Handloom FABRIC

Ajrakh:

A type of block-printed fabric, Ajrakh is usually found in Kutch (Gujarat) and Barmer (Rajasthan). Woodblock stamps are used to create different geometric patterns that are transferred onto the fabric using natural dyes, including vegetable and mineral dyes. The most common colours used include blue, red, black, yellow and green. One of the most common dyes used for this type of printing is indigo.

Ajrak has been dated back to Mohenjo-daro, where the kings and royals have been shown wearing similar prints to those observed in ajrak patterns today. The beauty of ajrak is in its simplistic yet elegant patterns and natural texture.

Bagh:

Another major form of block-printing found in Bagh, Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, bagh print replicates geometric and floral compositions with vegetable colours, mainly red and black, on a white/cream background. Any colours used as dyes are derived from natural sources, including flowers, leaves, barks etc. Although this patterns are created manually, the end-product is flawless and comparable to a machine-produced print.

These prints can be found on different types of cloths, including but not limited to: georgette, silk, cotton, crepe, tussar etc.

Ikat: (DONE)

A type of resist-dyeing, Ikat or Ikkat is majorly produced in Bhoodan Pochampally (Telangana) and Gujarat in India. These patterns are widespread around the world, with many being used in Africa and Latin America also. Contrary to other forms of resist-dyeing like Bandhej and Batik, Ikat is formed by using a resist on individual yarns/bundles of yarns rather than a woven cloth. The yarns are tightly wrapped up and then dyed, to create beautiful patterns. This stepwise process is repeated multiple times in order to produce all the intricate and multi-coloured designs.

What makes Ikat unique is the apparent “blurriness” of the design, as the weaver usually finds it extremely difficult to align the different yarns together to form an exact pattern. This results in misaligned yarns, giving the blurry look. There are three different types of Ikat fabrics: warp ikat, weft ikat and double ikat.

            Warp ikat utilises the dyeing of only the warp yarns, while the weft ikat utilises the dyeing of weft yarns, which makes it even more difficult to produce. In double ikat, both warp and weft yarns are resist-dyed and is therefore, the most difficult to produce. The double ikat found in Patan (Gujarat) is the most complicated amongst the different varieties, and is known as ‘patola’.

Kalamkari

Kalamkari originates from qalam (pen) and kari (craftsmanship). Majorly found in Hyderabad, this is a type of hand painting or block-printing on clothes. There are two types of kalamkari art in India - the Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam style. The Srikalahasti style uses a pen for freehand drawing of the subject and filling in the colors. Machilipatnam style uses wooden blocks for the creation of different designs.  Both of these styles flowered around temples and their patronage and so had an almost religious identity - with deities and scenes taken from the Hindu epics - Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas and the mythological classics.

Kalamkari only utilises natural dyes, with a variety of patterns obtained using cow dung, seeds, leaves, flowers and plants.