Handloom weaving - aiaca

1. INTRODUCTION
2. REGIONS
3. PRODUCER COMMUNITIES
4. RAW MATERIALS
5. TOOLS
6. PROCESS
7. PRODUCT AND THEIR USES
8. MOTIFS/DESIGNS
9. CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
10. GLOSSARY
Handloom weaving

1. Introduction
The textiles of India are as diverse as its culture. Nearly four million handlooms are
engaged in weaving fabrics of nearly 23 different varieties. The Handloom Census of
India, undertaken in 1987-88, places the number of handloom textile workers at 65.3
lakh persons, making them the single largest group of artisans in India. Providing direct
and indirect employment to more than 30 lakh weavers, the handloom production is the
largest economic activity second only to agriculture in India. Handlooms contribute
nearly 23% of the total cloth produced in the country. During the year 1996-97, a total
production of 7,235 million sq. meters of cloth was achieved. The Handloom Act passed
by the parliament in 1985 aims to shield handloom weavers against power loom and
textile mill operators by reserving certain textile articles (presently eleven in number)
for exclusive production by handlooms.
1.1 History
India has one of the richest traditions in this creative activity - from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari, Kuchch to Kohima. The weaving device - the loom - has been subject to
constant hostile threats of being extinguished by the highly mechanized, organized,
machinery-dominated textile industry for over a century and in recent decades, by the
advent of the power loom. If the handloom has survived, it is because of its highly
elastic range of adaptation in meeting communities’ needs and in its ability to produce
exquisite fabrics which mills cannot produce in spite of all their sophisticated
technologies.
For centuries both the spinning and weaving processes were traditionally carried out by
hand in the home on a cottage industry basis - weaving by men and spinning by women.
Over a period of time to cater to market demand for most fabrics other than khadi, the
spinning of yarn changed to a machine process. On the basis of this distinction,
handloom fabrics can be broadly categorized in two types:
i) Hand spun, hand woven: Khadi is hand spun and hand woven fabric
ii) Machine spun, hand woven: All other handlooms fall under this category
2. Regions

Weaving is practiced in many different regions in India. Each area has its own particular
style, using traditional designs and motifs. Cotton is woven all over India. Apart from
basic plain-weave fabric that is found in many places, one can take note of a few places
for their distinctive weave. No matter how small or ordinary a weave may seem; it has
its own distinctive character.
The thousands of towns and villages where handlooms turn out huge quantities of
material cater mainly to the common local people. The men need longish pieces of
fabric to use as dhotis to wrap around the lower part of the body; durable material for
jackets; a wrap on the body (chaddar) and lengths of fabric for the turban. This ranges
from a rectangular piece to a two yards’ length, for turbans are found in countless types
and offer an immense potential for ingenuity, style and taste. The women use large
skirts, longish shirts, stoles or saris and blouses. Cloth is also woven for shirts, pajamas
and children’s garments. All of these vary greatly from region to region. For instance
while the lungi (sarong) is widely prevalent from north to south, it has many versions. In
the extreme south only white lungis are worn. But starting from Andhra Pradesh right
up to Punjab, brightly colored and intricately designed lungis can be seen.
In countless villages and towns across the country, the sari continues to be the garment
worn by the majority of women. Significant inroads have been made by machine made
textiles. Yet the preference for traditional saris for ritual or every day use is one of the
strongest reasons for the continued existence of a large proportion of the country’s
handlooms.
In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where inexpensive cotton saris are produced, even
the simplest has a dignity lent by very broad borders on either side, or a single
decorative touch of a heavily patterned pallu – the sari end which falls over the shoulder
at the back. The distinguishing mark is what is known as korvari, the solid border where
the weft threads of the field do not enter into the borders.
Kerala has a distinctive sari type known as Karalkuda. Similar styles in color are also
produced in Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu, Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh, and
Venkatagiri in Andhra Pradesh. This has a grand look with its sheer body and gold
designs like dots, coins, leaves, parrots or simple geometrical patterns on the body.
The Maheshwar sari, mostly in cotton is characterized by its simplicity yet with a few
singular touches takes on an irresistible charm.

