Friday, December 10, 2010

The tale of Textile from Indus Civilization

The tale of Textile from Indus Civilization



Pakistan textile enjoys a rich heritage and the origin of textiles has traces back to the Indus valley Civilization. The handloom weavers of Pakistan have been spinning their magic for thousands of years. Cotton and silk fabrics produced today carry on century’s old tradition in design and craftsmanship incorporating modern quality and design techniques. Pakistan is famous for cotton crops and export cotton to other countries also.

Traditionally fiber is taken from plants or animals, for example cotton from cotton seed pods, linen from flax stems, wool from sheep hair, or silk from the spun cocoons of silkworms. In addition to these traditional materials, synthetic materials such as plastic acrylic are now used In order for the fiber to be made into cloth or clothing, it must be spun (or twisted) into a strand known as yarn. When the yarn is ready and dyed for use it can be made into cloth in a number of ways. Knitting and crochet are common methods of twisting and shaping the yarn into garments or fabric. The most common use of yarn to make cloth is weaved fabric called as Khadi or Khaddar, this type of fabric is coarse and bit loosely woven. Just for my reader information that in weaving, the yarn is wrapped on a frame called a loom and pulled taut vertically. This is known as the warp. Then another strand of yarn is worked back and forth wrapping over and under the warp. This wrapped yarn is called the weft. Most art and commercial textiles are made by this process but power loom are used to produce all type of fabric.

Let me describe the different type of weaving done in Pakistan as this information is given by Artisans (Muna Shamsuddin and family) of East World Market ,who are manufacturer of handloom material in Orangi Town.

Jamawar

“Jama” means robe and “war” is yard. The base of the jamawar is mostly silk thread called resham, with a little addition of polyester. The brocaded parts are woven in similar threads of silk and polyester. Most of the designs seen today are floral or with a traditional pattern called the kairy (the paisley) .Pakistan has the best woven material in Jamawar and this is mostly used for bridal dresses. Since this is a delicate fabric because of its texture and pattern. It get entangle easily with metallic embroidery and jewelry so care should be taken while wearing it. Now days the weaving of Jamawar in Pakistan is done on the jacquard loom. The pattas, which are the punched cards, controlled the actions of the loom, allowing automatic production of intricate woven patterns. The bigger the motif, the greater the number of cards required to make them. Another big change were brought about in 1985 in weaving where the source of inspiration was the Chinese Shanghai cloth. The patterns of the Chinese Shanghai were amended in accordance to the weave construction of the jamawar cloth.



Jamdani' - the great characteristic of fine art in hand weaving derived from a "PERSION" word 'JAM' meaning a 'cup' and 'DANI' denotes the 'container' . Jamdani weaving style flourished under rich and enlightened patronage of Mughal emperors. Excellence in weaving techniques the figured muslin with delicate motifs worked on by deft fingers, needed besides skill, unlimited patience, and one yard of cloth sometimes taking months to weave. The "Mughals" recognized this excellence art but kept the product rare to common people .this type of weaving also common in India & Bangladesh. The handloom weaves of Pakistan have been spinning their magic for generations. Cotton and silk fabrics produced today carry on century’s old tradition in design and craftsmanship incorporating modern quality and design techniques. The weavers are not only expert craftsmen, but artists who capture the spirit of the past in the unique traditional designs through bold use of colors and textures. There is also an enthusiasm for experimentation with new ideas and styles which is evident in the variety of designs and fabrics produced by the handloom industry.

Sussi

The wonders of handloom include: sussi, striped and checked material in cotton. The cloth is distinguished by its intricate stripes, char-khana (four squares) or jal of botis (flowers) all a piece of art in textile handloom .Mostly this type of fabrics are used to make  bed spread or Jacket ,vest and pajamas called Shalwar .This is a traditional rural crafts of Sindh.. The pattern was evolved centuries ago. Presently Gumbat and Tando Mohammad Khan in Sindh are the leading production centers . A large number of colors and patterns are used in weaving Sussi cloth. In recent times there has been a trend away from pure cotton Sussi to silk and synthetic blends as well and this make the cloth more popular because now it shrink less.


Brocade

This is another beautiful fine handspun creation of silk interwoven with gold or silver threads in a rainbow of colors and thread.

Silk brocades, texturally, are divided mainly into two groups:

Kamkhwab

Kam means little or scarcely. Khwab means a dream and it’s said that even with such a name ‘Its beauty, splendor and elegance can be hardly dreamt of’. Kamkhwab are heavy fabrics or several layers of warp threads with an elaborate all-over pattern of extra weft, which may be of silk, gold and / or silver threads or combinations. There may be three to seven layers of warp threads. (Tipara means three layers and Chaupara means four layers to Satpara meaning seven layers). Kin means golden in Chinese. Its specialty is in profusely using the gold and silver thread in a manner that sometimes leaves the silk background hardly visible.

Katan

These are called Katan (a thread prepared by twisting a different number of silk filaments) brocades; they are lighter in textures (lower thread count) than Kamkhwab but loosely woven in silk and has certain portions of zari (metallic thread) work as a pattern. These fabrics are mostly used for making garments and now days also used in home furnishing.

Zari wala silk or Zari wala georgette

Zari is generally of two types Badla and Kala batto. Badla Zari was made of flattened gold or silver wire with the ancient method of making zari from pure metal without any core thread. This accounted for its peculiar stiffness. Sometimes cracks would develop in the metal during the process of weaving which resulted in the loss of its natural luster and smoothness. Therefore weaving with Badla Zari was difficult and required great skill. Often a touch of Badla was given to floral motives to enhance the beauty. This type of zari has mostly gone out of favor amongst the contemporary weavers and they mostly depend on polyester or pure silk as a substitute. This thread can also be twisted with gold threads in order to make zari. The zari fiber is doubled with the yarn to prepare it for the process of weaving. Another reason for twisting the zari fiber is to reduce its excessive shine. The zari fiber is wrapped on reels and is doubled with the yarn with the help of a machine, on cones. These fibers are then wrapped on reels with the help of a doubling machine. The threads are then steamed and wrapped on the final spools. The required threads (silk, zari, etc) are then taken to the charkha, which is a machine used to make the warp for the weaving process. This type fabric is used to make headscarf ( dupattas)or dresses for ladies.

Khes Weaving

Khes is a weaved fabric .different pattern and color s of threads are used there a bit thick in texture as its used as blanket in summer or chilly winter night. its soft and can be used from both side .the beauty of this type of weaving that all done on small handloom mostly done by women in the privacy of their home. Khes is a traditional craft of Khairpur. Centuries ago to meet the need for a cotton blanket, it was an important item of export during the Mughal period. Presently Khes are used throughout Pakistan as bed covers, curtains, table cloths, floor coverings and sheets. Best know Khes come from Gumbat, nasarpur and Sukkur. Now a day the weaver started weaving shawl as there are in great demand.

KHADDAR:

Khaddar or Khadi is the simplest cotton wear and is described generally as coarse cloth. Until recently Khaddar was among the region’s major exports to Central Asia. Khaddar comes in a wide range of thickness, texture and design and is marketed in yardage for upholstery drapery, bed covers, quilts and garments. This cloth is easy to wear in summer and keep the body cool during humid and hot weather/

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Decorative ribbon lace making

Lace making


Shazadi lace story

Ladies using sewing skill and making beautiful hand embellished laces with the help of ribbon, beads, crystal and diamontes. In Pakistan ladies wear dress with lot of embellishment so now days shops are full with different type of lace and braids these are all creation of our artisans who work at home and produce beautiful embellishments.Each Lace is a unique creative work.