My experiments with Pashmina began when I applied for a handloom, cluster development project with Looms of Ladakh. The following are snippets of my explorations with natural dyeing, especially with madder.
The handspun Pashmina yarn was sourced from Ladakh. It was mordanted with alum prior to dyeing with powdered madder roots. Different shades of red were achieved by altering the ratio of madder to Pashmina, and with different cooking time.
The hank with the lightest shade of red was partially over-dyed with marigold. The two colour effect of the hank was to be later utilized in weaving.
Other madder dyed hanks were similarly over dyed with henna (Left) and bleached with Oxylife Creme Bleach (Right) - a common product containing Hydrogen Peroxide, normally used for bleaching facial skin.
The weaving was done on a simple rectangular frame made out of cardboard. In the warp, four undyed pashmina yarns were alternated with four mutli-coloured pashmina yarns. The same was repeated in the weft in a 2/2 twill weave. The dyed yarns were selected at random for a more a spontaneous and natural mixing of colours.
The result was the classic houndstooth pattern with a colour gradation effect. Thick stripes were embroidered using the whipped running stitch, with two undyed pashmina yarns , for an additional tactile effect.
In the warp, mutli-coloured pashmina yarns were alternated between lighter and darker tones. The same was repeated in the weft in a 2/2 twill weave.
Thick checks were embroidered using the feather stitch, with two dyed pashmina yarns , for an additional tactile effect.
