HAND WEAVING

Hand weaving is a technique of fabric production that involves weaving threads on a loom operated by hand. The threads are arranged at right angles. The longitudinal threads, which run from the weaver to the end of the loom, are called the ‘warp’, and the lateral threads running left to right are called the ‘weft’. The weaver sits at the head of the loom and uses a combination of pedals and hand movements to push the weft thread over and under each of the warp threads, making a tightly woven fabric. Different patterns are produced by raising different numbers of warp threads.

Hand weaving has been practiced throughout the world and is still a source of employment in many rural areas. It is a useful source of income in these areas as it requires no electricity, little infrastructure, and can be carried out during the agricultural off-seasons. Unfortunately, due to competition from machine-woven fabrics, hand weavers tend to be underpaid. This may be slowly changing, though, as appreciation for this art form grows. It is also increasingly seen as an environmentally friendly form of fabric production as it uses no fossil fuels. This combination of artistic and environmental value means that hand weaving is seeing a resurgence. At Ecosophy, we use hand-woven fabric for all of our products, except for the bed and table linen as they are too large for a hand loom.