Craft Documentation - Assignment 21

Kota Doria Handloom Sarees

1. Yarn Preparation and Winding - dyed cotton or silk yarn getting unwounded

2. Bobbin Preparation - Yarn carefully wound onto small bamboo bobbins

3. Yarn Dyeing - cotton and silk yarns are dyed

4. Loom Setup and Warping - dyed yarns are arranged on the loom to form the warp - lengthwise threads held under tension

5. Weaving the Fabric - weaving begins using a combination of cotton and silk yarns - cotton forming the warp and silk forming the weft.

6. Dobby Mechanism - The weaver manually pulls the upper threads to ensure that the correct warp threads lift at specific points

7. Jacquard Thread Setting - Once the jacquard threads are correctly set, the weaver begins the delicate process of weaving

8. Motif Weaving and Detailing - By lifting some specific jacquard threads, the intricate motifs and patterns are woven into the fabric using coloured silk threads.

9. Final Kota Doria Saree - where threads are manually interlaced, forming motifs inspired by nature - including florals, foliage, and animal figures.

Observations -

The documentation of the handloom Kota Doria weaving process provided a comprehensive understanding of the technical precision and cultural continuity embedded in traditional textile production. Each stage - from yarn preparation and dyeing to warping, loom setting, and final weaving - reflects a high degree of skill and coordination between manual and mechanical elements. Observing the weaver's methodical approach highlighted the importance of accuracy, and material understanding in achieving this level of precision and check patterns of Kota Doria fabric. This study also helped me understand the intricate workflow along with light, focus, texture, and capturing the delicacy of cloth and threads.

EXPLORATIONS -

This was to show the stark contrast of their living environment, where their houses are very small and old looking but inside some people, who runs their own business of the same, has a whole studio setup

This is a shot of how silk dyed yarns are stored, some already paired in a specific colour combination, or exported.

This shot shows how these handloom artisans create their own motifs and patterns on a graph paper

This shot shows how the bobbin is set up on that handloom shuttle for the process of wrap and weft

This is the wooden part, also known as Reed, that keeps the warp threads evenly spaced

Some random shots of the machine and the handloom artisans working

Comments

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