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Khadi Sarees : Woven history

Posted on August 22 2022

The story of Khadi fabric is intricately laced with  India and it's history. As unique as thestory of its origin is, the fabric itself is very distictive among it's peers. Dailybuyys has a very special place for Khadi sarees in our heart.

India have housed immense natural resources and talented artisans and we have been utilising them to their fullest since time immorial. The 18th century India saw the influx of many European countries that created trading companies and the British East India Company soon became the most prominent of them all. India came under British rule in 1857 when the first simmering of discontent toward foreign rule became visible.

In 1917, national sentiment took the form of the first revolt against colonial rule. Mahatma Gandhi became the leader of the non-violent struggle for India's freedom. One of Gandhi's first actions was to launch a civil disobedience movement and convince the Indian people to abandon factory-made clothing that was manufactured by British companies using Indian cloth. This action symbolized a national spirit that urged Indians to respect their land and culture. Khadi, or hand spun and hand woven Indian cotton fabric, became the weapon of the non-violent weapon for the Indian population against their colonial rulers.

The journey between cotton fibres to khadi fabric is beautiful. The very first step starts with piking cotton balls by hand from the fields. Then the cotton fibre is separated by hand using a fine comb. This procedure of separation prepares the fibre for spinning. Before spinning the fibre is cleaned one last time to remove any last traces of dirt. Followed by the fibre is spun on a wheel ("charkha") and is twisted at the same time to make it stronger. The cotton yarns are prepared on bobbins to make the transfer process to weaver's homes easier. At the artisan's home the weaving process is started. The yarns are threaded through the heddle and tied to the loom's beam. The warp threads are wound and inserted into the shuttle before the weaving process can start. The dyeing may happen before or after the weaving process. After this entire process the final product leaves us with the unique textured Khadi fabric.

Dailybuyys' interaction happened with khadi fabric during our visit to Gujarat. Not only were we mesmerized by the bright and colourful embroideries and stitches but we brought along with us our experience and memories of Khadi.

We at Dailybuyys started went through a lot of research and testing and engaged into a lot of conversations with authentic artisans and experts who could help us out before onboarding the fabric. All we knew was that we wanted to give authentic khadi sarees to our customers at reasonable prices because we believe khadi is not only a fabric but an entire piece of history that we all deserver to own.

After settling for the finest quality we could lay out hands on, we started ornamenting the beautiful fabric surface with hand-painted and hand block printed designs. We also eventually adorned the surface with embroideries and khesh weaving.

We are so thrilled to share this incredible fabric and part of India's heritage with you. When you buy a Khadi piece, you own a unique object. Each piece of fabric is different, each artisan has her own touch and creates her own texture and handfeel. Khadi is a unique fabric that has a unique feel; it is comfortable as a summer wear due to it's high breathability and warm in winter due to its coarse weaving.

Dailybuyys has taken a step towards supporting and popularizing Indian cottage weaves globally and urges all their customers and supporters to support us on our venture. By supporting Khadi production, we help thousands of expert artisans (70% of whom are women) to sustain their livelihood and art. 

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