TANGALIYA WEAVING

SUBMITTED BY: NISHIKA SINGHI

MFM (SEM-I)
 CONTENTS

1.Introduction

2.Producer Community

3.Raw Materials

4.Tools

5.Process

6.Motifs

7.Products

8.Market

9.Changes and Challenges

10.Bibliography
1.INTRODUCTION

Tangaliya weaving, also known as Daana weaving is practiced in Surendranagar

district of Gujarat. Mainly practiced by the Dangasia community, this form of
weaving requires high skill level and an eye for accuracy. Tiny dots of extra weft
are twisted around a number of warp threads, giving an effect of bead
embroidery to the fabric. This intricate process of twisting extra weft while
weaving creates beautiful geometrical patterns and forms. The essence of
Tangaliya weaving is the compositions created by colourful dots, which is
simultaneously created on both the sides of the fabric.

2.PRODUCER COMMUNITY

HISTORY
Tangaliya weaving and Dangasia community originated simultaneously.
According to one of the weaver, it was originated by a young boy from Bhadwad
community who was shunned by his family for marrying a girl from the Wankar
community (weaver community). The couple made their living by weaving shawls
using the wool provided by the Bhadwads. In this way a new community, the
Dangasiya community, came into being which connected the Bhadwads and the
Wankarsin a self-sustaining way.

OCCUPATION
The Dangasias shared a symbiotic relation with the Bhadwads, where the latter
provided wool and the former wove garments for them. A barter system existed
between the two where overheads were paid by the Bhadwads in the form of
grains or anything else required by the Dangasiyas. The range of garments
included Tangaliya, Galmehndi, Dhablo, Dhunsu and Charmalia. The women of
the household assisted the master weaver in supporting tasks like wool cleaning,
yarn preparation, yarn dyeing, bobbin preparation and warping.

With the emerging trends and the introduction of less expensive, printed textiles
in the market, the Bhadwads lost interest in hand woven textiles, as a result the
Dangasias lost their only source of income. In the present time many traditional
weavers and their descendants are sustaining themselves by working as laborers
in factories or on farms. A few have migrated to cities looking for better
opportunities.

3.RAW MATERIALS

The Dangasias have experimented with many different types of yarn over the
years. Cotton, silk and acrylic yarn is the most important raw materials used to
make contemporary Daana weaving garments. Depending upon the orders and
market requirements, combinations of these yarns are used.

WOOL
Traditionally, Tangaliya weaving was done majorly in wool. It was hand spun in
situ hence readily available. Due to the availability of ready-made yarns of a
variety of fibres, hand spun wool is not used anymore.

COTTON
Due to the change in market conditions in the last ten years, the Dangasias have
started using cotton to produce a diverse product range. Cotton is bought from
Ahmedabad and Surendranagar.
ACRYLIC
Now-a-days the Dangasias prefer acrylic yarn over wool since it is less
expensive, easily available and comes in a variety of colours.

Most consumers do not mind the change in texture. This yarn is mainly used for
making the thread beads or dots in the Tangaliya weaving. It is also purchased
from Ahmedabad.

SILK
Silk yarn is used only for making products for high-end market. Eri and mulberry
silks are the most predominantly used yarns. It is mainly purchased from
Surendranagar.

4.TOOLS

Warping frame and bobbins: Warping frame is a wooden frame with four
columns. Metal rods are inserted through columns which hold the bobbins. A
wooden beam, with metal rings attached, is used along with this frame to
segregate each warp thread.

Pitlooms: It is a flying shuttle counter balanced pit loom with two shafts and two
paddles. The reed is held by the sley which is suspended from an overhead
horizontal beam by ropes. The woven cloth is rolled on the cloth beam, which lies
in front of the sley facing the weaver. The width of the loom is about 30 inch and
a maximum of about 15 inch cloth can be woven on it.

Panas: It is made of bamboo. It has two longitudinal sections which are ¾ inch in
width and are held together by string where the tow ends overlap.

The two opposite ends have sharp pins attached through which it is attached to
the cloth. It helps in maintain the width of the cloth and prevents from shrinking.

OTHER TOOLS (HEDDLE HOOK, SHUTTLE, SCISSORS, CLEANING

BRUSH, BLADE):

Heddle hook is a hooked implement used to thread a strand of the warp through
the eyeof the heddle. Shuttle or khanthalo is a boat shaped tool, made from
Shisham, which holds the weft reel in the scooped out area. Scissors and blades
are used to cut threads when required.

5.PROCESS
The process of tangaliya weaving is needs accuracy and high skill level. The
whole process can be divided into two stages:

WARPING:

For warping, first the yarn bundle is converted into small rolls called bobbins
through the process of reeling, which is done on the charkha (spinning wheel).

The reeled bobbins are installed in the warping frame. In one frame forty bobbins
can be installed. In front of this frame a wooden beam is kept. This beam has
small metal rings attached on the upper edge. On the adjacent wall, nails are
fixed on which warp thread are wrapped. One strand from each bobbin is
threaded from the metal ring. Forty individual threads are reeled or gathered on a
wappon or wooden pegs. The threads are then guided through two adjacent
columns of nails alternately. The distance between the columns is approximately
five meters.

