Sanganer

Sanganer was supposed to be the textile highlight of my holiday and I'd a lot planned.  Instead I was confined to my hotel with the dreaded Delhi belly and only managed to spend half a day on my activities.  Even then I was a bit out of it if I'm honest.  So very disappointing.

Salim's Paper.

http://www.handmadepaper.com/process.php

It was lunchtime when we visited Salim's Paper and the workers (mainly women) were taking a nap.  We were shown the process of making paper from shredded cotton (see link above).  The shreds are put in a huge vat with water and dye.  The resulting mush is floated onto a mesh tray and the solids settle into an even sheet of what will become paper.

Pulped cotton being dyed

Fibres are scooped out of the vat on a metal mesh
and jiggled until they are even - just seconds

When the water has drained a little the fibres are removed
 from the mesh - again just seconds

and put to dry for a while

A  roller flattens the paper

The machinery looked ancient but the paper was of really high quality and very varied (see website).
I saw carrier bags for a prestigious French store being assembled and having their sari silk handles attached.

Posh carrier bags

A shop full of paper goodies

Jaipur Blue Pottery

Jaipur is famous for its blue pottery ad we visited the factory.  Surprisingly the pottery is not made from clay but from ground up marble, powdered glass, gum, borax and water.  The resulting paste is shaped over a former and fired at a low heat for many hours.  The failure rate is upwards of 40% which is very high.

The items made are usually small, trinket boxes, ashtrays, vases and the like are typical.  The predominant colour is cobalt blue.

Jaipur blue pottery

Block printing
http://www.anokhi.com/

Anoki is an Indian clothing chain but unfortunately it was one of the activities I hadn't time for.

Part of the enterprise is the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing which was tucked away in a little side street and virtually deserted.  I could have quite happily spent a week in this place.  Check the link above to get a flavour of what is on offer.

http://www.anokhi.com/museum/

These are few of my photos:

Complex tie dye

Block printed samples

This waistcoat went through 11 printing processes

A large printing block

This man was carving blocks out of teak

Making small motifs.  Note the precise marking out.

Four blocks make one image

Another interesting website is that of Chandni Chowk.  It is full of information and sells ethically produced goods.  Find it at:

http://www.chandnichowk.co.uk/Site_pages_Fair_trade/Product_Info_Pages_Fair_Trade/About_us_fair_trade.html



We spent some time at Parwati Exports in their block printing workshop and I made a print (with help).

The blocks

The first print 

The second print

The third print

The fourth print

After chemical curing of the print

Usually the printed fabric is put in the sun to cure but we didn't have time hence the chemicals.

The expert

The precision with which this man worked was amazing.  The fabric was 4 metres long.

I don't often buy things when I'm away but in the shop attached to the workshop I made some purchases with Christmas in mind.  These bathrobes were made for me and delivered the next day.

Hiding in these pouches are mother and daughter robes

In the same shop I bought a beautiful, hand sewn, cut out applique throw.  I love the white on white, it seems to accentuate the complexity of the design.

I sweet talked my way into acquiring a bag of fabric scraps to add to my stash.

My Kindle is there for scale - wasn't I lucky?

Vastratex 2013

Our guide had heard from a friend that there was an international textile fair close by and he did us the great service of blagging us entry.  It was like a time machine had transported us back to the 1960's with stand after stand displaying clothing and household textiles from all over India.  I don't know how convincing I was as I posed as an international buyer but it was quite an experience.

What I realised as we walked round was that nothing much seems to change in Indian textiles.  The traditional skills are used to make traditional designs.  The creative and innovative way I'm being encouraged to work just isn't evident.

It was at this point that I had to return to my hotel.  I missed tie dye and screen printing trips and there was no chance to try again the next day as we had a flight to Delhi booked.

http://www.vastratex.com/