Another big center is Shahpur in Belgaum district, Karnataka state. While Maheshwaris
are normally in bright colors, Shahpuris specialize in soft pastels or shots of two colors:
one in the warp, another in the weft, with matching colors in the border and the pallu.
Poona has its distinctive sari with a gold thread speckled panel for the pallu and a
narrow gold patterned border.
From Hubli-Dharwar to Bijapur in Karnataka state, cotton saris are made in dark earthy
colors, which mark them out. There is a special sari in this area known as Irkal after the
village in Bijapur district, from which it seems to have originated. Large quantities of
yardage in the Irkali style are produced for blouses in a little village called Galedgudda
near Irkal, and supplied to markets all over. Irkali style saris in finer counts are also
made in Narayanpet in Andhra Pradesh. Irkalis are rich in their coloring with colors like
the special pomegranate red, brilliant peacock blue, parrot green. The rasta design has
horizontal lines in subtle matching colors running through the body of the sari with
charming effect.
Gadwal and Kothakota near Vanaparti in Andhra Pradesh weave fine cotton saris with
rich gold borders and heavy panel-like pallus. Cotton saris with richly woven pallus and
gold borders in opulent designs are made in places like Siddhipet and Armoor in Andhra
Pradesh, which used to make them in silk. Now they also manufacture curtains,
bedspreads, etc., using the old decorative motifs for ornamentation.
Amongst elaborate styles in cotton weaving is Jamdani.
Himroo is a kind of a brocaded material woven on a simple throw-shuttle loom on the
principle of the extra weft figuring with cotton used in the warp and art silk in the weft.
In this the preparation of the jala or design is most important for this is where initially
the entire design is actually worked out, and prescribes where the extra weft silk yarn is
to pass through some of the warp threads which is a most complicated and time
consuming job.
Mashru is also a similar material but lighter, woven in gentle parallel and diagonal lines
intersecting each other or stripes. It has a glow, is popular for vests, blouses and scarves.
Silk not only has a very ancient tradition, it enjoys also a significant status because of its
use at rituals. This may partly account for the concentrated development of silk weaving
at popular places of worship like Varanasi and Kanchipuram. Varanasi is however in a
class by itself not only for its superb weaving in gold and silver, but also for the very
wide variety of techniques and styles its weavers can adopt. They are incomparable in
their weaving talent and reproduce any antique museum piece with a distinction that
would make anyone mistake the copy for the original.

The best-known Varanasi product is the brocade, kinkab. Half a pattern is worked by a
combination of strings and healds manipulated separately. It is completed by reversing
the order. Elaborate brocades are woven by combining this with double warps and
border warps and with silk or metal thread. The weaver always has a helper to work
alongside him. Brocades are varied, but the best and oldest are the beldar or scroll
pattern, which appear in the Ajanta frescoes. The butidar design has stars and spangles
scattered over the body. Some weaves are all gold without use of silk, with floral, mango
or creeper designs. On larger pieces scenes with human and animal figures are
sometimes woven in bands and lozenges. Some have a silver background with a
superimposition of gold patterns. A very delicate and fascinating item is tissue in gold or
silver - a shimmering cascade in brilliant metal. Varanasi saris are world famous and
identified by spangles sprinkled all over the body, heavy gold border and pallu with a
great variety of designs like floral sprigs, peacocks and cones in the corners. At times
there are additional borders in tapestry weave separately woven and then attached.
Varanasi has an old tradition in weaving special styles for export to specific countries of
west and Southeast Asia, which naturally adds to the richness and variety of its
products. These brocades are distinguished by apt poetic names like chand tara (moon
and stars), dhup chhaon (sunshine - shade), mazch (Ripples of silver), mor gala
(peacock’s neck), bulbul chasm (nightingale’s eyes).
Gujarat developed its own style of kinkabs (brocades) woven with extra weft patterns.
Surat as the chief port carried them far off: even to the Russian royalty. Kanbis or
Patidars, Khatris and Mommin (particularly the women) are excellent in this weave.
There are dozens of designs in vogue with a rather complicated constellation of animals,
fruits, stylized dance figures, peacocks, women waving fans, and lotuses in many shapes.
Rudrol in Mehsana district, Jamnagar and Dolka produce these brocades. . Here several
varieties of silk like satin (Gajji) a lovely melting fabric, and mixtures like Mashru, are
also made. A special item is the famous Nathwara pichwai in the brocade style.
India has been famed from antiquity for filmy cottons patterned in gold. One sees
startling weaves in these patterned cottons: a fine violet muslin with olive green border,
and an all-over gold pattern in tapestry weave; a diaper design with cones at corners
and an inner border of diagonal bands, and an ornamental twill weave with a gold
lozenge pattern at the end. This would be a loom tapestry, gold threads having been
inserted with tiny bobbins while weaving, and passed through and around the warp
threads. Similarly long turbans and scarves in thin cotton are woven in single or double
colors like rose and lemon with bands of golden yellow silk.
Mubarakpur, also in Uttar Pradesh, is an important silk center, particularly for saris that
mainly cater to the rural needs.

