Kullu Shawls

Kullu is a place in Himachal Pradesh. It is famous not only for entertainment and beautiful sceneries but also for its traditional textiles named Kullu Shawls throughout India. Kullu shawls are pure woollen shawls having traditional designs.

Kullu shawls are made from woollen yarns. The fibres for this yarn are collected from sheep and then sorted out (near front legs and neck, best quality of wool is found on a sheep) according to color, length, quality and feel. The fibres are processed by domestic methods. Under these methods, the fibres are sorted, scoured  and radical impurities are removed and then these fibres are dyed by tub dyeing method. Then the fibres are spun into yarn by charkha and Takhli. Now-a-days few quantities of silk and cotton are also used for borders, pallau and centre motifs. Somethimes greige fibres are also used to produce produce patterning and motifs.

Though Kullu shawls are produced in different colors like china blue, olive green, maroon coffee etc. but beauty of Kullu Shawls stands only in black shades.

Because Kullu Shawls are not made by big machines, this is an art of hand woven technology. Sometimes Zig-zag effects are also produced.

In Kullu shawls small diamonds, small dots, small squares, small triangles, plus marks etc. are found on the body of the shawls. there may be small lines of patterning on the selvedge or border with matching colors.

Kullu shawls are of woollen yarn of high count and shape just like 10s of cotton yarn. This is optimum to have better quality.

carpets and floor coverings

Panipat is famous for carpets. Regarding the origin of carpets there is no proper clue available in history about when carpet manufacturing had started in India, but it is sure that thousands of years agao, the Rishi Munis used an Ashram Cloth material which is a part of carpt of ancient days. In 15th century, carpets were available in well developed homes.

Though carpets are known as woollen carpets but woollen yarn alone is not able to produce perment structure while working without the help of cellulosic fibres, that is why carpets are woven by woollen and cotton yarns. Carpets of 15th century show that in warp wool is used and in weft cotton is used. It is a style of 'dari'. Now-a-days different types of fibres are used in carpets eg woollen, silk or cotton carpets etc.

Carpets are woven with the help of different techniques. Some of which are given below:

1. Loom carpets are woven in 'dari' style, means hundred percent warping of cotton threads and 100% woollen threads as weft yarn with extra weft yarn for loom weaving.

2. Few carpets are woven with the help of latest machinery, some computerised techniques are used for lifting the yarn and loading the yarn to produce carpet effects.

3. Hand tufted carpets are latest carpets now-a-days. Such carpets are woven with the help of tufting gun. To produce such carpets the base fabric is cotton fabric in dense weave. These carpets are produced by tufting guns according to required design.

Generally loop carpets are produced in very dark and medium colors and light colors are mainly used in tufted carpets. Light, medium and dark all types of colors are used but it depends upon taste of country to country eg. carpets of Germany are usually in medium colors and dark colors, Americans never like purple dark colors while Australians use light colors.

In India floral designs are used very much while in Western countries ( European ) geometric designs and mural designs are liked. Commonly in America the designs of latest inventions are produced on the carpets eg. trains, buses, sea coasts, dinosaur etc. Though carpet is a very much expensive style of weaving as well as precious traditional textile of India.

Kanchipuram Saris

Kanchipuram is a city near Chennai (Madras) in Tamil Nadu. Kanchipuram produces brocaded silks of superb texture, color and lustre, known as kanchipuram Sari.

The raw material for Kanchipuram sari is silk and Zari. The silk is brought in from Bangalore and Zari threads for brocading come from Surat Gujarat.

The main items of production are the silk saris with the solid brocaded borders ('korvai'). The silk is woven on a throw shuttle pitloom with a drawbox harness. Designs and patterns are woven with extra warp and extra weft and are worked into the body of the fabric by means of an indigenous device known as the 'adai' which fulfils the same function as the jacquard.

Kanchipuram Saris in the south Indian style have a pallav and/or borders, that contrast in color to the main field of the sari.

Green, blue, red, yellow, mashroom, orange or purple colors are commonly used with contrasting borders.

On the borders, small flowers, mangoes and geometrical motifs are woven with zari. Pallu is also highly decorative part of the sari. Nowadays, artificial zari is used commonly.

Kalamkari

The Coromandal coast of India was once a world renowned source of fine hand painted textiles, fortunately its textile tradition is survived in AP temple town of Kalahasti where the paintings of scenes from the Hindu Epics on cotton cloth was revived by the establishment of a training school by the All India Handicrafts Borad in 1958.

On Kalamkari cloth, printers and painters use both natural and chemical dyes. Though indigo is found in abundance in the area, but their red shades came from chemical alizarin.

