Imli Diaries

Hello,

Happy November!

Winter is setting in, and unfortunately for us in North india, this brings the annual dose of air pollution. Yesterday we celebrated when the AQI moved from ‘Hazardous’ to ‘Very Unhealthy’ - tragic and ironic. We’ve been checking in with our tailors to see how they’re coping, and have also been doing research on organizations that are working on air pollution. If you’re interested to know more - click here and here. And if you have suggestions on how brands like us can help protect against / reduce air pollution, send us a note.

Until then, we’re dreaming about clean air....

SHOPPING AND EVENTS

In case you missed it last month, our festive collection is online - pictured above is our Barsaat Blouse and Bougainvillea skirt.

We are also at the Swiss-German Christkindl market in Delhi on 30th November and 1st December. Mark your calendars and hope to see you there! Details:

Venue: Embassy of Switzerland, E-3 Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri

Date: Nov 30th and Dec 1st (Sat / Sun)

Times: 11am - 6pm

Details: Bring a photo id

And finally, while we’re excited with our new collection, we haven’t forgotten our old favorites! We’ve re-stocked one of our hot sellers - Pichkaari, a kimono stripe top that flatters most body types. Made by the weavers of Baragaon with vibrant colors that are sure to brighten up your day. Order online before it runs out again.

CRAFT SPOTLIGHT: AKULA JI AND IKAT

This month we’re excited about the ikat fabrics that our artisan Akula ji is weaving for us. 45 year old Akula ji is from Maniabandh, Orissa. He learnt weaving from his neighbor, who was a master weaver. He has been in the craft for 30 years. The speciality of Akula ji’s ikat is that it is a weft based ikat. Befor you ask - what does that mean, let’s do a weaving 101.

Weaving is the interlacing of threads - plain weaves start with two sets of thread interlaced perpendicular to each other. The vertical thread is called the warp or tana, and the horizontal thread is called the weft or bana. While 2 is the minimum sets of thread required, complex weaves can use up to 400 sets of thread

Back to Akula ji and ikat. Popularly ikat is warp based, where the warp yarn are tied, dyed and attached on the loom and a plan colour weft yarn is passed through to make the fabric. In Weft Ikat the Warp yarn is plain and the weft is tied, dyed and then carefully inserted line by line to form the fabric. This is harder than warp ikat. But what’s the difference in the final product? The pattern direction in a warp ikat is vertical whereas in the weft ikat it is horizontal. There is also a third kind of ikat known as double ikat where both the warp and the weft are tied and dyed to form the pattern, it is the most complicated form of ikat weaving. See the difference below?

So next time you buy an ikat product, you’ll know a little more about how it was made.

Signing off

Team TC