INTRODUCTION

 Weaving is an ancient art of making cloth and

other fabrics and Indians have been experts at
weaving from time immemorial. Weaving in
India has been a hobby for centuries and has now
evolved into a complete industry. The Indian
woven fabrics are famous worldwide and it is
also one of the largest cottage industries in the
country.
BROCADE
 The art of brocade weaving is quite popular in India, since
the old times.
 It has been creating wonders and getting huge acclaim from
world over for their distinctive style.
 The basic cloth required for this form is silk as it is quite
durable and stylish. Some of the weavers also make use of a
mix of silk and cotton.
 With a variety of silk and cotton fabric available in India,
one can get to see uniqueness in every piece.
 It is usually done in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Brocade is typically woven on a draw loom. It is
a supplementary weft technique, that is, the
ornamental brocading is produced by a
supplementary, non-structural, weft in addition to
the standard weft that holds the warp threads
together. The purpose of this is to give the
appearance that the weave actually was
embroidered on
BALUCHARI
 The art of Baluchari weaving came from Baluchar, a place near
Murshidabad.
 Its best feature is that of using human brocade figures for
decorating pallu and borders.
 What makes this weaving style more elegant is the use of fine
quality silk and silver zari work.
 Generally, in this pattern, the ground colors are beige, red, blue
and pink with contrast colored borders.
 The entire masterpiece of Baluchari work enables the wearer to
adorn a touch of grace and stands out of crown for being
exclusive.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Various mythological characters like Ram, Sita, Radha, and
Krishna are intricately portrayed on it. Baluchari is woven
with two varieties of silk threads on French made Jacquard
type looms One of the silk types is set vertically and the
other is set horizontally in the special looms. To make a
single sari it takes a lot of effort for the artisans. Before
fixing the threads on the loom the silk threads are washed in
boiling water. On the next day it is coloured by dipping in
hot colours. Then the threads are rolled on the spinning
wheels. After toiling for nearly five to six months we get
those beautiful exquisite Baluchari saris. 
CHANDERI
 Chanderi is a town near to Gwalior, which is
famous for hand woven silk saris.
 This style of weaving is considered to be
extremely fine with intricately woven borders.
 Saris designed from this art were exclusively
known for their gossamer shimmer and delicacy.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Chanderi is produced using three raw materials:
cotton, silk thread, and zari. The colours of
Chanderi silk come from both natural as well as
chemical processes. Traditional looms are used as
the primary means of production. These include
pit looms, dobby, and jacquard looms. The hand-
woven silk has a light, sheer quality that sets it
apart from textiles produced en masse in factories
IKKAT- SAMBALPURI
 Ikat is quite well-known for classy thread work, along
with tie and dye process.
 Famous in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, this
weaving style is known by various names in different
towns. In Orissa it is known as the Sambalpuri ikkat.
 It is the intricacy and beauty of
the Ikat that has made it popular worldwide and a
favorite among many
people.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Ikat, or Ikkat, is the method of weaving that uses a 
resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the 
warp or weft fibres.
 The dye is applied prior to the threads being woven to
create the final fabric pattern or design.
 Double Ikat is where both warp and the weft are resist-
dyed prior to stringing on the loom. Traditionally, and
still commonly, a back-strap loom is used, though any
variant or modern loom may be used
JAMAVAR
 The art of Jamawar was brought to Kashmir by Persians,
centuries ago. But, it grew and reached its zenith in the Mughal
period.
 From that time to now, the art of Jamawar reflects a perfect
blend of beauty, warmth and luxury. What made this style
exclusive is the design based on flora and fauna.
 In fact, the most demanding patterns have been jaldar and buti
work.
 Jamawar style of weaving is quite famous for a mix of
creativity blended with traditionalism. Its beauty lies in the
stylishness of intricate designs.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 “Jama” means robe and “war” is yard. The base of the
jamawar is mostly resham, with perhaps an addition of a little 
polyester. The brocaded parts are woven in similar threads of
silk and polyester. Most of the designs seen today are floral,
with the kairy (i.e. the paisley) as the predominant motif.
 Today, the best jamavar is woven in Pakistan. This fabric is
widely used in that country for bridal and special occasion
outfits. The texture and weave of patterns is such that the
fabric often gets caught when rubbed against rough surfaces
(metallic embroidery, jewellery etc.) it must therefore be
handled delicately when worn
JAMDHANI
 The art of weaving Jamdani started years and years
ago that finds mention in Kautilyas Arthashastra.
 Jamdani is a patterned piece of muslin
cloth used for embroidery during weaving process.
 It, usually, contains geometrical and floral patterns
dyed in a light shade. After this, the designs are
drawn on it using colors like maroon, white, green,
black, silver and golden color.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Jamdani is a hand loom woven fabric made of cotton, which
historically was referred to as muslin. The Jamdani weaving
tradition is of Bengali origin. It is one of the most time and
labour intensive forms of weaving hand loom weaving.
  Whether figured or flowered, Jamdani is a woven fabric in
cotton, and it is undoubtedly one of the varieties of the finest
muslin. It has been spoken of as the most artistic textile of
the Bangladeshi weaver. Traditionally woven around Dhaka
 and created on the loom brocade, Jamdani is fabulously rich
in motifs.
KOTA DORIA
 The style of Kota Doria started 200 years ago,
when some weavers from Kaithun (near Kota,
Rajasthan) used to weave coarse plain fabric.
 With unique patterns and motifs, this design form
has enabled people to showcase culture in the best
possible form.
 The uniqueness of this art lies in its stylish
weaving with colorful threads and intricate motifs.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Cotton or cotton-silk yarn of different thickness is used
in the weaving. The silk gives the necessary
transparency and cotton provides strength to the fabric.
Everything is done in the age old manner right from the
setting of the patterns to setting of the loom.

