HANDLOOM

By-Dyush Singh
 Indian Handloom

Handlooms are fundamentally different from power looms. Motion of the handloom is operated by skilful human
hands, without using any source of energy like electricity, water, air or sun to drive the motion of the loom.
Fabric is woven on a handloom by interlacing of warp, running length-wise and weft or filling, running width-wise.
Warp threads are raised and lowered by manual shedding motion to form shed. Through this shed, the shuttle is
passed carrying across the weft thread which is beaten against the woven fabric by the movable comb like frame
or reed. When the heddle is shifted, the two sets of warp reverse position, binding the weft into the fabric and
opening other shed.
Handloom weaving involves three Primary Motions i.e. Shedding, Picking and Beating. Shedding motion
separates warp threads, according to pattern to allow for weft insertions or picking prior to beating. Picking is the
operation wherein after the shed has been formed, the length of weft is inserted through the shed. As soon as a
weft yarn is inserted, the reed pushes or beats up the weft to the fell of the cloth. All the three motions are
carried out by the weaver manually for weaving of the fabric by interlacement of warp and weft.
Loom is the basic equipment for hand weaving. Broadly speaking, based on their structure and technique of
working, the handlooms are classified into four main groups namely primitive looms, pit looms, frame looms, and
semi-automatic looms.

Primitive Looms:
In these are included all looms where weft is threaded by hand for interlacing the warp ends. These also include
vertical looms like some of the woolen blanket looms, durree looms, newar looms and tape looms.

Pit Looms:
 Two types of Pit Looms are in operation. One is throw-shuttle pit loom and another is fly-shuttle pit loom.

Throw-Shuttle Pit Looms:

Until the invention of the fly-shuttle slay in England in the 18th century, the throw-shuttle pit loom was the most
commonly used loom.

Fly-Shuttle Pit Looms:

The fly shuttle pit loom produces three to four times more cloth than the throw-shuttle one and it has all the
advantages of a throw-shuttle pit loom except the weaving of intricate extra weft patterns. This loom has enabled
the handloom industry to capture a section of the market steadily with hand-woven products like colour bed
sheets, towels, handkerchiefs, door curtains, bedcovers, quilt cloth, colour shirting cloth, napkins, etc.

Frame Looms:
Frame looms are useful for production of designed fabrics like bedsheets, heavy furnishings, towels, dress
material, striped and check material, bed covers, gauze cloth, etc. as in Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, etc. Also woven on the frame loom are ordinary saris with plain border, saris with
extra warp and cross border designs.

Semi-automatic Looms:
There are two types of semi-automatic looms, namely, sley motion type and treadle type. The sley motion type is
the one in which all primary and other motions are effected by the movement of the sley except for picking which
is done separately by hand. In the treadle type, all primary and other motions are effected by treading.
4.33 million Handloom weavers are spread across India’s varied climatic and cultural zones. Of the 2.38
million handlooms that are installed in India, majority are modified making weaving less effortful and more
versatile.
Strengths of Handloom sector
 Flexibility of small production, openness to innovation and adaptability to supplier’s requirements.
 Caters to all sections and offers a range that suits every strata of society.
 Good export potential along with negligible import content.
 High labour intensity providing employment opportunities to 4.33 million people.
 Low capital – output ratio.
 weaving of every design and construction.
 Accounts for 12% of the total cloth produced in the country.

 Weaves from a range of fibres like cotton, silk, jute, wool, synthetic blends
 Unique where tradition gets woven with modern.
 