The Baluchar style woven in silk is only confined to saris. It hails originally from a place
of the same name in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, and had its heyday under the
patronage of the royalty and nobility. It later flourished in Vishnupur but is now
successfully produced in Varanasi. Very colorful, a real traditional Baluchar is said to
have 17 colors in it, with butis sprinkled all over. It is a plain-woven fabric brocaded with
untwisted silk thread in unique designs. The saris are always in dark rich shades,
particularly red, purpose, and chocolate. The simpler Baluchari has small dots or flowers
all over with a flowery border and paisleys in the pallu.
In Tanchoi saris the designs are always floral interspersed with bird motifs. The usual
ground is bright blue, purple, green or red with areas patterned in tabby weave.
Patola is a most colorful and ostentatious weave with its figured body, and the subtle
merging of one shade into another. This technique is practiced in a few parts of India
with some variations, mostly producing saris, a few shawls, lungis, kerchiefs, etc. The
most renowned among patolas is the one made in Pattan, Gujarat. The yarn used is
always silk.
Ikat is the equivalent of the Indian bandhana. When only one side of the warp or the
weft is tied, it is a single ikat. But as described above when both are tied it is double ikat.
This is now done on a very small scale in Pattan, which is said to be its home, and in
Rajkot. The Pattan patola is the most picturesque particularly the wedding sari with dark
green, white and yellow, against a ruby red background, and leaf and flower patterns;
while the pallu features dancing girls and parrots or swans.
Orissa has a patola style of its own. The weaving is done in tussar silk and in single ikat.
The designs usually are in floral patterns, with animals and certain traditional motifs like
the fish and conch. The single ikat makes the designs suggestive rather than clearly
delineated.
The cotton ikats in Orissa are striking, with a firm accent on geometrical patterns in
heavy weaves. Patolas are also woven in Pochampalli and Chirala in Andhra Pradesh,
which originally did only large cotton kerchiefs called telia rumals. Pochampalli makes
patola sarees in a large variety of geometrical designs. Chirala has bigger and more
pronounced patterns in the same technique. Andhra Pradesh also weaves a great
variety of cotton lungis with some ikat designs in the body or in the border.
Named after the village Paithan in Maharashtra, is the Paithani sari. On a zari warp the
weft is interlocked with different colors. In this technique complicated patterns are
woven in bright colors: highly stylized flowers, swans, parrots, peacocks. The pallu is a

