KANTHA- A Folk Embroidery Of Bengal

Any garment or cloth with kantha embroidery (which forms or outlines decorative motifs with running stitch) is a kantha garment……………………
A kantha is rich multicolored embroidery from West Bengal. It is done with simple running stitches. Rural women’s in Bengal typically use discarded saris, dhotis and cloth and layer them with stitches to make a quilt, light blanket shawls, throws or bedspread………
There are seven different types of kantha:
Archilata kantha, Baiton kantha, Durjani/thalia, Lep kantha, Oaar kantha, Sujani kantha, Rumal kantha ….. click here for details

Bhagalpur craftsmen face unprecedented crisis

The once famous silk of Bhagalpur, is now loosing its sheen. The industry is suffering from numerous issues like lack of credit, power shortage, and increasing competition from the other silk manufacturing centers. The industry makes 2 million meters of silk in a year. After reaching a decent figure of Rs.3,500 crore in 2007, silk exports are predicted to fall to Rs.2,000 crore in 2009. Many looms in Bhagalpur are dependent on generator power. Bhagalpur gets power barely for two hours in a day. Chronic power cuts in the state have worsened the problem. The craftsmen are average people, with many of them living below the poverty line. Most of them take loans from the market for an interest rate of 5% for a month. With the payments for their cloth getting delayed, they face problems in repayment of their loans. While the skilled Bhagalpuri craftsmen make fancy fabrics for the elite people of the society, their lives always are in darkness. Possibilities exist that; weavers might shift to alternate source of earning, and leave the age old weaving tradition.

Kantha Revival

Stitch needlework, or kantha, once confined to rural households of West Bengal, has been revived by entrepreneur Shamlu Dudeja, who has introduced the art on saris and even western wear. Today she has over 800 women in employment, and her clothes with kantha designs are retailed in outlets all over the world, writes Ajitha Menon.

Women doing kantha work at Sahapara in South 24 Parganas district of West BengalWomen of the Nivedita Self-Help Group in Bankura district involved in intricate embroidery
As a girl of nine, Shamlu Dudeja remembers embroidering paisleys on tea-pot covers under the tutelage of a Bengali crafts teacher in Delhi. Little did she realise then that this running stitch needlework, or kantha as it is popularly known in West Bengal, would become her weapon for empowering women.
Women in Bengal have been running stitches along layers of old clothes to churn out quilts and duvets for use during winters for almost six decades now. This traditional household chore has always adhered to what has now become the modern mantra of recycle and reuse.
Unfortunately, kantha remained confined within rural households until Dudeja brought about its revival in the 1980s, providing gainful employment to over 800 women in four districts of West Bengal. "I moved to Kolkata as a young bride in 1962, but it was only in the 1980s that I got interested in kantha. My career as a mathematics teacher came to an end when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. While recovering from my operation, I developed an interest in kantha, having seen some old work at the Crafts Council showroom on Theatre Road in Kolkata," explains Dudeja.
The traditional kantha was always done on two to four layers of mostly old cotton cloth, and the designs were rural and folksy, usually depicting the lives of the villagers, village women at work, ducks and ponds, palm trees and fields, cattle, harvesting, and so on. Scenes from epics such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana also figured prominently in the work.
However, Dudeja, along with artiste Sreelata Sarkar, decided to introduce the stitch on saris, salwar suits and even western wear. Dudeja’s first team of workers comprised four women from Santiniketan in Birbhum district. These women were already doing kantha on small pieces of layered cloth as decorative items and selling them to tourists and visitors. "They had been doing kantha at home for almost 25 years. They had the experience, stable hands and excellent colour sense," remarks Dudeja.
The women were given two white silk saris and told to do kantha designs on them. Initially, they balked at doing the needlework on a single layer of new silk cloth, an idea contrary to the tradition of working on layers of old cotton cloth only. They were also unsure of the design. But after being convinced by Dudeja, who suggested they do the paisley motif as the base design, they got to work. It took them three months, but the ensuing pieces were works of art. When Dudeja found instant buyers amongst her friends, she knew she was on a winning track.
The women were extremely happy to be paid fair prices for their efforts when normally they would get just a few rupees for their hard work. It was then that Dudeja realised the power of kantha. She hired the first four women as her team leaders to recruit more rural women to do this exquisite needlework on a regular basis. The idea was to convince village housewives to work for Mallika’s Kantha Collection or MKC (Dudeja’s daughter Mallika, founded the private limited company) during the same hours in the afternoon after lunch when all the housework had been done and the women were relatively free.
Most women were quick to take up the offer of earning money for doing something they did anyway every day. Gradually, the group expanded from Birbhum to North and South 24 Parganas, Burdwan and Nadia districts. "I had a dream to become self-dependent. I wanted a job desperately. When I realised that there was need for women who could do kantha work, I immediately signed up as it was something I was doing from childhood. My husband earns Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 as a driver. Now, with my earnings of about Rs 2,000 per month as a team leader, I can send my children to school and give them nutritious food without any monetary worries," says Putul Das (35) of Sahapara in South 24 Parganas district.
In South 24 Parganas alone, about 250 women work diligently in the afternoons in their courtyards, near the pond, under the shade of a mango tree, often in groups to fulfil MKC’s orders. "This livelihood has brought dignity into our lives. My husband eyes me with respect now. I have a say in all the decisions within my family. I have personal pocket money now to buy things for myself. I can buy things for my son. I contributed for my daughter’s marriage. This is the best I can hope for in life—the knowledge that I do have a skill that sells," remarks Bharati Singh (45) of Naskarpara in South 24 Parganas district.
However, for Dudeja this was not enough. She formed SHE (Self-Help Enterprise)—a non-profit body to provide medical help, nutrition assistance and education to rural women. SHE is largely funded by MKC and also run as a cooperative where women bring in their kantha pieces for sale. The proceeds are used to give interest-free loans to women. Talks are currently on to provide medical insurance to rural women through the organisation.
Currently, the MKC has over 700-800 women working for it. Most of them work for two to three hours every day in the afternoons. The kantha goods—varying from saris to salwar-kameez, lehengas to scarves and blouses and utility items such as bedcovers, floor rugs and lamp shades—are sold from several outlets in Kolkata. The merchandise is retailed through stores belonging to designers like Tarun Tahiliani; through the boutiques run by the Oberoi Group of hotels; and also through outlets in London, Paris, Santa Fe and Washington. The MKC holds regular exhibitions in India and abroad and also offers kantha panel displays to museums across the country.
Over 4,000 rural women, through Self-Help Groups (SHGs), are earning money from kantha today across other districts like Bankura and Purulia. These SHGs have healthy deposits ranging between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000, which are used to give loans to the members.
"More than the money, we have earned power through kantha. Now we can demand road repairs, we can ask men to stop wife abuse, we can prevent child marriages and ensure children’s education. We earn, so we are heard now," says Saiba Sarkar (54) of Nivedita SHG in Nitayanandpur Colony, Bankura. This is the dream that Shamlu Dudeja had worked for. — WFS
Courtesy: spectrum, the tribune 22nd march 2009