Intensive efforts are being made by the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Government of
India to upgrade the hand weaving technology in terms of weaver’s comfort, productivity and quality. A large
number of Handloom Weavers’ co-operative societies too are constantly at work to improve the quality and
working conditions for hand weaving. Nine Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology located across India impart
specialised training in handloom weaving to the Gen next to ensure continuity of hand weaving heritage.
India has more than 500 specialised handloom weaving clusters spread across the country. Responding to the
changing consumer demand in the modern world, handloom weaving in India is evolving each day. If Madras
Check, Cheesecloth and Seersucker, became a craze in the Western world in the 1960′s and 1970′s, several
characteristic innovations like heavy casement, recycled rugs and jacquard woven fabrics in thick cotton and silk
fabrics are a popular choice today. Celebrities and designers globally continue to make a fashion statement
around Indian handlooms.
Today Indian hand weavers offer vast range of decorative and furnishing fabrics for homes in cotton and silk.
They have become global style statements. Over 50% of India’s hand woven exports consist of home textile
products like bed linen, curtains, table & kitchen linen, cushion covers and durries.
It is difficult to distinguish a handwoven fabric from a machine woven fabric. Therefore, in order to stamp the
authenticity of handwoven textiles, the Government of India has introduced “Handloom Mark”.
 Khadi

Khadi IAST: Khādī) is a hand-woven natural fiber cloth originating from eastern regions of the Indian

subcontinent, mainly Eastern India, Northeastern India and Bangladesh, but are now broadly used
in Pakistan and throughout India. This fabric is made mainly of cotton.[1][2][3]
The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk or wool, which are all spun into yarn on
a spinning wheel called a charkha. It is a versatile fabric, cool in summer and warm in winter. In order to improve
the look, khādī/khaddar is sometimes starched to give it a stiffer feel. It is widely accepted in fashion circles.
[4]
 Khadi is being promoted in India by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Ministry of Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises.
In India, Khadi refers to handwoven and hand spun cloth. Weavers prefer the yarn produced by Mills because it
is more robust and of consistent quality. Swadeshi movement of boycotting English products during the first two
decades of the twentieth Century was popularised by Mahatma Gandhi and Indian mill owners,
backed Nationalist politicians, who called for a boycott of foreign cloth. Gandhi argued that the mill owners would
deny handloom weavers an opportunity to buy yarn because they would prefer to create a monopoly for their
own cloth.[5] However, handspun yarn was of poor quality and too costly. Thus Mahatma Gandhi started spinning
himself and encouraging others to do so. He made it obligatory for all members of the Indian National Congress
to spin cotton themselves and to pay their dues in yarn. He further made the chakri (spinning wheel) the symbol
of the Nationalist movement. Initially the Indian flag was supposed to have a chakri, not the Ashoka Chakra at its
centre. Mahatma Gandhi collected large sums of money to create a grass-roots organisation to encourage
handloom weaving. This was called 'khaddar' or 'Khadi' movement. [6]

The British Raj was selling very high cost cloths to the Indians. The Indian mill owners wanted to monopolise the
Indian market themselves. Ever since the American Civil War had caused a shortage of American cotton, Britain
would buy cotton from India at cheap prices and use the cotton to manufacture cloth. The khadi movement by
Gandhi aimed at boycotting foreign cloth.[7] Mahatma Gandhi began promoting the spinning of khadi for rural self-
employment and self-reliance (instead of using cloth manufactured industrially in Britain) in the 1920s in India,
thus making khadi an integral part and an icon of the Swadeshi movement.

In 2017, a total of 460,000 people were employed in industries making khadi products. [13] Production and sales
rose by 31.6% and 33% in 2017 over the 2016 figures after the multi-spindle charkas were introduced to
enhance the productivity by replacing the single-spindle charkas.[13] In 2019 it was reported that overall khadi
sales in India have risen by 28% in the 5 period preceding 2018-2019. The revenues from Khadi in the last
financial year have been 3215 crores and the KVIC has set a target of 5000 crore by 2020 [14]. Various states
have boards and/or cooperative societies for the khadi production, promotion, sales and marketing, such
as Haryana Khadi and Village Industries Board, Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative
Society, Gujarat State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Ltd, Jharkhand Silk Textile and
Handicraft Development Corporation, and Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society.