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Hand Spinning and
Weaving
Many of Chandni
Chowk’s fair trade fabrics use Hand Spun yarn and/or are Hand Woven. Fabric
which is both hand spun and hand woven is known as Khadi. These
skilled techniques for producing cloth date back for generations,
and in many respects the methods remain largely unchanged. Spinning
yarn by hand is central to Indian artisan culture and everyday life.
The yarn is spun using a Charka (wheel) or a drop spindle. The
resulting thread has variations in its thickness, which when woven
into a cloth creates a characteristic textured fabric, different in
feel to fabric which has been machine spun and woven. Many of our
weavers work either in small local groups or in their own homes.
They are often also farmers using weaving as a supplement to their
main income.
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A swatch of Hand
Spun and Hand Woven 'Khadi' fabric |
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Hand weaving on an
upright loom |
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Spun yarn being
transferred to a
spindle |
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Reels of yarn |
Fabrics:
Chandni Chowk uses only natural fibres, largely cotton, though
there are also ranges in Tussar or Matka silk and some wool.
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Matka Silk |
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Matka Silk
Is a
textured, thick, slubby silk that causes no harm to the silk
worm/moth. The cocoons are collected after the worms have
departed naturally: hence we refer to this silk as
‘Vegetarian friendly’. Because the worms break out of their
cocoons (as opposed to the more usual process of boiling the
cocoons with the worm still inside), the yarn from the cocoon
becomes broken into short fibres and therefore has to be hand
spun back into a continuous thread before it can be woven.
This spinning creates a textured yarn which is often thicker
than that normally associated with silk. |
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Tussar Silk |
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Tussar Silk
also causes no harm to the silk worm/moth.
Tussar is a much finer texture than Matka. It is made from the
cocoon of one particular moth (Antheraea Pernyl) which leaves
an opening in its cocoon for the silk worm to escape through.
This leaves the cocoon intact as one long fibre which does
then not need to be re-spun, but is instead unwound and woven
directly into the fabric known as Tussar. The use of Matka and
Tussar date back many hundreds of years into traditional
Indian Textile history. |
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Pure Wool |
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100% Pure Wool
which
Chandni Chowk uses in several of its accessories collections,
is mainly woven around Almora in the foot hills of the
Himalayas. Some of our collections are hand spun, all are hand
woven, creating a beautiful finish to the fabrics.
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Crepe |
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Crepe Fabric
made from
100% cotton fibres spun so that they have a high twist in the
yarn, which distorts once woven, washed and then treated with
a fine spray of water. The resulting fabric has a crinkled
effect. The degree of crinkle on any particular fabric will
vary from one colour or print to the next, as the fibres react
differently to each type of dye and/or printing process.
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Khadi Voile |
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Voile and
Khadi Voile
is a very light cotton fabric woven from very fine thread.
The Chandni Chowk
collection uses both Voile and Khadi Voile. Khadi Voile is
hand spun and hand woven, which requires an exceptional amount
of skill to produce this subtle textured light fabric, and, as
a result, is significantly more expensive than either power
loom voile or heavier weights of cotton Khadi.
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