fascinating piece of gold tissue on which are woven brightly colored rosettes and
sometimes birds.
Assam leads in non-mulberry silk. Sericulture is an ancient vocation practiced by a large
number of cultivators in non-agricultural seasons.. Assam has several varieties of silks:
eri, which derives its name from the castor leaves on which the worm feeds. This silk has
a yellowish tinge, is in rough as well as smooth varieties, and is used in winter for its
warmth.
Sualkuchi is the most famous center in Assam for silk weaves of delicate texture, dainty
designs and delightful natural colors. Its specialty is the Assamese women’s dress like
the mekhela. This is a woman’s lungi, mostly with plain body, but sometimes having
motifs strewn over the fabric, with a heavy design at the ends. The chaddar and riha are
in smaller lengths: the former going over the shoulder to provide a pallu, the other
wrapped round the waist, both decorative.
Kashmir too lays equal claim to antiquity in silk industry. Kashmir was amongst the
earliest to export silk to West and Central Asia. Over the last thirty years, there has been
introduction of modern silk fabrics here like crepe de chine, georgette, chiffon, etc. This
area has become an important center for silks.
South India is famous for its heavy quality silks. At one time silk fabrics were sold here
by the weight, so heavy were the weaves. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are notable areas
for this type of silk. A village of Karnataka called Mokalmoru has a richly designed sari
with all over motifs, each enclosed in a check. The border is done in ikat weave. The
pallu is daintily decorated with birds, fishes, etc.
In Tamil Nadu the pride of place goes to Kanchipuram, though Kollegal in Coimbatore
district and Kumbakonam in Tanjore district, Salem and Arni, also have very fine
weaving with their own distinct motifs. Weaving is done in Kanchipuram by Salgars, a
name derived from the Sanskrit salika for weaver. They claim descent from sage
Markanda, the weaver of the gods. The throw-shuttle loom in which the shuttle is
thrown by hand is used. For complicated designs a local type of jacquard is used,
fashioned out of round lamp wicks as are used in room lamps, and plaited twins, and
attached to the loom. Mechanical hooks and jacquard boxes are now being introduced.
Kanchipuram has a special name for each of its many designs and colors. Very intricate
designs are woven into the body in gold thread. These are of human and animal figures,
geometrical patterns, with temple towers along the borders. A distinctive characteristic
of the Kanchipuram sari is the wide contrast borders. For this three shuttles are needed

and while the weaver does the right side, his aid manages the left with separate
shuttles. Here the border designs and colors are quite different from that of the body.
Ganeshpur in Bhandara district of Maharashtra has almost half the working population
engaged in tussar silk weaving. It is almost a monopoly of the Koshti community.
Tussar silk produced here is known by its ancient Sanskrit name of Kosa. The entire
process from the emergence of the moth, to the weaving, is all done in the area.
3. Raw materials
3.1 Cotton; silk; natural fibers like wool, jute etc.; zari
[Photograph 1: Raw materials]
3.2 Various types of dyes are used as per the requirement. The different dyes used are;
• Natural Dyes
• Chemical dyes
• Direct dyes
• Napthol dyes
• Vat dyes

[Photograph 2: Natural Dyes]
4. Tools
4.1 Looms: The basic weaving is done in India on handlooms. Different areas use
different looms. Some of the major looms used in India are:
• The throw-shuttle loom
• The fly-shuttle loom
• The loin loom
• The pit loom
• The Jacquard loom
• The frame loom

•
The jacquard loom
[Photograph 3: Pit Loom]

[Photograph 4: Frame Loom]
[Photograph 5: Jacquard loom]
• The frame loom
All these looms are slightly different from each other and work on different principles,
thus producing different types of fabrics.

iv) Pit Looms:
Pit Handloom: These are the looms which have been used for weaving since ancient
times. In these looms, the heavy wooden loom is installed inside a pit, which is about
three feet deep. The weaver has to sit on the wall of this pit, with his legs in the pit.
These looms are permanently installed in these pits and are hardly moved from their
place in many years.
v) Jacquard: For fine and complicated designs, the jacquard card technique is generally
used in which the pattern is punched on to a long roll of paper (cards), which turns as
each line of weft gets completed. The treadles press against the pricked holes in the
pattern card and push down the required needles.
vi) Frame Loom: (Snap: 07120009: Frame Handloom) These looms are the newer ones,
which have lightweight metal frames that constitute the main body of the loom. These
looms were introduced recently because of heir superior performance, now a large
number of weavers have adopted them. They are lightweight thus requiring less effort
to handle. These are fixed by using nuts and bolts, are easily detachable and therefore
can be shifted for rearrangement etc. They have a pulley arrangement that gives better
finishing.
4.2 Charkha