Kalamkari is practiced in east of India at Masulipatnam in AP and Kalahasti in South. In Masulipatnam, the agents that control the patterning are traditionally applied with a kalam (pen). Machine loomed cloth known as Kora is bleached by repeated immersion in a solution of goat or buffalo dung and frequently rinsing in a river or a canal. The cloth is then mordanted in a myrobalan solution, to which is added fresh buffalo milk to prevent the spreading of the dye or application. Outline printing of the floral, bird and animal patterns is done with black (made of iron salts and gum) or with red ( alum with gum) or with both colours then follows the washing and the cloth is left to dry for two or three days. After washing, the cloth is scalded in a vat of alizarin and madder solution, enhancing and fixing the red patterning and removing the myrobalan and gum juice. Bleaching then takes place, leaving a white cloth patterned in red and black. Cleaning, bleaching and starching follows prior to the painting of the cloth in yellow and green colors. Yellow is achieved by boiling myrobalan flowers in water and by applying the solution with a simple Kalam made from a short pointed bamboo stick whose dye reservoir is a felt pad bound with string. Pressure on the myrobalan soaked pad allows the artist to control the release of the dyeing agent. the dyes are fixed permanently by dipping the cloth in an alum solution, after which it is part bleached in cow dung solution to give the yellow an attractive clarity and color. Finally the cloth is soaped and washed.

Unlike the Masultipatnam cloth the hangings from kalahasti are decorated entirely by free hand use of Kalam pen. Machine loomed cotton cloth is washed to remove starch and soaked in myrobalan solution ready to take the black dye. Once spread on the ground, or on a low wooden bench the cloth is ready to be sketched on by the artist. Oulines of figures and designs are first drawn freehand with charcoal sticks made of tamarind twigs. The kalam for fine linework is a pointed bamboo stick, six to eight inch long swaddled at the sharpened end with welt or wool that is tied to the cane by a net of strings. The felt pad holds the dyestuff, which may be released by slight varirations of finger pressure to run down to the point of kalam and on the cloth as the designs are drawn. Black outlines are painted with the kalam using a solution of salts of iron. An alum solution is painted as infill with a bamboo kalam. The cloth is then immersed into a solution of pobbaku leaf, surudu root bark and majistha root and the mordanted areas are coloured red. Double mordanting of figures and patterns with alum creates tones of red and the cloth is then bleached in a solution of cow's dung. The final colurs of yellow, blue and green are painted on the cloth as infill and detail with a kalam. Yellow is obtained by painting a myrobalan flower solution as areas pre-mordanted with alum, blue by applying indigo mixed with a little alum and green by coating yellow areas with indigo.

In Kalahasti, the subjects of illustration are either traditional takes from Hindu epics, or modern as scenes from company logos. Also there is a religious code for the decoration of Kalamkari fabrics. All gods are blue, female characteristics are golden yellow, bad characters and demons are red.

Jamdani

These are fine transparent cotton muslin with discontinuous supplementary weft motifs woven in heavier cotton threads.

Jamdani weaving methods employs two weavers sitting side by side at a simple handloom who add every discontinuous  supplementary weft motif separately by hand , using individual spools of threads called tilis. No special warp lifting mechanisms are required.

In terms of color and design, contemporary Jamdanis fall into six categories: those with

1. Natural coloured, unbleached cotton grounds with bleached white cotton supplementary work.

2. Pastel coloured grounds with white supplementary work.

3. Dark coloured grounds with white supplementary work.

4. Any of the other, with coloured threads, either of similar or contrasting tones.

5. Any of the above combinations with 'zari' supplementary threads as part of the mix.

6. Dark grounds with only zari supplementary work.

The only town in India where traditional Jamdanis are still made is Tanda in Uttar Pradesh. Here finely patterned white Jamdanis usually completely covered with vines and foliate patterns, have been created since at least the nineteenth century. Today most Tanda Jamdanis are woven into dupattas or yardage, although sais of this type were most popular among wealthy old women and widows.

Benaras Brocades

Alipura is traditionally the district of Varansi, where the famous Benaras brocades are woven, brocades are textiles woven with warp and weft threads of different colors.

The Benaras brocades are woven in silk, with profuse use of metal threads on the 'pallaus' and the field of the sari.

The weavers are muslims, known as karigars. The brocades are woven in workshops known as karkhanas which are a series of interconnected rooms, usually on the first floor. Almost every square inch of ground space in the room is taken up with looms, and above each loom hangs a crowded arrangement of strings leading down to the loom heddles. the weavers work in artificial light, in a calm and quiet atmosphere which is conducive to the concentration needed for the weaving of such complicated designs.

