Kalamkari - Art of Painting Cotton

Kalamkari is the art of painting cotton fabrics with a kalam (literally kalam means pen and kari, art), a sharp pointed bamboo stick padded with hair or cotton and tied with a string on one end to regulate the flow of color. Vegetable dyes are used to color the designs applied on cloth. The art of painting using organic dyes on cloth is popular in several parts of India. Since the 17th century these fabrics were exported to iran, Siam, Burma, and the Persian Gulf, then they knew an huge success in Europe, the fabrics being used for bedspreads and furnishing.
Once painted, the fabric is dipped in Myrobalam, a solution of milk and water that makes the dye permanent. The fat holds the colors on the surface and prevents them from spreading. Then the starch from the fabric is cleared in river water.
Our products, kalamkari fabric from an organization based in Andhra Pradesh state where this skill is tradition. This organization provides fair paid employment to the workers from a whole village that Kalamkari become the sepecialty.

Luxury Handmade Bedding: Cotton Duvet Comforter Cover Set - Full/Queen
Cotton Duvet Comforter Cover Set; Cotton strap piping.
Color: Maroon, Beige, Rust
Material: Cotton/Polyester blend
Full/Queen 88 in. x 88 in.
Set includes two sham pillow covers 20 in. x 26 in. each
Made to order will ship in 3 weeks; colors/designs may vary.
Hand block printed; machine wash, gentle cycle.

How is Pashmina made?

Origin of Pashmina dates back to ancient civilization. Earlier in olden days these shawls found favor with the royal families, emperors, rulers, kings etc. This precious fabric was known as the Royal Fiber. Now this royal luxury is being offered in wide variety of shawls, stoles, scarves, wraps and sweaters. These luxurious cashmere shawls are hand woven by traditional weavers whose families have been in the occupation since ages and they inherit this art from their ancestors, and tradition of this art continues from one generation to another generation.

Every summer, Himalayan farmers climb the mountains to comb the fine woolen undercoat from the underbelly of, himalayan mountain goat Chyangra, the Capra Hircus goat which is the source of Pashmina, lives at elevations of 14,500 feet (4,500 meters) and above, where temperatures rarely rise above minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 degrees centigrade) in winter. Not to be confused with the endangered Tibetan antelope, chiru that is killed to produce shah-toosh shawls, some also call these Chyangra Goats as the Cashmere Goats. To survive the freezing environment at 14,000 feet altitude, it grows a unique, incredibly soft pashm, inner coat, six times finer than human hair. Because it is only 14-19 microns in diameter, it cannot be spun by machines, so the wool is hand-woven into cashmere products including shawls, scarves, wraps, throws, stoles etc. for export worldwide.

With the coming of summer, the Himalayan goats shed their warm winter coats. Their underbellies are covered with two different types of wool: the fine, soft cashmere and a coarser outer layer. The wool is gathered by local women, who comb it thoroughly to separate it from the thicker, less luxuriant wool.


Each fiber is about one sixth the width of a human hair, and one shawl requires about 24 ounces of wool, the annual output of about 4 goats. The wool is too delicate for mechanical looms, and must therefore be spun and woven by hand. The techniques for producing fine cashmere products have been handed down through the generations, and sometimes the women in a family have carried out the practice since the days of the Mogul Empire. No woman should be without a pashmina!
Asian Handmade Floral Design Baby Bedding Quilt
Kashmir’s tradition of weaving fabrics traces back to the 11th century. In the 16th century, with the rise of the Mughal Empire, India’s textile arts flourished, and the local textile craft gained global repute. Power loomed in acrylic by native craftsmen, displays an age-old textile weaving tradition.



Dark Blue Sitara Indian Saree Hand Stitching Bedspread - Full/ Queen Size
These bed spreads are made of old Indian Saree with visible hand stitching and embellished with detailed golden tread embroidery and sequins. These are absolutely stunning and look much better than portrayed in photo.
Moroccan and oriental textile home decor with Moroccan sense of wornth and hospitality right at your home.

What is pashmina?

