Rope making in Patan

Mashru Cloth, Patan, India

Our tour group watched as Mashru cloth was woven with a pit loom

Skeining the hand dyed rayon & cotton thread

The double woven cloth is starched to make it smooth & shiny

Patan Patola, India

I didn't finish telling you about the master weavers who make double ikat silk textiles. Here father and son (an architect) work side by side ...

on a traditional silk sari pattern that they can weave 8" to 9" per day.

This sari took 5 people 6 months to make. No wonder the family members travel all over the world to demonstrate their amazing skill, www.patanpatola.com

Textiles in India

Back to my travels in India. I didn't finish telling you about all of the textiley things I saw on my travels. We spent a morning in Patan with the Salvi family who are master weavers of double ikat. The family has been producing these unique silk saris since the 11th century.

The tying of the warp & weft threads is one of the steps in the process of making the textile. It takes 15 years of training to master all 15 steps.

They use natural vegetable dyes on the silk they import from China.

The patola is woven on a primitive hand operated harness loom made out of rosewood & bamboo strips. The loom lies at a slant.