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The Art of Weaving a Pashmina shawl

February 18th, 2022 | 1070 views
The Art of Weaving a Pashmina shawl

Lush green landscapes, colossal mountain ranges, remnants of a regal occupation, and fascinating streets of the city, all are sights to behold in this quaint valley of Kashmir. The valley has long been celebrated for its cultural and multi-faceted history that dates back to the 15th century. Not only the locals, but people from across nations are true patrons of the art forms indigenous to the valley. The artisans of Kashmir have been one of the most revered sections of the society. Among them, the makers of Pashmina shawls are especially admired for their flawless skill and patience. 

Kashmir valley patrons a large number of art forms, which include copper making, walnut wood crafts, wicker willow processing, paper mache making and many more. However, amongst these, the art of hand weaving Pashmina shawls is the most treasured one. Pashmina artisans are the ones who have had the honour of being invited to far off nations so they could train the local artisans the art of weaving shawls. However, this hasn't been a child’s play for this super skilled community. Even they were naive to Pashmina shawls, till the time, a sufi saint from Persia changed everything.

History of the Pashmina Shawl

The art of weaving Pashmina shawls dates back to the 15th century in Kashmir, when Cashmere wool was discovered by Mir Sayyid Ali Hamdani. He was a saint from Persia, who visited the valley on an invitation by Mughal rulers. On his visit to Ladakh region, he discovered a rare goat species, and discovered a soft and warm fleece growing on their underbelly. Following this discovery, he ordered a pair of socks to be handcrafted from this fleece. The socks were exceptional in their quality - fine, soft, warm, and luxurious. He named this fleece ‘Pashm’, which means ‘Soft Gold’ in Persian.

pashmina goat
Pashmina goats in Ladakh region

The pair of socks was gifted to king Zain ul Abideen, who, highly impressed by its quality, ordered processing units to be set up in the valley, where Pashm would be processed to fabric. Subsequently, this marked the beginning of Pashmina shawl making, and Pashm would be manually transported from Ladakh to be spun and woven in Kashmir. 

Processing of Pashmina Shawls

Making a vintage Pashmina shawl isn't an easy task. The process takes years to complete, in addition to the efforts of the artisan and the patience of the customer. The process starts with cleaning the Pashm firstly, as acquired from the goat. Second, comes the process of spinning, where raw Pashm wool is transformed into fine long yarn. The yarn is then handwoven to prepare Pashmina shawls. 

Weaving of Pashmina Shawls

Pashmina Weaving
Weaving of Pashmina

Out of all the processes, weaving is considered as the most meticulous one. Weaving raw Pashm wool to prepare the luxury Pashmina shawls is an art. And this art is ingrained in the hands of Kashmiri artisans. This immensely skilled community has decades of experience in the same, and weaving a shawl is an everyday activity for them. 

To sum things up, weaving of a Pashmina shawl includes the following three main activities :

  • Shedding: This process includes lifting the warp threads by the loom, hence making way for inserting the weft. 
  • Picking: The process of picking is where artisans insert the weft yarn into warp threads. 
  • Beating up: Is the process where the weaver moves forward the shuttle to keep one weft yarn close to its preceding weft yarn

The weaving of a Pashmina shawl looks pretty similar to weaving a carpet. The same way warp threads are lined vertically in front of the weaver as he sits to work over a handloom made of wood. Then he gradually moves the shuttle to insert the weft threads which intersect the warp threads, resulting in the formation of a fabric. The way wefts intersect the warp threads results in three types of weaves. Here is a small description of those:

Twill Weave

solid pashmina shawl
The cloud like feel of the handwoven pashmina shawls makes it an exquisite work of art

Weaves in Pashmina are always visible when the shawl is solid, with no prints or patterns. Solid shawls showcase weave patterns easily. 

The twill weave in Pashmina shawls have the most minimal pattern, yet immensely beautiful and alluring. This is recognized by its diagonal ribs which lay parallel to each other. Kashmiri weavers call twill weave a plain weave, as this is the most basic pattern, and the most used one. 

Diamond Weave

Diamond weave is an exceptionally elegant and graceful pattern. It is believed that the diamond pattern reflects light in an alluring way, making it most charming for the onlookers. Diamond weave Pashmina shawls feature weaves in the shape of diamonds. In Kashmir, the diamond weave pattern is called Chashm e Bulbul (eye of the nightingale), as the diamonds do look like the eyes of a bird. Diamond weave shawls are considered the most intricate, and only the most expert artisans are able to bring these into existence. 

uneven diamond weave
Diamond weave

As a matter of fact, the prestigious Shahtoosh shawls too would be woven in the diamond weave before they got banned. 

Also read: Why is Shahtoosh banned?

Basket Weave

Basket weave features warps and wefts aligned in such a manner that they form a minimal and basic criss cross design. Wefts threads cross the warp threads by simply going over the first one, and then the next and then the next. 

 

Jacquard Weave

Jacquard weave came into existence after its inventor Joseph Marie Jacquard invented it in 1804. He improved the already existing loom, and invented a punch card design, which led to the formation of intricate patterns over the fabric being woven. It was more graceful and more quick than its predecessors. Jacquard pattern of weaving makes it possible to create infinite patterns over a shawl. 

Kani Weave

Who is a novice to the luxurious weave of Kani? Kani Pashmina shawls of Kashmir are the world’s most opulent and extravagant accessories. These are also hand woven by local artisans, and take more than 3 - 5 years if the design demands. 

making of kani pashmina
Making of Kani Pashmina

In the process of making a Kani Pashmina shawl, the weavers follow a coded pattern called ‘Talim’. This is given by the designer. The warp threads are, as usual, tied to the loops in the handloom, but the wefts threads are different. Weft threads are wound around wooden sticks called ‘Kanis’, which become the wefts threads. These coloured foreign threads are inserted into the warp threads as wefts, according to the Talim. Hence brilliant shades and hues of colourful thread form motifs all over the Kani shawl. The process takes years to complete. An artisan can weave just one inch of a Kani shawl per day.

Whatever the weave pattern or the embellishment, Pashmina shawls are an everlasting luxury and a timeless treasure. The weaving of Kashmiri shawls is just one of the reasons why they are world famous. Other than weaving, the warmth, softness, fine texture and the extraordinary spinning, weaving, and embroidery of these luxury shawls make them the best of their kind.

Also read: The everlasting glory of Pashmina Shawls

We, Pashmina.com, are the largest curators of pure and handcrafted Pashmina products in the online space. We are on a mission to revive this dying art by spreading our wings throughout the world by way of our online platform. Our website serves as a window to our range of products that are luxurious and have the highest quality. We offer the widest range, certified quality, luxurious packaging and free shipping to over 150 countries.

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