The Zari thread known as kalabathun consists of finely drawn gold, silver or base metal thread, wound round a silk thread. Silk traditionally come from Bengal, Central Asia and Italy, but now comes from either Malda, in Bengal or from Kashmir or Japan.

The most famous brocaded textile of Varansi is called Kinkhab woven with coarse but durable silk called Matka which is heavy enough to take brocading with gold or silk thread. A silk and zari work brocade of lighter material and less heavy ornamentation is known as 'pot-than' or 'bafta'. The name for brocades without any metal work is called Amru.

Patolas and Resist Dyed Fabrics of India

In India's legendary heritage of textiles, few are as highly prized as patola, the double ikat silk fabric, in which both warp and weft are separately tie-dyed before weaving to create patterns of unmatched richness and subtelty.

Patan, the ancient capital of Gujarat has been the centre for patola for many centuries.

In Gujarat they are traditionally worn by Hindus, Jains and Vohra Muslims. A well to do bride invariably wears a patola today. Throughout India, Patolas have become a symbol of wealth and family lineage, transcending the boundaries of Religion and community.

The complicated patola weaving procedure is naturally labourious and tedious and it is possible to complete only about 25 cm of cloth a day.

To begin with, skeins of silk are opened and wound on reels. Once this is done, eidth threads are plied together by lightly twisting them and feeding them into another hand reel. This twisting prepares the silk for the next stage- bleaching.

Bleaching is achieved by soaking the hanks of silk for a minute in boiling water mixed with soda ash and soap. Once dry, the silk is filled into bobbin and wound onto a charkha. It is then twisted and transferred to a smaller charkha. From this warp and weft are prepared.

Befor the tyeing and dyeing can start, the pattern is first traced onto a graph paper.

The warp is assembled with the help of round iron or steel pegs covered in white muslin, protruding horizontally from the wall. The number and arrangement of the pegs can be altered to suit the desired length of the warp. Twelve wooden bobbins on stand, containing the eight ply silk, ar placed in two rows in front of the pegs. The warp is spread on a rectangular wooden frame and sectioned by grouping the threads accorging to the pattern.

Once the wapr and weft are ready on the frames, the tyeing begins, always from the right with the use of thread or old cloth, exact measurements of the portions being tied are taken continuously. Of all the phases of the weaving process, this is the most delicate and often it is done by women. As different portions of the yarns are tied, it is removed from the frames and dyed. This process continues until every color in the pattern appears in the yarn.

The dyeing, traditionally achieved with vegetable colors, but now increasingly with chemical dyes, is carried out by both men and women. Hanks of silk are usually left soaking in cold water for a day or two before each dyeing to ensure that the colors are absorbed evenly. The yarn often needs to be vigourously rubbed by hand for it to be properly soaked. After the final color has been dyed, the yarn is yet once more returned to the frame. Now the entire pattern becomes clearly visible. The weft is separated and taken back onto bobbins for weaving.

The patola loom is very simple and tools are hand made from bamboo. The loom does not have a foot paddle but a handle by which threads are manipulated. It is placed at right angle to the floor and two people are required for weaving. The first stands on the right and passes the shuttle to the left and the second sits in front of the loom and passes the shuttle from left to right. While at the loom, the weavers hold the weft threads on both sides, constantly checking for a missmatch in the pattern between warp and weft. The process is painstakingly slow. Little wonder then that it takes roughly 20 days to finish a sari about five meters long.

There are some 10 basic patterns, mainly of plant, zoomorphic and geometrical motifs. While most motifs can be traced to traditionaly forms, some relatively modern ones certainly evolved in response to the demands of the export market. In a weaving technique so complicated, it is true that geometrical motifs should predominate. These were used in variation between the border and the body pattern. The designs most commonly found include chhabdi bhat (the basket pattern), Fulvari bhat (flowering pattern), ratan chowk bhat ( jewel mosaic), Paan bhat (pipal leaf pattern), akhrot bhat (walnut motif), nari kunjar (women and elephant), popat kunjar ( parrot and elephant), wagh bar hathi bar (tiger and twelve elephants), maharas bhat ( women dancing with sticks in hand)

Block Printing, Sanganeri saris

Block printed saris have been created throughout India over the past few centuries, but the Western region has remained the primary area of production. The most important centres of block printing are Sanganer, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Jetpur, Rajkot, Porbandar and Bhavnagar in Gujarat.

The village of Sanganer near Jaipur has been a major centre for very fine block-cutting and printing, and has produced fine muslin saris printed on both sides of the fabric. This elaborate work needs expertly cut mirror images blocks to print the usually asymmetrical Mughal style designs. Although Sanganer is well known for producing fine block printed textiles on off white or pastel backgrounds, today a wide range of textiles are produced with both dark and pale grounds.