There are 3200-4000 warp threads in a saree, 1800-2000 warp threads in a

dress material and 1200 warp threads in a stole. It takes an entire day to
complete warping.

Once the warp is ready it is knotted to the remaining ends of the previous warp
on the loom. This method eliminates the elaborate process of denting and
drafting. Usually, each thread is put through the heald eye alternately. Denting is
done with two ends in each dent of the reed.

WEAVING

The fabric is constructed in plain weave. An extra weft technique is used for
creating the pattern through tiny dots. Individual dots are created by tightly
twisting and wrapping coloured acrylic yarn onto pre-decided number of warp
threads according to the motif. For making the dots, the weaver opens the twists
of coloured acrylic yarn and separate the fibres. He then lifts two warp threads at
a time and by using his thumb and forefinger, twists the acrylic fibre around the
lifted thread and then levels it with the woven area. After having completed the
required dots across the warp width, the ground weft is inserted, the shed is
changed and the pick is beaten in.

6.MOTIFS:
The motif vocabulary of Daana weaving mainly constitutes of the elements
present in the community’s environment. Some examples are peacock (mor),
plant (jhaad), Naughara, and many more.

7.MARKET

Traditionally, Daana weaving was used only to weave garments.It did not have
any commercial market in the urban sector about a decade ago. In 2007-2008
National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFT), Gandhinagar initiated a project for
the protection and revival of Tangaliya weaving. They conducted several
workshops on design application and created a range of products in different
types of yarns to suite the contemporary market requirements. This opened a
new door, full of opportunities, for the weavers. The weavers get connected to
the market either through wholesale buyers or by running their private
workshops. Wholesale buyers provide the weavers with looms and raw materials
and the weavers work as labourers for them, earning 150-200 rupees per day.
Through exhibitions, the master craftsman becomes aware of market’s demands
and increases his clientele. The final consumer can now directly approach the
weaver to get customised products. Since the number of people involved in this
system is reduced, the weaver gets a fair price for his work.

One of the challenges that the weavers face in marketing their products is the
high price. In market, the cloth made on a power loom costs approximately thirty
rupees per meter. Customers who are aware of this fact, tend to compare the
price of hand woven tangaliya cloth with the one made on a power loom. So,
weavers have a hard time in explaining them about the technique and that each
cloth is unique in its own way. Customers who are aware of traditional crafts and
can appreciate their design aesthetics, purchase tangaliya products without any
bargain.

8.CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

Major changes and challenges that the craft is facing can be summarized under
two categories- Production and Social Importance.

SOCIAL IMPORTANCE

No special occasion was complete without wearing or gifting a tangaliya woven

product. This craft was unknown to the world until 2007-2008, when it received
the GI (Geographical Indication) certification, during the design intervention
project by NIFT. The Dangasia community became well known for their tangaliya
weaving. When the project ended the system started to lose its dynamics.
Organisations, which were extremely active during those years, slowed things
down. Irrespective of this, the craft has attained a certain position in the market
and on further encouragement it can prosper even more.

PRODUCTION

The craft has gone through major changes in terms of raw material, design
application and product range.

RAW MATERIAL:

Traditionally, only hand spun sheep wool was used for weaving Tangaliya. The
process of yarn preparation was quite elaborate. During the revitalisation project
started by NIFT, the weavers were introduced with readily available, machine
made yarns like cotton, acrylic and silk.
One of the challenges that the weavers face in procuring 16 raw material is the
unavailability of certain coloured yarn in small amounts. The coloured yarn is
majorly used for making dots or thread beads and the amount used in one
product is far less than the minimum amount of yarn that they have to get dyed
i.e. 100 kg approximately. So if they have to use a coloured yarn which is
unavailable, they have to get the yarn dyed, which increases the final cost of the
product.

DESIGN APPLICATION:

Traditional Tangaliya follow a certain colour palette that is black base with white
dots and red borders. Later in 2007-2008 with the application of different kinds of
yarn, which provided a huge colour palette, weavers and clients got an
opportunity to play with a variety of compositions.

For example in a dress material, they arranged peacock motifs in different ways
to emphasize the neck and repeated small motifs, like button, to make the entire
body. The main challenge in design application lies in understanding and coming
up with new compositions without losing the character of a dot.
9.PRODUCT RANGE:
Traditionally, Daana weaving was used only to weave garments like Tangalia,
Galmehndi, Dhablo, Dhunsu and Charmalia for the Bhadwad community. With
modernisation and availability of less expensive printed textiles in the market, the
Bhadwads slowly stopped wearing tangaliya. The Dangasia weavers started
losing their only clientele. Seeing this, many organisations like SAATH and
design colleges like NIFT collaborated and conducted design workshops for
weavers. The outcome was a product range in cotton, silk and acrylic which was
suitable for the contemporary market.
10.BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Apathy-leaves-
tangaliya-in-tangles/articleshow/20469553.cms
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/48/4726/tangaliya1.asp