The Journey Of Cotton to Cloth in Ponduru

Two indigenous varieties of short-staple cotton, konda patti (hill cotton) and yerra patti (red cotton, due to its pale cream colour) are grown in the area and are used exclusively for patnulu spinning. Conventional BT (Genetically Modified) cotton and other hybrids cannot be used in patnulu spinning; spinners are supplied cotton from the khadi sangams (cooperative societies) they are affiliated with and in some cases buy directly from the farmers.

These perennial cottons are rainfed and organic, but nowadays some farmers use a minimal dose of fertiliser and irrigation to improve yields. Konda patti is used for spinning finer yarn counts of 71 to 100, whereas the yerra patti is used for coarser counts, 44 to 65Herre’s an image of cotton (above) and fabric(below) woven with yerra patti (left) and konda patti (right). Note the slight creamish tint of the yerra patti which is the natural color of the cotton. Yerra patti is used mostly for coarser varieties

The first step to weave a cloth is spinning yarns from cotton. Any impurities separating the seed and the fibre are removed by repeatedly combing the cotton with a fish jawbone (of the wallago attu, locally known as valuga) to remove the minute impurities and straighten the fibres around the seed (below) The combing is done in an outward direction with the fish jaw bone. This particular fresh water fish has rows of tiny needle like teeth and the dried jawbones are cut into serviceable sized pieces and anchored to a stick with string. These tools can be used daily for almost a year and a half before they have to be replaced. Only this one type of fish jaw will work so well and last so long. Unfortunately these fish are becoming harder and harder to come by.

To separate the seed from the fibre, each pod is laid on a wooden plank and rolled using an iron rolling pin in the manner of rolling chapattis. Some spinners also use a hand-operated wooden gin which consists of two closely set wooden rollers that separate the seed from the fibre as the cotton passes between the rollers. Although using a wooden gin is faster than the rolling pin method, both the processes are in use.The cotton is passed multiple times in to the roller to straighten and draw out the fibres. The result is a loose, mass of fibre that looks like combed cotton and increases in length every time it is passed through the rollers.

Carding eliminates final traces of impurities from the opened fibres, and separates the tufts, lumps, and immature fibres. In hand spinning, carding is done using the carding bow. The straightened fibres from the balni are placed on a wooden plank and the spinner continuously plucks the carding bowstring and applies vibrations to the loose mass of cotton to open up the fibre.

Sliver rollingThe airy mass of fibre is loosely rolled into a sliver using a wooden stick. The cleaned cotton is placed in clumps inside a folded piece of dried banana stem for the spinner to grip it while spinning

When the spinner is ready to spin, the cotton sliver is held within a piece of dried banana stem. As the spinner turns the wheels of the charkha with her right hand, she simultaneously draws and twists the cotton with her left hand to make yarn and winds it on to the spindle. Drawing the yarn out evenly and giving it just the right twist is a test of the skill of the spinner.

The spun yarn is wound on a square frame and turned by hand. To make normal hank, the yarn has to be wound around 1000 timesWomen spinners in Ponduru earn about Rs 30 to craft one hank of yarn measuring 1000 metresIt’s been assumed that women spin only when they are not engaged in housework, which makes their vocation a part-time activity. However, the spinners aver that they work eight hours to produce one hank of yarn, beginning with cleaning and preparing the cotton from scratch. Such low wages are forcing spinners and weavers to abandon their vocation. The younger generation has also turned away from the craft form meticulously practised by their ancestors.

Warping is a process, which converts the hank yarn into a linear form to give the length on the loom. Warping is done on a huge drum and the width and desired quality of the product is decided at this stage. The drum also helps to calculate number of threads and the length of the warp.

Bamboo rods are fitted equidistantly between the yarns to stretch them

The work starts as early as 7AM in the morning as it’s cooler to work Yarn is usually stretched in lengths of three, six and twelve sarees. Almost the entire width of the narrow street is used for this purpose.

The full length stretched yarn is tilted from side to side many times to get it straight and even. While the warp is laid out, it is sprayed with watery starch which helps in stiffening the yarn for weaving A brush made of wooden/bamboo rods and coconut fiber is pulled along the warp to separate each thread and spread starch evenly along  it

      

Attaching warp to the looms

Every single thread in the yarn is attached to the loom this way

Weft Preparation

The yarns are spun in a plastic spindle and inserted in the shuttle for weft weaving.

They are at times soaked in water to keep the yarns cool

Weaving the fabric

This saree is from AFKK Sangham, Ponduru, Andhra Pradesh

 
Many thanks to Google Arts and Culture, WSC (Chennai), Saree Safari, Sahapedia, Samyuktha Gorrepati, Shivakumar Bharathi for the Images/Videos/Content