The traditional Kota Doria is white in colour but once

dyed the fabric come out in bright hues like
pomegranate red, purple, Bordeaux red, turquoise,
lapis, turmeric yellow and saffron.
MAHESWARI
 The Maheshwari sari is quite famous for its sheer beauty
and gossamer thin blend of silk and cotton yarn.
 This weaving art is carried out either on a pure cotton
fabric, or a mix of silk and cotton.
 It is characterized by geometrical motifs, such as small
checks or stripes made on the cloth with dark colored
border.
 It belongs to Maheshwar a small town in Madhya
Pradesh
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 The Maheshwari sari is made of either pure cotton – i.e., cotton
wefts on cotton warps, or is mixed – ie fine silk warps and
cotton weft. They are characterized by a narrow coloured
border embellished with gold (zari) and small checks, narrow
stripes, or solid colour in the body
 Maheshwari saris were traditionally woven by Hindu weavers,
mostly women from the local Maru community. 
 Subtle colours and textures are created by using different
shades in the warp and weft. Gold thread or zari is also used in
Maheshwari saris to weave elegant motifs on the body, border
and pallu.
PAITHANI
 This weave belongs to the state of Maharashtra.
 Paithani art is known for fine weaving of
embroidery and complex bleaching/ dyeing of the
material.
 It is, in fact, a merger of ethnicity and classicism.
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Paithani saris are silks in which there is no extra weft forming figures. The figuring weave was
obtained by a plain tapestry technique.
 There are three techniques of weaving;

 Split tapestry weave - the simplest weave where two weft threads are woven up to adjacent

warp threads and then reversed. The warp threads are then cut and retied to a different colour.
 Interlocking method - two wefts are interlocked with each other where the colour change is

required. The figuring weft is made of a number of coloured threads, weaving plain with warp
threads and interlocked on either side with the grounds weft threads are invariably gold threads
which interlock with the figure weft threads, thus forming the figure. This system of
interlocking weaves, known as kadiyal, is done so that there are no extra floats on the back of
the motif thus making the design nearly reversible.
 Dobe-tailing method - two threads go around the same warp, one above the other, creating a

dobe-tailing or tooth-comb effect.

 Weaving could take between 18 to 24 months, depending upon the complexity of the design. 

  Real Paithani is hand woven pure silk and gold/silver

POCHAMPALLI
 Pochampalli is a place in Andhra Pradesh, which is
world famous as Silk City.
 Almost 100 villages in this region are involved in
weaving Pochampalli saris.
 What makes them exclusive is a perfect mix of
history, tradition, culture and modernity. With the
use of traditional looms,
 Pochampalli saris are woven intrinsically beautiful. 
WEAVING TECHNIQUE
 Pochampalli is the place where threads and colours find their way
into the hands of skilful weavers and meander into the market as
beautiful saris and dress material is the most typical weaving village
in Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh.
 Basking under the glory on par with the weaves of other
places(Such as Kanchi, Dharmavaram, Gadwal, Venkatagiri etc.),
Pochampally weave is popularly known as ikkat or tie and dye
weave. The uniqueness lies in the transfer of design and colouring
onto warp and weft threads first and then weave them together. The
fabric is cotton, silk and sico - a mix of silk and cotton. Increasingly,
the colours themselves are from natural sources and their blends.
CONCLUSION
 The most common and popular fabrics remains the Banarasi, Jamawar,
paithanis, atlas and katans. These are the fabrics that a person can usually find
in our local markets and have a high level of demand. However the other
materials like tanchoi, mushabbar, himru / amru, mushru, etc. have been
relegated to selective niches in the market. Most people even after coming
across these fabrics usually refer to them as others due to the absence of such
materials in popular use and lack of awareness in general of the availability of
these fabrics.
 Awareness of these Indian woven materials will have to be started within our
own country. Thus, we will require special exhibitions of designers who work
with these materials, displaying of these materials at fashion shows,
promotion of the clothing designed in the materials with the high end
boutiques and awareness creation through experts and designers talk shows.