Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan mainly made out of cotton. This is an artisanal heritage handloom textile,made entirely in hand crafted processes—from spinning the threads on a charkha (spinning wheel) to weaving on handloom. The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool. […]
Similar to many other regions, handmade socks make a significant part of material culture in Turkey. Besides being functional and decorative garments, in Turkey handmade socks have gained the role of communication through their designs. The motifs that are applied on socks usually have meanings and used for certain purposes. These meanings may have spiritual […]
Barkcloth is a versatile material that was once common in Asia, Africa, Indonesia, and the Pacific. Barkcloth comes primarily from trees of the Moraceae family, including Broussonetia papyrifera, Artocarpus altilis, and Ficus natalensis. It is made by beating sodden strips of the fibrous inner bark of these trees into sheets, which are then finished into a […]
The traditional Li textile techniques by women of the Li ethnic group on the island of Hainan, China, were recognized by Unesco in 2009 as in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed to make cotton, hemp and other fibres into clothing and other […]
Noken is a multifunctional knotted or woven bag native to the Papua. Its made of made of woven tree bark or orchid plant stems. Its distinctive usage, which involves being hung from the head, is traditionally used to carry various goods, and also children. In 2012, noken was listed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists as a cultural heritage of Indonesia. Women carrying […]
Quilting is the process of sewing two or more layers of fabric together to make a thicker padded material, usually to create a quilt or quilted garment. Typically, quilting is done with three layers: the top fabric or quilt top, batting or insulating material and backing material, but many different styles are adopted. The process of quilting uses a needle and thread to join two or […]
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers. Natural fibre felt has special properties that allow it to be used for a wide variety of purposes. Wool felt is one the […]
Patchwork, also known as “pieced work,” is a type of needlework where small pieces of fabric are stitched together to form a larger design. The design often consists of repeating patterns that are created by combining various fabric shapes, each of which may be a different color. The fabric shapes are meticulously measured and cut […]
Rafoogari is an art of darning in India and neighbouring countries of the subcontinent where this art of healing the cloth is used for emotional and historical reasons too. Though is a social shame associated with wearing restored clothes but this art has been used by highly skilled “rafoogars” to restore some priceless clothes such […]
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is “woven” in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, […]
Jamdani is a type of very fine woven muslin fabric made in a supplementary weft technique.
Zardozi is an intricate embroidery technique made with metallic threads and embellishments.
Soumak is a tapestry technique of weaving strong and decorative textiles used as rugs and domestic bags.
Suzani is a type of embroidered and decorative tribal textile from Central Asia.
Ikat fabric is a dyeing technique used to create a distinct style of textile patterns. Ikat is done by resist dyeing sections of the yarns prior to weaving the fabric.
Katazome is a Japanese technique of dyeing fabrics with a resist paste and a stencil.
Kalamkari is a type of decorative hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India and Iran.
Bandhani is a type of tie-dye textile decorated by plucking the cloth with the fingernails into tiny bindings that form a figurative design.
Shibori is a Japanese manual resist dyeing technique, which produces patterns on fabric.
