These Techniques are frequently used in supplementary extra weft figuring in Varanasi brocades and Chanderi saris. Here is a brief description of the techniques:
Fekva ( Fekwa)
When the extra threads are picked from one border of the fabric to the other, the threads appear on the face of the fabric in the design portion and float on the back of the fabric in the remaining portion. If the fabric is comparatively thick, the floats on the back of the fabric are allowed to remain in the fabric and technically the design is called “fekwa”. Thus in a Fekwa or Fekva design, one can see the long floats at the back of the fabric.
Katrawan or Katravan
If the fabric is comparatively fine and the spaces between the figures are required to appear transparent, the floats at the back of the fabric in such spaces are cut off. In these fabrics, care is taken to see that the extra figuring threads are properly bound (interlaced) with the ground warp near the edges of the figures, so that when the floats at the back of the fabric are cut off, the remaining portion of the threads forming figures do not become loose. The design is technically called a katrawan design.
Kardhwan Designs
In the fabric in which figures are brought out by extra weft by means of tillies (spools), each of which work only on the restricted warp threads in the corresponding place, manipulated from one side to the other, no float appears at the back of the cloth between figures. The design is technically called kardhwan design.
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