- Fabric: 100% cotton
- Handfeel: Super lightweight, becoming deliciously soft with wear
- Care: Machine wash separately on gentle cycle with mild detergent. Don't soak. Drip dry. Gentle steam iron. Natural colours may change over time & darker colours may bleed & rub at first. Store in the dark.
- Origin: West Bengal, India
Textile Story
This hand spun & woven cotton is entirely hand made. Once the cotton bolls have been gathered, they are carded to clean them of any debris. This is done using a manual or semi-mechanised machine that combs the fibre. It's a time-consuming task as the fibres are carded many times to ensure all the waste left from the cotton seeds is taken out.
The cleaned fibre is then spun into yarn on a charkha (spinning wheel) or spindle. The spinning thins out the fibres into a more standard thickness and gives length to the yarn while twisting it to give it strength. This yarn is measured and then prepared for the loom, itself a lengthy process, where it is hand woven to create the cloth.
While on the loom, the cloth is embellished by hand with jamdani: a laborious extra weft technique, adding delicate but sophisticated detailing to the otherwise humble fabric.
Jamdani is the best known of several extra-weft embroidery techniques practiced in India: an intriguing process; part embroidery, part weave. The highly skilled weaver adds, by hand, additional weft threads to the weave, while the threads are on the loom & in the process of weaving.
Originating in Bengal around the 5th century & initially known as Dhakai after the city of Dhaka, this art form reached its zenith under patronage from the Mughul rulers of India in the 16th & 17th centuries. Under the Mughal Empire the Persian term Jamdani came to be in popular use, since it was the court language of the Mughals.
Not only is cloth made this way environmentally friendly, it also maintains the intrinsic properties of cotton which are usually damaged during machine-processing. Its weave creates air pockets which make it cool in summer and warm in winter and its inherent strength makes it highly durable. The semi-slubbed texture adds authenticity, a richness and variety to the cloth that is not found in machine-processed fabric.
Any variations or irregularities are to be celebrated. They are part of the design & inherent to the handcrafted production process, making this item beautifully unique.
