Khadi

1. Khadi The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

2. Khadi • Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric. • Woven mostly in cotton, the process originates itself • more than 5000 years ago and believed to be from ancient • India. • This almost forgotten process was revived by Mahatma • Gandhi in 1921, as a part of his movements of non- • violence and non-cooperation against the British. • It evoked tellingly the fact that in the post-industrial world, • self worth and self sufficiency was acknowledged as a • compensation for human labour.

3. Khadi • Hand picking of the cotton bolls • Ginning • Opening and cleaning • Carding • Drawing and Combing • Roving • Spinning • Sizing • Warping • Drawing and Drafting • Weaving • Finishing the process…

4. Khadi Hand picked cotton bolls, collected for further processes. Hand picking

5. Khadi The process of separating fibers from the cotton seeds. It is done by hand, using a sharp comb like object like a fish bone which also removes the larger fragments of trash. Ginning

6. Khadi The other method involves the use of a small wooden device with toothed rollers. Ginning

7. Khadi Opening & Cleaning

8. Khadi The process to eliminate the final traces of trash from the open fibers and to separate them fully Bow Carding

9. Khadi The mechanized carding machine consists of a very fine wire that separates the fibers almost individually and then passed through moving steel bars that remove the very short fibers and tangles. The carded material is then collected as ‘Slivers’. Carding

10. Khadi • It involves the further parallelization of cotton fibers and removal of short fibers to produce finer qualities of yarn. • It is the process of straightening the fibers , prior to spinning of the yarn and thus a sliver of cotton is obtained. Drawing and combing

11. Khadi The traditional‘Charkha’ or the hand spinning wheel. Roving & Spinning

12. Khadi The New Model Charkha (NMC), which is semi-mechanized. Roving & Spinning

13. Khadi The drafted slivers are further thinned out and twisted slightly at the same time to strengthen it. The product of this process is called Roving which is directly spun to produce yarn, during which the diameter of the yarn is controlled and calculated. Rovings are wound onto bobbins ready for spinning. Fish bone Roving & Spinning

14. Khadi Fish bone The spinning of fiber into yarn is the most emblematic of textile production. Here the yarn is spun using a spinning wheel. Roving & Spinning

15. Khadi Fish bone Although most of the spinning is done on the New Model Charkha (NMC), in some remote villages the traditional hand spinning wheel is still being used. Spinning

16. Khadi Fish bone The spun yarns are wound into reels of 1000 meters each. Spinning

17. Khadi In order to organize and systematize the spinning process, spinning is done by spinners at the spinning centers nowadays. Most cooperatives, with license from the KVIC, procure cotton slivers from South India and then spin yarn for self consumption only. Fish bone Spinning Centers

18. Khadi Warping

19. Khadi The process involves starching or application of sizing solution to the warp prior to warping or after warping to resist the weaving abrasions. Fish bone Sizing

20. Khadi The process of making the healds by looping nylon heald wire around the warp ends, depending on the weave and design of the fabric. Fish bone Drawing & Drafting

21. Khadi The reels of yarns are then wound onto bobbins by hand using a winding Charkha. The process of weaving follows this. Fish bone Bobbin winding

22. Khadi Weaving is done on a pit loom, especially with a fly shuttle, which is one of the most ancient type of looms. Fish bone Weaving

23. Khadi Fish bone The interior villages of West Bengal where the weavers produce the finest Khadi of 300s to 500s count… An attempt to revive the famous Bengal muslin.

24. Khadi Khadi - Gandhi’s Quintessential Fabric The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

25. Khadi • Salient features of Khadi • Hand-spun and hand woven • Hand spun yarn renders a soft character to the fabric that • is comfortable to wear. • Durable fabric. • Subtle texture in the fabric owing to hand spinning and hand • weaving . • Fine fabrics up to 500s count are available…..which are otherwise • impossible to weave in mechanized looms.

26. Khadi • The Future of Khadi • It is the only fabric where the play of texture is so unique that no • two fabrics will be absolutely identical, thus lending it exclusivity • and inimitability in terms of feel and texture. • Khadi is among the most progressively modern of all textiles, • one that not only has desirably material possibilities but also • consonance with the native ecology and sensitivity to the human • condition that sustains it. • It advocates that fact that even in the post-industrial world, self- • worth and self sufficiency are acknowledged as a compensation for • human labour. • Today Khadi is being used by Top Fashion Designers in India and • abroad in garments and accessories.

27. Khadi Did you know? 70 % of the artisans involved in the process of Khadi production are women. Khadi is an eco-fabric. The process involves no environmental pollution and is extremely eco friendly. Khadi helps in supporting destitute, helpless rural women folk as they can work independently and earn their living. Khadi production is a labour-intensive industry, with a scope of providing more employment with an investment of a very meager capital especially in the rural areas. It enables full development of locally available raw materials and human resources.

28. Khadi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • We would like to thank the following people for their help, support and guidance without which this project would not have been a success: • Mr. G.C. Basak, Joint Director • Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Govt. of West Bengal. • Mr. S.S.Sil, Dy. Director & Mr. U.S. Maiti, Khadi Officer • Khadi & Village Industries Commission, West Bengal. • Mr S.K. Ghosh, Dy. Director, • Weavers Service Center, Kolkata. • Dr. B.V. Somashekhar. Director, • National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata. • Mr. Malay Kumar Das, Technical Officer, • Handloom Development Commission, Murshidabad. • Bharat Khadi Sevak Sangha, Murshidabad. • Chandrakanta Lalit Mohan Resham Khadi Samity, Murshidabad. • Murshidabad Silk Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd., Murshidabad. • Khadi-o-Kutir, Kalna, Burdwan. • Nabadwip Kutir Shilpa Prathisthan , Burdwan. • Ms. Darshan Shah, Director, Weavers Studio, Kolkata. • Tarang Maheshwari, NIFT, New Delhi.

29. Khadi BIBLIOGRAPHY • Khadi • Volkart Foundation, Switzerland, • Amr Vastra Kosh • 2002 • The Khadi Industry • Publication Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting • Govt. of India • 1962 • Spinning & Khadi • Gandhi, M.K. • Khadi: How & Why? • Gandhi, M.K. • The Gandhian Way • Kripalani, J.B., Acharya • Nawjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad

30. Khadi SPONSORED BY WEAVERS STUDIO 5/1, Anil Moitra Road, Ist Floor, Ballygunj Place, Kolkata- 700 019 West Bengal India The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

31. Khadi PRESENTED BY Ms. Darshan Shah Director Weavers Studio Calcutta, India DOCUMENTED BY Nitin Gupta National Institute of Fashion Technology New Delhi Subhabrata Sadhu National Institute of Design Ahmedabad The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric

32. Khadi THANK YOU The ‘Swadeshi’ fabric