Original resist and hand block print patterns created by the master Ajrakh printer, Sufiyan Khatri, in Kutch, Gujarat.
Ajrakh prints only use natural plant based dyes and are usually inspired by geometrical patterns and nature.
AJRAKH
BANDHANI
Bandhani is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Banda’ which means to tie.
The art of Bandhani is a highly skilled process that involves dyeing a fabric which is hand tied tightly with a thread at several points, thus producing a variety of patterns.
Our Bandhani is made using only natural dyes by Khamir crafts, who support traditional textile techniques and the livelihood of textile artisans across Gujarat.
BLOCK PRINT BY ANOKHI
ANOKHI, the masters of block printing, who almost single-handedly revived this traditional textile printing practice and the livelihoods of block printing communities in Rajasthan since the 1970s.
The technique involves the meticulous precision of hand stamping a motif onto the fabric using a wooden block. It’s a skill, often passed down through the generations, that requires patience and precision.
BLOCK PRINTS
These fabrics have been printed using a traditional hand block print technique. Wooden blocks are hand carved to form the pattern and hand stamped onto the fabric with dye.
A print is often the result of layers of different blocks, requiring time, skill and extreme precision.
We work with the best block printers in Rajasthan such as Anokhi, with an emphasis on printing using only natural dyes.
HANDLOOM DENIM
Our handloom 3×1 denim uses a khadi (handspun) yarn dyed with natural plant based dyes by Biodye or left in its raw natural state.
The fabric is woven on a handloom in Gondal, Gujarat, by the weaving collective Udyog Bharti that supports over 2000 weaving families in sustainable textile production.
JAMDHANI
Kala cotton is an organic cotton indigenous to Kutch, where the cotton crop is only fed with rainwater.
Here the yarn is handspun and handwoven on a handloom using a Jamdhani technique which is a discontinuous weft technique of weaving, and can be defined as the art of fine ‘Parsi Gara’ done on the loom.
In Jamdhani, motifs are inlaid into the fabric by adding a denser thread to warp threads by hand. This technique is extremely difficult and time consuming involving extremely skilled textile artisans.
KHADI
Khadi means hand spun cotton yarn woven on a handloom.
This khadi was woven by Udyog Bharti, a handloom weaving collective that supports over 2000 families in sustainable textile production.
Our khadi is dyed using natural indigo extract or left in its natural raw state.
“If we have the ‘khadi spirit’ in us, we would surround ourselves with simplicity in every walk of life. The ‘khadi spirit’ means illimitable patience. For those who know anything about the production of khadi know how patiently the spinners and the weavers have to toil at their trade… ”
Mahatma Gandhi
(Young India, 22- 9-1927)
RABARI KANTHA EMBROIDERY
The embroiderers of KALA RAKSHA in Kutch use a traditional Kantha embroidery stitch to create a traditional embroidery pattern on our khadi that resembles the night sky.
SCHIFFLI EMBROIDERY
Schiffli is an embroidered cotton fabric. We have dyed our schiffli using natural plant based dyes with our friends Biodye in Maharashtra.