Senior Idaikkal weavers explore woven sarees for the first time

Chennai

Textile designer Aditi Jain who is associated with Gandhigram, tells us, “Idaikkal is one of our clusters where some of our towels are being produced. For decades, the senior weavers here only used to weave kora cloth (regular fabric). But after our intervention, they have started weaving sarees. For them to change from plain kora fabric to colour sarees was a huge shift. Initially, they were hesitant to shift because of a lack of confidence. It took us almost six months to convince about the possibilities of weaving sarees and what the market demand is. They don’t have any exposure to the changing fashion scene and when we explained the trends, they were happy to collaborate.”

After Aditi and the team approached Idaikkal weavers, five agreed to weave colour sarees. “The wage is more when they weave a saree. So, this shift also helped them in supporting their families. We planned the design according to their capabilities and didn’t make it complex. Our team travelled to Idaikkal for three months to monitor the work. We assured them that whatever the outcome is we will procure it. The first weaver to come on board was Senthivel. When others came to know about it, they also started weaving colour sarees. We didn’t interfere in the weaving process and left it open-ended because we wanted them to be comfortable. They were so happy with the results,” she adds.