The pashmina
making process undergoes pain staking process and the entire
process is done completely by hand.The pashmina wool is
collected every spring from the Mountain goat "Chyangra"
(Capra Hircus). Pashmina is the goat's soft underbelly down,
which lies under the coarse and thick outer hair. Each goat
produces only about 3 ounces or 80 grams of pashmina wool
each year. One woven pashmina shawl require wool from about
three goats, and is basically spun by hand. The yarn is
spun on a spinning wheel locally known as 'Charkha'. Hand-spinning
is extremely painstaking and time consuming task. It requires
immense patience, dexterity and dedication of experienced
and expert weavers.
Pashmina yarn is too fragile for the vibration
caused by power looms, the weaving of the traditional 100%
pashmina shawls are therefore done on hand-looms. The weaving
process is in itself an art, which has been passed down
over generations to give you the fabulous pashmina shawls
and other pashmina products.
The making of the distinctive pashmina
fringe and design is perhaps one of the most interesting
stages of shawl making. It takes hours to fringe each pashmina
shawl, pashmina stole or pashmina scarf or pashmina sweater
or pashmina blanket.
Dyeing is also done by hand. Dyers with
immense patience and generations of experience are the one
who dye the pashmina shawls, as even the smallest negligence
reflects on the quality of the product. Only natural dyes
are used, making the shawls completely eco-friendly.
Thus pashmina production process includes:
Fiber Collection >> Fiber Spinning
>> Weaving in Hand-looms >> Mending White Pieces
>> Washing White Pieces to Remove Spot, Blots, etc.
>> Dyeing >> Fringe and Designs Making >>Embroidery
>> Ironing and finally Packing.
The entire process of manufacturing pashmina
products like pashmina shawls, pashmina sweaters, pashmina
scarves, pashmina stoles, pashmina mufflers and pashmina
blankets etc. are similar.
How is Pashmina Made?
Origin of Pashmina dates back to ancient
civilization. In olden days though the pashmina making process
was same as today, pashmina were made by hands, collecting
pashmina fibers, spinning the pashmina wool, no extra colors
were added and there were no dying system and the pashmina
products were woven for their own use. As time changed the
pashmina products found favor with the royal families, emperors,
rulers, kings, etc. This precious fabric was known as the
ROYAL FIBERS. Now this royal luxury is being offered in
wide variety of shawls, stoles, scarves, mufflers, sweaters
and blankets. These luxurious pashmina products are hand
woven by traditional weavers whose families have been in
the occupation since ages and they inherit this art from
their ancestors, and tradition of this art continues from
one generation to another generation.
Every summer, Himalayan farmers climb the
high Himalayan regions to comb the fine woolen undercoat
from the underbelly of, Himalayan mountain goat 'Chyangra'
the Capra Hircus goat which is the source of pashmina, and
which lives at elevations of 14500 feet (4500 meters) and
above, where temperatures rarely rise above minus 40 degree
centigrade in winter. Not to be confused with the endangered
Tibetan antelope, chiru that is killed to produce Shahtoosh
shawls, some also call these Chyangra goat as the Cashmere
Goats. To survive the freezing environment at 14000 feet
altitude, it grows a unique, incredibly soft pashm, inner
coat, six times finer than human hair. Because it is only
15 - 19 microns in diameter, it can not be spun by machines,
so the wool is hand-woven into pashmina products including
shawls, stoles, scarves, mufflers, sweaters, wraps, throws,
blankets, etc. to export worldwide.
With the coming of summer, the Himalayan
goats shed their warm winter coats, Their underbellies are
covered with two different types of wool: 1) The fine soft
inner coat which is called pashmina and 2) a thick coarse
outer layer. The wool is gathered by local women, who comb
it thoroughly to separate the pashmina from the thicker,
less luxuriant wool.
Each fiber is about one sixth the width
of a human hair, and one shawl requires about 24 ounces
of wool, the annual output of about 4 goats. The wool is
too delicate for mechanical looms, and must therefore be
spun and woven by hand. The techniques for producing fine
pashmina products have been handed down through the generations,
and sometimes the women in a family have carried out the
practice since the days of the Mughal Empire.
The Pashmina Making Process includes
following steps:
1. Wool Collection
First of all the wool from Chyangra (Capra
Hircus) goat is collected. The pashmina wool is collected
every spring. Then the soft fine pashmina is separated form
the thick coarse hair. And both the soft pashmina and the
thick coarse hair is taken for their further process.
2. Spinning
The pashmina wool is collected every spring
and is basically spun by hand. The yarn is spun on a spinning
wheel locally known as 'Charkha'. Prior to spinning, the
raw material is treated by stretching and cleaning it to
remove any dirt and soaked for a few days in a mixture of
rice and water to make it softer. Hand-spinning is an extremely
painstaking task. It requires immense patience, dexterity
and dedication and is amazing process to watch.
3. Weaving
Pashmina yarn is too fragile for the vibration
caused by power looms, the weaving of the traditional 100%
pashmina shawls are therefore done on hand-looms. It is
essential for the weaver to have a uniform hand. for par
excellence fabric. Weaving here is done with a shuttle carrying
the soft pashmina yarn through the fine yet strong silk
warp. The weaving process is in itself an art, which has
been passed down over generations, to give you the fabulous
shawls, which we offer. It takes about four days to weave
a single pashmina shawl. The weaving of pashmina products
differ according to the nature of pashmina products. Different
looms are required to weave different pashmina products.
For pashmina shawls, pashmina stoles, pashmina mufflers,
pashmina scarves, pashmina blankets and pashmina sweaters
are woven in different looms and they takes different amount
of pashmina fibers and takes time accordingly.
4. Fringes and Designs
The attractive and excellent fringes and
beautiful designs in pashmina shawl will be different than
the others. Fringe and designs add extra beauty to pashmina
shawls and other pashmina products. The making of the distinctive
pashmina fringe and designs is an interesting stage of shawl
making. Because the fringe and design making process is
artistic and delicate process it takes hours to fringe and
design each pashmina shawl or any other pashmina product
by the expert.
5. Dyeing
Dyeing is also done by hand, and each piece
individually. Dyers with immense patience and generations
of experience are the one who dye the pashmina shawls, Pashmina
stoles, pashmina mufflers, pashmina scarves, pashmina sweaters,
pashmina blankets and other pashmina products, as even the
smallest negligence reflects on the quality of the product.
Only metal and azo free dyes are used, making the shawls
and other pashmina products completely eco-friendly. The
pure water used for dying is pumped up from deep beneath
the surface. Dyeing is done at a temperature just below
boiling point for nearly an hour. Pashmina wool is exceptionally
absorbent, and dyes easily and deeply.
In this way a fabulous pashmina shawl,
pashmina stole, pashmina scarf, pashmina muffler, pashmina
sweater, pashmina blanket and other pashmina product is
made. Since making of pashmina products is an pain staking,
artistic and time consuming process therefore the quality
and the price of pashmina products are incomparable to other
garments or fibers. |
