sari was started as an initiative to create continuous work for the handlooom sector and at the same time, provide poor and needy with affordable clothing.
A committee constituted in 1991 to review the Janata Cloth Scheme recommended its phasing out, since it had contributed to the de-skilling of the weavers. Later it was decided by the Government to introduce a modified Janata Cloth Scheme w.e.f. 1993-94 for the 8th Plan period. The Scheme was however, extended during 1997-98 to facilitate transition.

Till very recently, however, some state govts. continue to provide this support, ofcourse depending on the potical party at helm. In Tamil Nadu, about 4 years back during the regime of AIADMK, this was discontinued first, but readopted again as there were adverse reports of affecting te vote bank. Also the product was changed to polyester-cotton blended saris. Reliance provides the complete quantity required for this sector, surprisingly, instead of the state run spinning mills.
The Government bears the costs of the raw materials and the wages to the weaver and buys back all the goods produced by them. This is then widely distributed to poor people in rural pockets every year.
The janta sari scheme, has ofcourse succeeded the very purpose of its inception- provide livelihood, but at the cost of precious weaving skills being lost. This deskilling is now a major cause of concern as the weavers are too used to weaving poor quality or basic cloth with no design intervention or skill required.

You can also refer to the following articles about the plight of weavers in 1999-2002 when the FDS was stopped

At Sholingur -1

2007-08-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Weaver at Sholingur, TN, India.
May 2007

She is 67 years old and weaves for the FDS (free distribution scheme). The product is mainly polyester cotton sarees. Not much emphasis is paid on the workmanship of the peice, and hence they are less labor intensive for her and many like her in this village. They have a stipulated number of pieces to weave each month to achieve the governments target for the year.