Pashmina used to be the term for the very finest cashmere, that taken from the inner fur from the neck of the goat. 'Pashm' comes from a sanskrit word meaning inner coat (with regards to an animals fur).


Now, it seems that the word pashmina is taken to mean a large scarf or shawl which can be made of anything from alpaca to viscose.


The Cashmere & Camel Hair Institute say that it is not acceptable to label items x% pashmina, but that they must be labeled x% cashmere.


We have many different qualities of pashminas in stock in undyed form which can be dyed in 2-3 working days & air-shipped to any location in the world for doorstep delivery.


Nepalese Pashmina vs Indian pashmina: The pashmina history coming out of Nepal is less than a decade long. Nepal cashmere is the cheap variety of cashmere that is semi-mechanically made. The best and the most original pashmina is produced in the valley of Kashmir, India. Kashmir pashminas are the softest and warmest of natural fabrics (after Shahtoosh) mankind has ever known. Shahtoosh, now banned, was also exclusively made in Kashmir.


Pashmina Wool Paisley Bedspread: Traditional Pashmina textiles are made from the fine, soft fleece of indigenous mountain goats of Kashmir. Their silky wool acts as a protective layer against the extreme cold of this Himalayan region. Kashmir’s tradition of weaving Pashmina fabric traces back to the 11th century. In the 16th century, with the rise of the Mughal Empire, India’s textile arts flourished, and the local cashmere craft gained global repute. Kashmir Pashmina became a sign of style, luxury, and elegance among royalty in India and Europe. Our Pashmina Wool Paisley Bedspread - Full/Queen, power loomed by native craftsmen, displays an age-old textile tradition.


Pashmina Cashmere Floral Bedspread - Full/Queen:
Our Pashmina Cashmere Floral Bedspread - Full/Queen displays an age-old regional tradition of textile weaving and reflect key forms of Islamic art. The center of the textile design is a circle split into a star. This icon is the chosen motif for Islamic decoration. The form symbolizes God – His eternity and centrality in an ever-growing religion. Throughout this exquisite textile runs an intricate floral pattern, known as arabesque. This design is unique to Islamic artwork and has permeated Indian art from the 17th century until today. Native artisans still express these ancient forms of textile art in their contemporary textile craft.

Quilting - a stitch directory of kantha.

Kantha comprises of the simplest stitch in the language of embroidery - the running stitch. It is the way in which this stitch is used, in different arrangements, that forms the complex vocabulary of kantha.
Originally it was used to join layers of old saris, to make quilts. It was also used as a means of self expression by both urban and rural women in Bengal.

The Sanskrit word kontha means 'rags.' One legend links their origins to Lord Buddha and his disciples, who used to cover themselves with garments made from discarded rags that were patched and sewn together. Rags displayed at Indian shrines or tied to tree limbs symbolize prayers and wards off the evil eye. The oldest extant kantha date from the early 1800s and is embroidered with blue, black and red threads that were unraveled from sari borders. Because they were salvaged from used garments that had been frequently laundered, the colors tend to be muted.

There are seven different types of kantha:

• Lep kantha are rectangular wraps heavily padded to make warm coverlets. The entire piece would be stitched in wavy, rippled designs over which simple embroidery was executed.
• Sujani kantha are rectangular pieces of cloth used as blankets or spreads on ceremonial occasions.
• Baiton kantha are square wraps used for covering books and other valuables. They are elaborately patterned with borders of several rows of colorful designs.
• Oaar kantha are rectangular pillow covers in simple designs with a decorative border sewn around the edges.
• Archilata kantha are small, rectangular covers for mirrors or toilet accessories with wide, colorful borders in assorted motifs.
• Durjani/thalia kantha are small rectangles with a central lotus design and embroidered borders. Three corners of the rectangle are folded inward to form a wallet.
• Rumal kantha are used as absorbent wipes or plate coverings. They also feature a central lotus with ornamented borders.

The kantha in its simplest form was invented out of necessity and made in varying sizes and layers, starting with small pieces of cloth spread in the courtyard to lay new born babies on while they were massaged with mustard oil, to the light covers that adults use at night, and wrap over their shoulders in winter mornings.