A strong Mughal aesthetic dominates the region's printed sari designs. Borders and end pieces consist of repeated bands of undulated twines (bel) of various sizes. Field are often covered with a repeat design varying from small simple dots or geometric shape to large complex buta and kalga.

Cloth printing blocks are usually made of 'teak' or 'seesum'. These dyes are printed on a textile by means of a relief covered block( a different block for each color). In India, the blocks are usually 23-30 cm (9-12") square in size.

Temple Saris

A more traditional variation of the Kornad Sari is called Temple sari. Technically, a temple sari is any sari woven for and donated to a temple deity in any part of South Asia. Originally it had to be perfectly executed, although it has always reflected what the donor could afford. Today however all the wide bordered Kornad Saris have become popularly known as temple saris. One type of traditiona Kornard sari is the interlocked weft woven sari, that has its two borders and fields of equal width. The borders are in the usual unembellished style but in the type most often called a temple sari, the entire length of narrow field is covered with fine quality supplementary weft zari patterning woven as a series of weft wise rows which includes such motifs as elephant, peacocks, double headed eagles and foliate floral vines. The motifs are typical of Tamil Nadu south Andhra Pradesh graphic and two dimensional representations are quite unlike the more three dimensional appearance of the northern Indian Patterning typical of Benaras

Tangail saris

Tangail Sarees

Although Jamdanis were traditionally woven by Muslims, Hindu weavers who moved from Tangail during partition helped developoing India's modern Jamdani industry. They were probably originally trained in the pre partition government school that was founded at Tangail in 1930s in an effort to revive the then disapperaring craft of Jamdani weaving. Significantly West Bengal Jamdanis are often called Tangail Jamdani and they typically have many small buti woven throughout the field often diagonally. They are now woven in many areas of West Bengal in such villages as Dhatrigram, Samudragarls, Saithia, Phulia and Shantipur. Those from Shantipur have black or dark blue bodies with brightr buti. Today the Tangail Jamdanis have developed a style of its own with a distinctly Modernist Hindu Aesthetic and it is now acquiring the vibrant colours of southern India and bold animal designs of Andhra Pradesh. Many are also made in silk instead of cotton because silk is easier and faster to weave and weavers are usually paid more for weaving silk fabric than cotton.

Kashmir Embroidery

The beautiful valley of Kashmir is justly famed for its textiles, above all the Kashmir shawl. The manufacture of embroidered shawls was started by an Armenian named Khwaja Yusuf, who introduced the concept of amli, the needlework shawls.

The classical Kashmiri shawl was made of Pashmina wool whose main source was the fleece of a central Asian species of mountain goat. Now only a fraction of these shawls are woven out of Pashmina wool, a mjority of them are made out of a yarn called ruffal which is spun out of Merino wool.

The shawl ground cloth was prepared by being rubbed with a piece of polished agate or or cornelian on the flat surface of a plank until it was prerfectly smooth. The pattern to be embroidered was then made on the the cloth with coloured power or charcoal and then embroidered with a satin or stem stitch, each stitch made to lie as flat as possible by picking up warp threads.

Whilst shwals are embroidered with a needle, much of the embroidery done in Kashmir valley is ari work. As with the weaving, embroidery is a male profession. The ari work is used to decorate clothing, wall hanging rugs, curtain covers and whole rolls of furnishing fabrics, with varying complexity of designs.

Maps of Srinagar and human figures are a very popular motif.

Advantage of Shuttleless loom over shuttle loom

Salient feature of Shuttleless looms:
1. Shuttleless weave 2 to 4 times as much as conventional looms per unit time.
2. The cost of pirn winding is eliminated
3. Strain upon the warp threads is reduced due to smaller depth of shed
4. Heavy cost of repairs and replenishment of worn out parts is reduced They can produce simpler tubes of fabrics on a large scale and provide opportunities for profitable exploitation in the long run.
5. The physical and mental strain upon the weaver is reduced
6. There is no risk of shuttle fly out owing to the absence of conventional shuttle and packing being positive
7. Quality of the fabric gets enhanced because of a positive control over the weaving process
8. The looms are easier to work and manipulate
9. Efficiency of the shuttle weaving shed is comparatively higher
10. 5% reduction in value loss for a Rs. 60/- Metre fabric would ensure an additional profit of Rs. 3/- meter
11. Higher production per loom
12. Speed is not the only criterion for the selection of shuttleless looms. Efficiency is also an important criterion.Efficiency advantage of 10-15% due to shuttle changes, Un weaving of damages, reduced time for warp changes canbe obtained from shuttleless looms. 5% higher efficiency would provide an additional profit of Rs. 1/- per metre.
13. 14 minutes stoppage per 24 hours.
14. Ex works cost is less due to less mending and inspection charges and no pirn winding charges. 15. Projectile and Air-jet looms suitable for Mass fabrics Rapier for fashion fabrics

