Dhabla Weaving

The traditional raw material used by the Vankars in their weaving is wool from the local pastoralists.

The shorn wool fibres are separated by hand.

Once separated, the fibres are spun on the Charkha to produce yarn.

Master weaver Shamji Vamkar has revived local hand spun woolen yarn for some of his production.

While hand-spun yarn is still used for some production, mill spun yarn have mostly taken its place.

When they do their own dyeing, the weavers use yarn in the forms of hanks, which are hand dyed in small lots.

There is a renewed interest in natural colours, which has encouraged the revival of yarn dyeing with indigo, lac, and other natural materials.

Shamji revived indigo dyeing for yarn used in weaving only in recent years.

The first stage is preparing the required length of yarn.

The brush used during sizing aligns the yarn without causing any breakage.

The yarn is then put on the warp on the loom with the required reed, ensuring the correct tension.

While most weavers are home based, some work in small production centres.

The various preparatory functions are often a collaborative effort involving others in the family or community.

Yarn for the weft is filled in bobbins using a hand operated Charkha.

The distinctive element of Dhabla weaving is the extra-weft ornamentation.

Weaving is done on the pit loom – so called because the weaver’s seat is made at ground level, his feet in a depression below the level of the loom.

Each motif is inserted by hand using supplementary weft thread that is wrapped around the yarn running in the warp.

Skilled weavers often challenge themselves to make intricate and fine motifs.

The patterns are worked out on the loom, with the weavers calculating the number of picks and ends for individual motifs as they work out the design in process.

For master weaver Shyamji Vishramji Vankar, this is the closest to a weaving plan or pattern reference he uses.

No other notes or calculations are worked out in the designing of complex masterpieces.

They understand the corresponding finishing requirements to satisfy their urban customer, and have incorporated them into their production processes.

In fact they have been able to harness fine local hand skills to add touches like hand embroidery.

Combining local skills like hand embroidery and tasselling make their products stand apart in a category of their own.

Machines have not taken over the weavers’ lives, except for the smart phone and computer, which keep them in contact with each other and with their clients in far off lands.

Read more about Dhabla Weaving here:

- Heritage textiles
- Weaving Communities of Kutch