Kantha was almost never made for money, and the idea of using this embroidery commercially, originated more in urban groups where young women were trained from scratch, rather than from women who have done this work all their lives. There was a growing interest in this craft form in the 1980s and Sasha did a lot of research that culminated in several exhibitions. They also became involved in groups who started making kanthas commercially for the first time. Most of these women did not have a formal education and rarely went out of their villages.

When these groups formed, they didn't need further training in embroidery, but they needed to learn accounting, management, raw material buying etc. Self-Help Handicrafts Society (a sister concern of Sasha's) was involved in the development of all these groups and shared their experiences and knowledge. Other things also changed with commercial work. They used frames to hold the fabric. The old way of several women working on one large piece of work however continued. They learnt about tracing designs (which they never did before, earlier, they just drew the designs straight on the fabric with a pencil) and money management.

Many women in rural Bengal do a lot of kantha work for traders in Calcutta. But the women who work with Sasha feel that they are doing work of a very high quality and that is something they are very proud of. They feel they are specialists and their work cannot easily be done by anyone else. Also the feeling of belonging to a small and exclusive group is very important. Most of these women have grandchildren and they do all the housework, look after various domestic animals, children etc. So they often need to put in extra hours at night to complete a rush order

Handmade Luxury Bedding Quilts from BeddingSuperMall.com

• Handmade Quilt Bedspread : Cotton Hand Embroidered Patchwork Bedspread - Full/Queen
• Handmade Quilts: Cotton Handmade Bedding Quilt - Queen Size

Hand printing - Block Printing

India has been renowned for its printed and dyed cotton cloth since the 12th century and the creative processes flourished as the fabric received royal patronage. Different styles of designs have evolved in different parts of the country and West Bengal is noted for it's bold and vibrant motifs.

The fabric to be printed is washed free of starch and soft bleached if the natural gray of the fabric is not desired.

If dyeing is required as in the case of saris where borders or the body is tied and dyed it is done before printing.

The fabric is again washed to remove excess dye and dried thoroughly.

The fabric is stretched over the printing table and fastened with small pins. This is an important stage as there should be a uniform tension in the fabric and no ripples.

Color is mixed separately in another room. Usually pigment dyes are used for cotton. You can read more about dyes at the end of this page.

Color is kept in a tray on a wheeled wooden trolley with racks which the printer drags along as he works. On the lower shelves printing blocks are kept ready.

The tray of color rests on another tray which contains a thick viscous liquid made from the pigment binder and glue. This gives the color tray a soft base which helps to spread color evenly on the wooden block.

Blocks are made of seasoned teak wood by trained craftsmen. The underside of the block has the design hand carved on it by the block maker. Each block has a wooden handle and two to three cylindrical holes drilled into the block for free air passage and also to allow release of excess printing paste. The new blocks are soaked in oil for 10-15 days to soften the grains in the timber.

The printing starts form left to right. The color is evened out in the tray with a wedge of wood and the block dipped into the outline color (usually black or a dark color).

When the block is applied to the fabric, it is slammed hard with the fist on the back of the handle so that a good impression may register. A point on the block serves as a guide for the repeat impression, so that the whole effect is continuous and not disjoined. The outline printer is usually an expert because he is the one who leads the process. If it is a multiple color design the second printer dips his block in color again using the point or guide for a perfect registration to fill in the color. The third color if required follows likewise. Skill is necessary for good printing since the colors need to dovetail into the design to make it a composite whole.

The fabric, after pigment printing is dried out in the sun. This is part of the fixing process. It is then rolled in wads of newspapers to prevent the dye from adhering to other layers and steamed in boilers constructed for the purpose. Silks are also steamed this way after printing. After steaming, the material is washed thoroughly in large quantities of water and dried in the sun, after which it is finished by ironing out single layers, which fix the color permanently.

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• Duvet Cover : Cotton Duvet Comforter Cover Set - Full/Queen

• Handmade Luxury Quilts : Cotton Handmade Bedding Quilt - Queen Size
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