Index for textiles group up by 0.6%

The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 1993-94 = 100) for the week ended 9th May 2009 rose by 0.2 percent to 232.0 (Provisional) from 231.6 (Provisional) for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 0.61 percent (Provisional) for the week ended 09/05/2009 (over 10/05/2008) as compared to 0.48 percent (Provisional) for the previous week (ended 02/05/2009) and 8.57 percent during the corresponding week (ended10/05/2008) of the previous year. The movement of the index for the various commodity groups is summarized below:- - PRIMARY ARTICLES (Weight 22.02%) The index for this major group rose by 0.5 percent to 256.0 (Provisional) from 254.7 (Provisional) for the previous week. The groups and items for which the index showed variations during the week are as follows:- The index for 'Non-Food Articles' group rose by 0.4 percent to 234.3 (Provisional) from 233.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of raw cotton and raw silk (2% each) and rape & mustard seed, gingelly seed and castor seed (1% each). However, the prices of copra (3%) and raw rubber (2%) declined. - MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS (Weight 63.75%) The index for this major group rose by 0.1 percent to 203.3 (Provisional) from 203.0 (Provisional) for the previous week. The groups and items for which the index showed variations during the week are as follows:- The index for 'Textiles' group rose by 0.6 percent to 141.2 (Provisional) from 140.4 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of synthetic yarn and hessian & sacking bags (4% each) and hessian cloth (3%). FINAL INDEX FOR THE WEEK ENDED 14th March 2009 For the week ended 14/03/2009, the final wholesale price index for 'All Commodities’ (Base:1993-94=100) stood at 228.0 as compared to 227.0 (Provisional) and annual rate of inflation based on final index, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 0.71 percent as compared to 0.27 percent (Provisional) reported earlier vide press note dated 26/03/2009.

[i] Press Information Bureau, GOI

PHULKARI & BAGH -: Folk Art Of Punjab

Phulkari, is a traditional simple and sparcely embroidered fabric from Punjab, India, Phul means flower and kari means work i.e 'flower work'. It is a age old traditional folk art of Punjab which is done on coarse khadi fabric –a homespun cloth embroidered with silk threads called pat with bright colours like golden, green, blue, crimson, yellow and pink on beige and red colour.


Bagh litreally means garden and is one of the kind of Phulkari….In phulkari the cloth is ornamented by embroidery technique and in Bagh the fabric is embroidered fully so that the base fabric is not visible. There are a variety of Phulkari styles used for different occasions and purposes like the Chope, Vari-da-Bagh, Darshan Dwar, Ghunghat Bagh, Bawan Bagh, Suber, Chamba and Nilak etc...for details click here…

Textile Trade Shows Fairs and Events

Click here for a list of textile fairs, trade shows
and events 2009-2010






If you fail to access the file from the above link pls. copy and paste the following
url in the address bar of your browser http://www.archive.org/download/TextileFairsAndEvents/Fairs_and_events.pdf

Imports Of Acrylic Fibre Into India

On April 30, Fibre2fashion had reported about the Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS), recommending to the government to impose a 20 percent safeguard duty on imports of acrylic fibre into India, to avoid a surge in shipments of the same.Reportedly, the Standing Board on Safeguards, has overruled the suggestion of the DGS, by saying that there was not enough ground to take immediate action on imposing duty on acrylic fibres and other products like hot-rolled steel, paper and auto components.The Standing Board has instructed the DGS to give a re-look at submissions made by all parties, including end users over the next tow months, before submitting a fresh proposal to the board for imposing safeguard duty.

Courtesy: Fibre2fashion News Desk - India