The Indian Textiles Techniques
Indian Textile techniques are highly valuable and Maati aims to explore Indian textiles and Indian methods to produce beautiful garments that aim to preserve this heritage and skilled practices. A lot of Maati’s projects are based on natural dyes, handlooms, embroidery, local printing methods like block printing and on the skilled craftsmanship of the local artisans
Kala Cotton
Kala cotton is ecologically more benign than other varieties of cotton. The kala cotton has its origins as sustainable and environmentally friendly cotton. It is also a hand-woven textile with a low carbon footprint, and also provides livelihoods to weavers and artisans. As for the merits of the fabric, it is perfectly comfortable for the Tropical Weather. It is 100% organic, sustainable fabric free of any pesticides or chemicals. The fabric has some coarseness to it because the cotton is grown naturally and is wild in nature, which makes it look very beautiful and unique.
Block Printing
Block printing is a method of printing textiles by stamping ink-dipped blocks—usually made from wood —onto fabric. According to historical records, block printing has existed in India since the 12th century. Today it continues to be a signature handicraft, and the state of Rajasthan is particularly famous for its block print textiles. Though Rajasthan is famous for its block prints, there is lots of diversity within the state itself. Different towns have adapted the art of block printing to create their own distinct style. The families who perform the activity of printing are called ‘Chippa’. Any design can be traced on wood and converted into a wooden block. No. of color in a design is directly proportional to no. of blocks for that particular design. The colours used for dyeing and block printing are also completely natural and environmentally friendly. The blue is obtained from Indigo, yellow from turmeric, red from sindoor flower, black from iron oxide and white from limestone. These colours, along with plant gum, are used for all the projects at Maati.
Khadi
Khadi can refer to any natural fabric that is hand-spun and handwoven, be it cotton, silk, jute or wool. While mill-made cloth is essential to satisfy the textile demands of the Indian market, khadi is a precious craft deeply intertwined with India’s story. More importantly, it is highly sustainable. The spinning of khadi uses no machines or energy and thus has a low carbon footprint. A metre of khadi fabric consumes three litres of water, while one metre of mill-produced fabric requires 55 litres of the precious resource. Plus, khadi clusters also generate direly needed income to rural Indian communities, and there are times we enjoy using these beautiful fabrics.