Wraparound Sari skirts… Etsy product update

If you are a regular blog reader then you are perhaps already familiar with my love of saris, the unstitched fabric. I have a huge collection of it despite the fact that I don’t get to wear them on a daily basis. I have shared my passion for saris with my other friends who are not of Indian origin through sari parties and it has always been fun.

Ahimsa (Non Violence) Silk

Silk might have been first discovered in China but once it entered the land of Buddha, it took on a new journey and a totally different perspective. Few people know that production of fine silk essentially requires the death of all the moths that form the cocoons which is unraveled for its silk strand. But there is an alternative, the silk can be produced without such violence.

A Kanjivaram sari from my collection

Although it is said that the making of silk was a secret in Chinese court till about 5^th Century, there have been archaeological evidence from over 5000 years ago from the exploration at the Harappa Mohenjo-Daro civilization site of the presence of wild silk cocoons and perhaps of their use for making fabrics.

According to Chinese legend, silk was an accidental discovery around circa 2600 BC when XiLingJi, the wife of China's third Emperor also called the "Yellow Emperor", found a silk cocoon in her tea cup. She happened to be enjoying tea under in the garden under the shade of Mulberry when a cocoon fell in her tea and the warmth of the water made it unravel and the silky strands were discovered. The queen had all such cocoons collected from the palace gardens and spun into threads for weaving which were then loomed to make fabric for king’s robe. Silk instantaneously became the symbol of ultimate luxury and a guarded secret in the Chinese court; only the highest of the royal subjects besides the king and queen were allowed to wear it. 

Eventually, the art of sericulture traveled along the silk route and reached the land of Buddha, modern day Bihar. Co-existing and respect for living creatures and the surroundings is one teaching of Buddha that monks and laity followed unquestioningly. So when the weavers who weaved fabrics for Buddha’s disciple took to rearing silk cocoons, instead of killing the caterpillar, they waited till the moth left the cocoon before unraveling and spinning the threads.

This special art of sericulture is tedious and requires a lot of patience and isn’t as profitable as the fast and quality controlled version. A handful of weavers are still pursuing this art form, but largely it’s on the path of slow demise. Since the cocoons are raised in the wild and are matured till the moth leaves the cocoon, the silk made from these strands are not as fine and the quality of final product is not uniform; it is something that can be described with the Japanese word, wabi-sabi.  

Here’s a visual journey of the process…

Raw silk, photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Isolating stands from cocoons; photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Spindle Wheel

Charkha for making silk threads

skein of silk; photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Threads being prepared for the loom

Hand Loom

Here is a small video of the making of threads from the silk strands. This video was shot and shared by my friend, Monica. She is also sharing some of her travel experiences to Nalanda through her blog: Nalanda Journey.

Dye and Come Alive

I recently experimented with fabric dyeing; the inspiration came from a wonderful article on my filpboard app a week or so ago, it talked about the amount of clothing that we American discard each year and how it makes its way into secondary markets within the country and outside as well. It is a parallel industry that gets very less attention but has turnover in billions. I so want to add a link to that article here but so far I have been unable to relocate it. 

Dohar

The last time I heard this word was from my Dadi’s conversation when I was still in the early years of my elementary school. The hindi word ‘Doharana’ in literal terms mean repeating and dohar would imply layers. It is a light summer quilt that used to be made out of fine, old , almost translucent, cotton saris and bound at the edges with heavier linen or satin to bring structural integrity to the layers.

In trying to describe and write what a dohar means, I am transported to a cool summer morning, on the terrace at my grandma's house hidden under the warmth of cool cotton layers that is blocking the gentle cool morning breeze and yet letting the warmth of morning sun filter in.

Now, you must wonder how I (we) could let go of something that felt so wonderful. It’s not just that, there is a lot more that we have forgotten that still lies along the curb of the roadways that we have traversed with great speed and dexterity focused solely on getting ahead and forgetting all that which couldn't keep up the pace. 

While reading online version of Lonny Magazine, I came across the article about textiles from south east Asia and reached the website, Mela and Roam. I explored the site for quite sometime and was held captive not just by the products but their names as well. Names like Orai, Fatehpur, Betul, reminds me of obscure train journeys and halts at unknown platforms that have taken a form to envelope nostalgia. 

There are many things like that, that tug on to the emotional and to quite an extent sensible strings of my heart; like the tussar silk where the cocoon is unraveled and not killed to make silk, the hand looms that provide livelihood and a means of expression to the village women, the iron molten and forced into an idea. And many many other arts like that which are dying a slow death burying within a culture and a generation and a philosophy which we should rather hold on to. 

DOHAR - image from Mela and Roam 

I'd like to revive and bring the things from comfortable pace of life to the fast paced life of ours, to cherish and appreciate the simpler times. 

After spending a significant amount of time at Mela and Roam, my resolve was strengthened, its a sign, its the direction that I have been looking for and I must not procrastinate any longer...

Beyond Peacock and paisleys

The Goldstein Museum in St. Paul is hosting an exhibition of textiles from India and its neighboring countries, 'Beyond Peacocks and Paisleys'. If you are interested in textiles and design, this would prove to be worthwhile visit. 

Also if you like Indian culture and admire locally available Indian art you'd be surprised to see that what Target and other big box stores sell is not the real craft from India or should I say a very diluted version of the art that Indian Artisans are capable of offering. 

At the museum there is a handbook with detailed pictures and description of the art form/textile which is very informative. One of the curators of the exhibition is a textile artist and an online friend who I have yet to meet in person but think they did an awesome job of presenting the textile art. 

This particular piece is from my husband's city 'Lucknow' and is called Chikankari. I own a few saris and  other dresses with this work and are specially suited to hot summer months as the work is done on light weight fabric, cotton or otherwise and imparts an airy feel despite the heavy embroidery. 

This next piece is called bandhage and is a very refined version of what we popularly know as 'tie and dye'. This art technique is from western states of India, Rajasthan and Gujarat. I own a couple pieces of this fabric too and its an absolute joy to wear them when you know where and who produced the dress for you and that it was definitely not in a sweat shop.

I know a little bit about all the pieces that are pictured below but I'll refrain from explaining them because I am not a textile expert and all my knowledge comes from either owning the pieces or staying in the regions where this art was produced.

Enjoy the online version of my perspective of the exhibition and if you are local and are enticed enough to follow up, please go visit it, its on till the 25th September.

Since I have a track record of overbooking my schedules, I'll miss the talk but if you are interested in this topic, it is open to public.