Weaving machines flowchart

Madhubani

Madhubani is an art of fabric painting practiced in the villages of Mahdhubani. As the literal meaning of the word conveys, 'Madhu' for honey and 'Bans' for woods or forests, 'Madhubani' depicts that sweet feeling of exaltation which these amiable folks experience in their hearts-while conceiving the image of their favourite god.

The process of ritualistic Madhubani painting was very straight and clear. The images are based on age-old scriptures and epics. The Vedas, The Puranas, The Upanishads, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Sun, moon, earth and stars are also depicted in these images. They are also seeped into the environment: the trees, the animals, the birds, the fish and plants. These also depict immediate surroundings: the family, the village life, the flora and fauna, the wild life, the music of the birds, the village fairs and the fastivals, and celebrity mood. An element of environment beauty is introduced by a refreshing deluge of floral and wildlife motifs. Sunflowes, lotuses, trees, leavees and creepers convey the mute glory of flora and fauna. Tigers, elephants, tortoises, peacocks, peahens and other wildlife present the alternate form of life.

In Madhubani, children learn from their parents, while helping them out, clearing, grinding or filling in the colors. Elders on the other hand, perform the ritualistic art setting right in the midst of children so that children can also learn from their elders

Chamba Rumal

Chamba Rumal

Chamba Rumal is the embroidery work on a square format. The size can be as small as a handkerchief to as large as bed sheets. 

Fabric chosen is either Khaddar or Malmal. 

The figures are filled with untwisted silk floss which is also know as pat. 

This is also called Chamba Kashidakari or "Do-Rukha" embroidery. 

Chamba Rumals are embroidered with the technique of double satin stitch known as "Do-Rukha Tanka". The stitch is carried forward and backward alternately and both sides of the cloth are stiched simultaneously so that the space on both sides look equally effective and identical in content.

The outline is marked in danditanka a stem stich or chain stitch with knot after each stitch. 

No chamba rumal is done in single color. 

From the early eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, Chamba and its neighbouring hill states such as Kangra and Basohli, formed the nucleus of rumal production, which was embroidery work on thin unbleached muslin ( malmal) of great charm and simplicity. Rumal means cover or Kerchief, and these square shaped textiles were used mainly as a covering for gifts. When an offering was made to temple gods or gifts exchanged between the families of bride and grooms, an embroidered rumal was always used as wrappings. Chamba rumals were also used in temples as a backdrop to , or canopy for deity.

Motif generally comprises of a floral border whcih enclosed a finely drawn religious scene set against a clear, unembellished and unembroidered background. The designs are initially drawn out in Charcoal and featured scenes from Krishna's life and other mythological episodes, which are surrounded by clusters of willow and cypress trees and running animals such as tigers, horse and deer.

Chamba rumals are embroidered in silks of soft colours, using a double darning or double satin stitch stitch, so that an identical design appeared evenly on both sides of the cloth, and double running stitch  or danditanka is used for outlines and details.

An excellent article on the process is found here. 

Baluchari Sari

Baluchari Sari

It is a popular ninteenth centruy figured silk saree. It is an elaborately woven brocade known to have been made during 1850-1900 in the village surrounding Baluchar (Murshidabad Distt.)

Baluchar Sarees are similar in appearance and in weaving techniques to many Banaras Brocades although they never contain Zari threads, only silk. They have intricate supplementary weft or warp borders and end pieces created in untwisted silk threads of colors that contrast with the ground, with elaborate floral borders. The figures are commonly involved in such activities as smoking a hooka, riding a train, or smelling a flower, and are often dressed in Mughal style or European cloths, the grounds of these saris are generally dark with purple, dark brown and red being common, while the wide range of colors found in the supplementary threads are always light, such as white, yellow orange of pink

The Bengali Saris are created on draw looms, which contains a complicated mechanism for weaving multi-warp and multi-weft figured textiles.

Material is used as silk. The dimensions for a Baluchar Sari are in Cm (length=558, width=112, ends per cm=38, picks per cm =35)

This is an amazing video on the Baluchar Silks

tanchoi

This is a figured silk in which a densly patterned heavy fabric is created that has no floats on the reverse. The unused threads are woven into the foundation at the back. Traditionally, the face of the fabric has a satin weave ground ( warp threads) with small patterns made by the weft threads repeated over the entire surface.

