The making of Karvat Kathi saree starts with a pre-weaving process, in which as an initial step, a collection of reeled fibers are treated on a charka to form yarns. Once done, these yarns are rolled onto a pirn, which is used as the weft yarn for weaving the sarees. Here three separate pirns are prepared, two prins carrying silk threads for the side borders and one with the dyed cotton yarn for the body portion. They are then set to a warping machine, a cylindrical metal frame that revolves vertically on a thread roll rack. The warp length is fixed as per the product in making, but generally, a 40-meter warp is prepared by rotating the drum upon a machine axis. The creel on the warping machine is fitted with a bobbin wound with the pre-processed yarns, from where the threads are passed through the condensing dent that heads towards the weaver's beam. After warping, the beam is set on the loom, and the warp beam yarns are joined to the left-out threads of the last weave.

Nowadays, frame types of looms are mostly preferred over the traditional pit loom to weave the Karvat Kathi saree. This new technology bestowed with metal frames is comparatively lightweight and craftsman friendly in the areas of working comfort and body movements. In this type of three shuttle weaving, the Karvat pattern developed from the borders is a  kind obtained by interlocking the border weft yarns with body weft yarns. This is a result of an artisan’s years of practice and skills. Once the borders and the body are weaved over the loom, the artisan will take to adorn the pallu part with manual designing. The unique characteristic of the Karvat Kathi style is that it holds specifications and descriptions for every part of the design from the code on colour combinations to the size and shape of each pattern incorporated. The range of local nomenclature of different designs is Rui Phool, Karan Phool, Dholkar Kinar Jai Phool, Wet Phool, Ambapatti, etc.

Flow Chart