Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

Khadi• Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric.

• Woven mostly in cotton, the process originates itself more than 5000 years ago and believed to be from ancient India.

• This almost forgotten process was revived by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, as a part of his movements of non- violence and non-cooperation against the British.

• It evoked tellingly the fact that in the post-industrial world, self worth and self sufficiency was acknowledged as a compensation for human labour.

Khadi

the process…

• Hand picking of the cotton bolls• Ginning• Opening and cleaning• Carding• Drawing and Combing• Roving• Spinning• Sizing• Warping• Drawing and Drafting• Weaving• Finishing

Khadi

Hand picking

Hand picked cotton bolls, collected for further processes.

Khadi

Ginning

The process of separating fibers from the cotton seeds.

It is done by hand, using a sharp comb like object like a fish bone which also removes the larger fragments of trash.

Khadi

Ginning

The other method involves the use of a small wooden device with toothed rollers.

Khadi

Opening & Cleaning

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Bow Carding

The process to eliminate the final traces oftrash from the open fibers and to separate them fully

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Carding

The mechanized carding machine consists of a very fine wire that separates the fibers almost individually and then passed through moving steel bars that remove the very short fibers and tangles. The carded material is then collected as ‘Slivers’.

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Drawing and combing

• It involves the further parallelization of cotton fibers and removal of short fibers to produce finer qualities of yarn.

• It is the process of straightening the fibers , prior to spinning of the yarn and thus a sliver of cotton is obtained.

Khadi

Roving & SpinningThe traditional‘Charkha’

or the hand spinning wheel.

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The New Model Charkha (NMC), which is semi-mechanized. Roving & Spinning

Khadi

Roving & Spinning

Fish bone

The drafted slivers are further thinned out and twisted

slightly at the same time to strengthen it.

The product of this process is called Roving which is directly spun to produce yarn, during which the diameter of the yarn is controlled and calculated. Rovings are wound onto bobbins ready for spinning.

Khadi

Roving & Spinning

Fish bone

The spinning of fiber into yarn is the most emblematic of textile production. Here the yarn is spun using a spinning wheel.

Khadi

Spinning

Fish bone

Although most of the spinning is done on the New Model Charkha (NMC), in some remote villages the traditional hand spinning wheel is still being used.

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Spinning

Fish bone

The spun yarns are wound intoreels of 1000 meters each.

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Spinning Centers

Fish bone

In order to organize and systematize the spinning process,

spinning is done by spinners at the spinning centers nowadays.

Most cooperatives, with license from the KVIC, procure cotton slivers from South India and then spin yarn for self consumption only.

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Warping

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Sizing

Fish bone

The process involves starching or application of sizing solution to the warp prior to warping or after warping to resist the weaving abrasions.

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Drawing & Drafting

Fish bone The process of making the healds by looping nylon heald wire around the warp ends, depending on the weave and design of the fabric.

Khadi

Fish bone

Bobbin winding

The reels of yarns are then wound onto bobbins by hand using a winding Charkha.The process of weaving follows this.

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Weaving

Fish bone Weaving is done on a pit loom, especially with a fly shuttle, which is one of the most ancient type of looms.

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Fish boneThe interior villages of West Bengal where the weavers produce the finest Khadi of 300s to 500s count…An attempt to revive the famous Bengal muslin.

Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

Khadi - Gandhi’s Quintessential Fabric

KhadiSalient features of Khadi

• Hand-spun and hand woven

• Hand spun yarn renders a soft character to the fabric that is comfortable to wear.

• Durable fabric.

• Subtle texture in the fabric owing to hand spinning and hand weaving .

• Fine fabrics up to 500s count are available…..which are otherwise impossible to weave in mechanized looms.

KhadiThe Future of Khadi• It is the only fabric where the play of texture is so unique that no two fabrics will be absolutely identical, thus lending it exclusivity and inimitability in terms of feel and texture.

• Khadi is among the most progressively modern of all textiles, one that not only has desirably material possibilities but also consonance with the native ecology and sensitivity to the human condition that sustains it.

• It advocates that fact that even in the post-industrial world, self- worth and self sufficiency are acknowledged as a compensation for human labour.

• Today Khadi is being used by Top Fashion Designers in India and abroad in garments and accessories.

KhadiDid you know? 70 % of the artisans involved in the process of Khadi production are women.

Khadi is an eco-fabric. The process involves no environmental pollution and is extremely eco friendly.

Khadi helps in supporting destitute, helpless rural women folk as they can work independently and earn their living.

Khadi production is a labour-intensive industry, with a scope of providing more employment with an investment of a very meager capital especially in the rural areas.

It enables full development of locally available raw materials and human resources.

Khadi

We would like to thank the following people for their help, support and guidance without which this project would not have been a success:

• Mr. G.C. Basak, Joint DirectorDirectorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Govt. of West Bengal.• Mr. S.S.Sil, Dy. Director & Mr. U.S. Maiti, Khadi OfficerKhadi & Village Industries Commission, West Bengal.• Mr S.K. Ghosh, Dy. Director,Weavers Service Center, Kolkata.• Dr. B.V. Somashekhar. Director,National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata.• Mr. Malay Kumar Das, Technical Officer,Handloom Development Commission, Murshidabad.• Bharat Khadi Sevak Sangha, Murshidabad.• Chandrakanta Lalit Mohan Resham Khadi Samity, Murshidabad.• Murshidabad Silk Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd., Murshidabad.• Khadi-o-Kutir, Kalna, Burdwan.• Nabadwip Kutir Shilpa Prathisthan , Burdwan.• Ms. Darshan Shah, Director, Weavers Studio, Kolkata.• Tarang Maheshwari, NIFT, New Delhi.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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• Khadi Volkart Foundation, Switzerland,

Amr Vastra Kosh 2002

• The Khadi IndustryPublication Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting

Govt. of India1962

• Spinning & KhadiGandhi, M.K.

•Khadi: How & Why?Gandhi, M.K.

• The Gandhian WayKripalani, J.B., Acharya

Nawjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

WEAVERS STUDIO5/1, Anil Moitra Road, Ist Floor, Ballygunj

Place, Kolkata- 700 019 West Bengal

India

SPONSORED BY

Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

Nitin Gupta National Institute of Fashion Technology

New Delhi

Subhabrata Sadhu National Institute of Design

Ahmedabad

DOCUMENTED BY

PRESENTED BYMs. Darshan Shah Director Weavers Studio

Calcutta, India

Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

THANK YOU