Handwoven and naturally dyed woollen blankets

The warm days of spring are yet to arrive, so perhaps a good time to introduce our new woollen Desi blanket collection, perfect for throwing over the bed for a little bit of extra warmth, or keeping the chill off while relaxing on the sofa!

These blankets are hand woven by a community of award-winning weavers in the village of Bhujodi in our favourite area of Gujarat, India: Kutch.  Master weaver Shamji and his family train and employ around 90 weavers on pit looms they built after the earthquake of 2001.  The family is committed to preserving local weaving and dyeing skills in the region.  The wool is farmed locally and hand spun, and has a distinctive "dry" texture typical of wool from this region.  It is dyed with natural dyes such as indigo and lac red - Shamji is instrumental in the revival of traditional lac red dyeing in Kutch.

Indigo dyed wool drying at Shamji's workshop

The woven lengths are sent to our home-based embroiderers working with SEWA in Ahmedabad, to embellish with lines of traditional Soi hand stitch work.  The tasseled edges are knotted and closely trimmed to echo the knobbly silhouette of the embroidery, for a contemporary look.

The blankets are available in two sizes, 180x120cm and 220x180cm, in indigo, lac red, olive green, natural cream, or chocolate brown.  There is also a large tri-colour blanket in red, chocolate and indigo, and a large olive green and chocolate blanket.  Click here for more info and to purchase.

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