The supplementary weft patterning of these brocades is woven in silk. The threads may be either untwiste, giving a 'thick' line to the woven design or they may be made of twisted yarns that produce a finer, denser pattern.

Tanchoi brocades originated from China, initially being part of nineteenth century Parsi trade between India, China and England.

Dimensions for a Banaras 5 colored tanchoi silk may be length 559 cm, width 117 cm, warp count may be 109/cm and weft count as 132/cm.

Phulkari

Phulkari

The rich agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana are famous for the "phulkari" (flower work) shawls that were worn with choli and gaghra . It formed the traditional costme of rural women of this regioin. It was a costume both spectular and eminently practical. Phulkaris were made for every day wear. Usually the border and field of the shawls were not so densly embroidered. Phulkaris were made for family use, or as gifts, very rarely were they made for sale.

Motifs of flowers, birds and human figures were embroidered in soft untwisted silk in combinations of gold, yellow, white, organge or red, on a ground that was usually a brick red color, but could sometimes be black or white. Although designs on phulkaris were often figurative, motifs and scenes from daily life-houses, temples, flowers, animals, wedding rituals and processions were used. Images of vegetables and flowers, wheat and barley stalks, the sun, moon, trees and rivers, mughal gardens, kites and even playing cards were stitched on phulkaris.

the embroidery was worked in silk thread from Kashmir, Afghanistan or Bengal, although the best quality silk was Chinese. the yarn was worked on a coarse handmade cloth known as Khaddar, which was produced in the village by local Jullaha. Three of these pieces would be joined together to form a phulkari. Khaddar was locally available cheap, hard wearing, and more importantly, it was preferred to mill made cloth as its coarse weave facilitated the counting of threads necessary for phulkari work.

The design was embroidered from the reverse side using darning stitches over counted threads. Only one thread was taken up with each pick of the needle, leaving a long stitch below to form the pattern. Stitching ran in both horizontal and vertical directions in order to give a variation in texture. In addition to darning stitch, double running stitch or chain stitch is used to form the outline of figures of birds, animals and humans, which were then filled in with darning and satin stitch. Satin or stem stitch was used on phulkari. Borders and blanket stitch or button hole stitch was used for finishing off the edges.

Effect of Fabric Structure on Fabric Properties

Effect of Woven Fabric Structure on Fabric Properties

1. Tensile Strength: The more the crimp the less the strength. Other things being equal, plain weave fabrics which have the highest crimp have the lowest strength.

2. Extensibility: The more crimp there is in the yarn the more extensible is the fabric, therefor longer the floats, the less extensible is the fabric.

3. Surface Friction: Whether surface is smooth or rough. Long floats produce smooth fabrics with low crimp levels.

4. Tear Strength: In case of tensile loading, all the yarns in the direction of the loading share the load. In tear loading only one, two or at most few yarns share the load. In tight constructions, the movement of the yarn is restricted during loading and yarn will be presented to the load one by one; this results in a low tearing strength. Loose open constructions allow more freedom for the yarns to move and group together, thus presenting bundles of yarns to the tearing load, in consequence the tear strength is high. Designs which have group of yarns woven together such as rib or basket will have hight tear strength.

5. Abrasion Resistance: The most important factors are the crimp levels and the height of the crowns caused by the crimp. The greater the number of crowns/area or the greater the area of each crown, the less will be the stress concentration on the crowns and this leads to a high abrasion resistance. The longer the floats the larger the area of contact between the yarn and the abraidant and the higher the abrasion resistance.

6. Drape: Heavy fabrics from coarse yarns and dense constructions have poor drape characteristics. Fabrics with long floats in the weave permit the yarns to move freely; this reduces the bending and shear resistance of the fabric, leading to a better drape behaviour.

7. Crease Resistance: A plain woven fabric with a high fabric count puts a heavy strain on the fibres and limits the recovery of the fabric. The longer the floats, the higher will be the crease resistance of the fabric.

Bengal Kantha

In the sphere of folk textiles the needlework quilts of Bengal and Bihar form a group of some of the most interesting cloths of the subcontinent. They are known as Kanthas in Bengal and Sujanis in Bihar. In the past they were made for family use or as gifts, out of cast-off saris or dhotis.

Saris and Dhotis in Bihar and Bengal are predominantly white, sometimes with a border in black or red, or blue and red, sometimes with the addition of yellow or green. Three or four sections of Saris or Dhotis are laid on top of each other and then quilted. The simple running stitch used in quilting produces an embroidery-like design whose details are filled with satin and stem stitch. Threads are taken from the colored borders of the saris for thies purpose.

http://handloomsofindia.com/blue-maroon-kantha-embroidered-tussar-silk-saree.html

The conventional pattern of Bengal Kanthas has a lotus medallion in the centre ( symbolising the universe) and four "buttis", or trees, at the corners. The rest of the field is then embroidered wih all manner of motifs: birds, fish, animals and people, with domestic scenes mixed with religious and allegorical figures.