[Photograph 6: Charkha]
A charkha is used for making the rolls of the yarn. In case of warp, it is a big motorized
one, which prepares big rolls of yarn.
[Photograph 7: Weft]
In case of weft, the charkha is the smaller wooden one, which prepares thin rolls called
bobbins to be put inside the shuttle to form weft.
4.3 Dyeing apparatus
4.4 Treadles

4.5 Beater
4.6 Reed
5.1 Spinning:
Cotton spinning: Cotton was cultivated by the Indus valley people from 2400 BC Raw
cotton is a round fluffy white ball which grows on a bush about three feet high. When
plucked it contains earth and seeds and has to be combed to remove the impurities and
the coarse fibers. The seeds are removed by a gin with two horizontal rollers. After
that the loose fibers of cotton are collected and bowed with a bow made of cans, the
string made of the mid-rib of a banana leaf. The vibration of the string fluffs and
loosens the cotton. It is spun on a charkha or spinning wheel to the required thickness
and texture and is then ready for weaving. The techniques for handloom cotton
weaving are the same as for silk.
5.2 Design:
[Photograph 8: Design]
The designs are usually given by the buyers placing the order or at times are decided by
the weavers themselves based on their experience of what sells in the market.
5.3 Yarn dyeing:

[Photograph 9: Yarn Dyeing]
Dyeing is done for both cotton and silk yarn. Either it is done while they are in the hank
form or after the warp is ready. Vat, Naphthol, Direct and Reactive dyes are all used.
5.4 Yarn Opening for weft as well as warp:
After dyeing, the yarn is normally received by the weavers in the form of bundles. Both
in the case of the weft and the warp, the thread needs to be freed from the tangles and
stretched in order to make it tighter. Then, these are taken through a process of reeling
by using a charkha and thus the bundles of thread are converted into small rolls of
thread.

[Photograph 10: A motorized charkha]
In case of warp, a big motorized charkha is used, which converts the yarn bundles in to
thick thread rolls.
[Photograph 10: A hand driven charkha]
In case of weft, small, hand driven charkha is used, which converts bundles in small rolls
called bobbins. These can fit inside the shuttle that travels across the warp during the
weaving process.

5.5 Warping:
[Photograph 11: Warping]
The master weaver carries out the process of warp making by using the various types of
threads as per the design requirement. The warp machine used for silk thread is
radically different from the one used in case of cotton thread. The warp machine is
comprised of an octagonal metal cylindrical frame, which revolves vertically on the
machine axis and a metallic rack on which the thread rolls are kept. The fibers from
these rolls pass through hooks fixed on the rack onto a double metallic frame that
moves up and down with the motion of the machine. The threads are wound on the
cylinder in a criss-cross manner that facilitates the detection of breach in the fiber if any.
This process starts from one end of the cylinder and goes on till the whole of the
cylinder is covered with the thread. Once this has been achieved, the warp threads in
the shape of bundles are taken to the loom where they are used as warp.
6. Weaving Pprocess (Snap: Weaving in Progress)

[Photograph 11: Weaving]
The art of weaving is governed by 3 movements – shedding, picking and beating. The
shedding movement consists of pressing the treadle with one foot, which makes the
opening in the warp thread. The picking movement propels the shuttle by pulling the
handle to let the shuttle move across to the other side. The beating movement consists
of packing the weft threads by drawing the sleigh with the left hand. As the process is
repeated the weft thread passes from side to side alternately over one set of wrap
threads and under another. Different textures of hand woven cloths are produced by
varying the count of the warp and weft threads, the order in which the warp threads are
lifted, and varying density or tension of the yarn.
Different combinations of materials like silk, cotton, wool of various specifications can
be used for warp and weft, which in result produce different varieties of fabric.

Hand weaving is therefore characterized by the following basic processes:
The warp or taana is made prior to weaving
The fabric is hand-woven on a non-electric, hand-operated loom
7. Appendix
http://www.dainet.org/livelihoods/0497t.htm