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

Khadi

the process…

• Hand picking of the cotton• Ginning• Opening and cleaning• Carding• Roving• Spinning• Sizing• Warping• Weaving• Finishing• Garmenting

Khadi

Hand picking

Hand picked cotton bolls, collected for further processes.

Khadi

Opening & Cleaning

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

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.

Khadi

Salient 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

KhadiSome Facts

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

- Sharma, Sanjay. 1999. Handlooms and Textiles. Delhi: NITRA .- Kumar, Malay. 2003.Khadi – The Swadeshi Fabric. Coimbatore: SITRA.

References

Khadi

The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

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