Inspiration for these motifs lies in the 'Alpana' designs which are drawn out on the floor and doorstep in Bengal at festival times.

Kanthas were used eariler as winter quilts covers and wraps for books and valuables, as mats for ceremonial purposes. Kantha making for home consumption in Bengal died out for about the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century due to the usual pressures of industrialisation. The main centres for Kantha amking were in East Bengal, now Bangladesh, where it has now been revived. Here embroidered quilted hangings are made with new cloth to some of the old designs,bestof them expressing some of the lively views of nature of old classics. These new Kanthas are aimed at export and tourist markets.
 

Tie and Dye Ikat textiles

It is a derivation of the Malay word "Mengikat" means 'to tie' or 'to bind'. This technique entails tying and dyeing the warp and weft before weaving. Bundles of threads are meticulously arranged to a prepared design and bound with impermeable yarn or rubber band so that as the yarn is dyed with a range of color, the areas protected from each dye are resisted. Within the subcontinent the clothes produced by this yarn resist work are called tie-and-dye, bandha, patola, chitka and telia rumal.

Fibres Used: Cotton and Silk

Motifs used: The motif used in any traditional Ikat designs may include lotus flowers, creeping vine (lata, geese, deer, elephant), conch shell or fish. In traditional Orissan style, the end piece may contain, in dozens of Ikat patterned bands of different sizes with various levels of patterning complexities ranging from elephants and lions standing by trees to simple triables and dashes. Motifs of Andhrapradesh Ikat sarees are modern, abstrat, modernist and geometric.

Technique: IN orissa very thin yarn is used, which helps in achieveing fine, detailed and curvilinear patterns. Orissan Ikats are woven on counterbalance flyshuttles treadle looms, the structure resting on the ground over the edge of the weavers' pit. The shedding mechanism hangs from the ceiling and the warps to be wound on to a cloth beam or run over a beam and tied in the roof space out of the way. In AP the warps are tied ready, for dyeing at their full length whereas the weft are tied in groups on a frame fanning out to from the segment of a circle from a central peg. Only  two or three threads are used from a cluster on a rectangle.

Places: Orissa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh.

Compact Yarn

Compact Yarn in a compacted ring yarn with low hairiness. In this a perforated drum is fitted at the delivery end of the ring spinning machine, which in combination with partial vacuum, bundle or compact the fibres after drafting.









This will lead to :

- Reduced hairiness
- Increase in yarn strength upto 20%
- Higher spin-out limits
- Reduced Sizing ( about 30%)
- Great running on loom ( efficiency increase by over 10%)
- Glossier appearance of yarn
- Homogenous Dyeing

The gains are greater from yarn counts of 30s or more.

( For more information please refer to this newsletter for compact yarn)

FAQ in Spinning-1

Q. Why cotton is convoluted in crosssection when seen through microscope

Cotton fibres grow on hairs on the seed of the plant. While growing the fiber is cylinderical in form, but as it dries it twists, and, when fully ripe, resembles a narrow twisted ribbon.

Q. What is the best variety of cotton in the world

The best variety in the world is sea Island cotton which is fine, long and silky and is suitable
for the finest of counts namely 120s and beyond.

Q. What is a bale

For transporting the ginned cotton in a suitable economic and compact package form we need a
package known as a bale.

Q. Why baling is called a necessary evil.

Because processing of baled cotton requires the use of greater number of blowroom machines than are required when directly ginned cotton is used.

Q. What will happen if the cotton in bale form is stored for longer periods.

Cotton stored for longer periods, from 6 months to one year have been found to give more waste
losses ranging from 2-3% due to weather effects and compressional strains.

Q. Chemically, what is cotton fibre made of

Chemically, a cotton fiber consists of about 92% cellulose, 7% water, 0.6% nitrogen and remaining in wax, ash and fat.

Q. What is the importance of convolutions.

Convolutions help to increase the inter-fiber cohesion. Loss in convolutions have to be
compensated by slightly more twist during spinning for a desired yarn strength.

Q. What is the importance of natural wax present on cotton as regards to spinning.

It lubricates the fibers and helps in the spinning process.

Q. Why moisture is important for cotton.
Bone dry cotton is harsh and brittle with a low tensile strength. Cotton is a poor conductor of
electricity and hence it is difficult to spin very dry cotton as it develops static electricity.

Q. How fiber fineness is important for cotton spinning.

Fibres that are longer and finer are best suited for producing fine counts.

Q. What is length to diameter relationship in case of cotton.

The ratio of length to diameter for cotton varies from 500:1

Pictures of Fabrics

Normally it so happens that in text books, one comes to know about various fabrics, but one cannot visualise them as no illustrated picture of fabrics is provided. This presentation depicts the pictures of following fabrics in a beautiful manner: toile, ticking, tapestry, burlap, chintz, gingham, calico, damask, muslin, eyelet, chenille, silk, moire and denim.

Indian Textile Industry

This presentation, on Indian Textile Industry, deals with market overview, government regulations and policy and business opportunities in India. It talks about some interesting facts such as:

1. Panipat produces 75% of all blankets produced in India
2. Tirupur contributes 80% of the country's hosiery exports.
3. Ludhiana makes 95% of total woollen knitwear produced.
4. 80% of total textiles is produced in clusters( 70 in number)

It also talks about Indian rank in raw material production: Jute--> 1st, Silk--> second, cotton--> third, synthetics--> fifth and wool--> eleventh.

Textile Printing in a nutshell

This write-up introduces textile printing in a very easy to understand and succint way. It talks about all the techniques of textile printing, has lots of diagrams and it describes advantages and disadvantages of each style of prining in a pointwise manner. Very useful for students and professionals.

Short Staple Spinning

This is a small writeup on short staple spinning that is replete with diagrams which are self explanatory. Ideal for those who want to revise their knowledge of spinning.

spinnovation 23

Spinnovation is the magazine for spinning mills. Published twice a year by sussen, Germany, it goes into depth of technological innovation in yarn manufacturing technology. Spinnovation 23 discusses the historical review of the top weighing arm, new generation of navels, microdust and trash analyser, compact spinning system, modernisation for SE9 machines and melanging with MDTA 3.

Sewing Threads

This article about sewing threads discusses about common types of threads, how is thread made, thread types, thread sizing, thread weight, sewing needles, what makes a good thread, color fastness and a small glossary.

Wool Finishing

This is an introductory lecture by Mike Pailthrope on wool fabric finishing. It includes the topics such as relaxation shrinkage, consolidation, swelling, felting and wool finishing such as scouring, carbonizing, crabbing, milling, hydroextraction, back rolling, scutching, conditioning, shearing and singeing and decatising.

Textile dictionary

Here is an easy to understand textile dictionary. The biggest point in this dictionary is the simplicity of pictures with which various processes are depicted.

Easy guide to textile processes and fabric knowledge

Here is an easy guide to textile processes and fabric knowledge

Guide to Denim Fits and Finishes

Here is a guide to denim which tells about which denim to select for what body type, types of finishes such as 'creased', 'crushed' and 'whiskered'; then there is a glossary to top it off.

Simple Introduction to Textile Printing

Here is a simple introduction to textile printing

Environment Friendly Dyeing and Finishing

Please refer to this link for environment friendly dyeing and finishing.

glossary of dyeing

Please refer to this link for glossary of dyeing

The Art of Dyeing

Its amazing how internet is opening worlds of hitherto unknown or hidden recipes to the general world. Dyeing receipes are always considered to be sacrosanct and dyers normally keep them close to their heart. But here I discovered this site "Encyclopedia Of Practical Receipts And Processes - by William B. Dick" which has laid bare all the hidden formule of alchemy to the community.

Energy consumption in textile industry

Please refer to this link for energy conservation in textile industry.

New Developments in Dyeing, Printing, Finishing

Please see the link here or here for New Developements in Dyeing, Printing and Finishing.

BI-STRETCH DENIM MANUFACTURING

I have received a query from one of my blog readers who wants to know more about bi-stretch denim manufacturing. I feel there are some specific issues that need to be delt with while dealing with bi-stretch fabric at the manufacturing stage:

1. How to control yarns at the ball warping, rope dyeing and the rebeaming stage.
2. Changes in looms to be done to handle stretch warp and stretch weft. It includes issues such as width control and others.
3. Sanforisation and skew control at the finishing stage.

If someone can contribute to this blog regarding these questions, she/he is most welcome.

How to Check the Colorfastness of a Fabric

A colorfast test helps you decide which fabrics are going to bleed in the wash
-Fill a glass with hot water.
-Add a drop of detergent.
-Place a scrap of fabric into the water.
-Let fabric soak for a few minutes.
-Remove fabric from water. Blot with a white paper towel.If dye bleeds into the towel, redo the test with the same fabric scrap. If it still bleeds, then there is a problem