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Design Resource
Veshti Weaving
The Craft of Salem Veshti Making
by
Mr. J. Antony William, Mr. Susanth CSand Ms. Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan
Tools and Raw Materials
Nool (cotton) veshti is woven in various counts of cotton. 20s, 40s, 60s, 80s and 100s count cotton are woven where 100s count is the finest. Cotton veshtis are used everyday and silk veshtis are worn on special occasions. The handloom cotton veshti weaving industry suffers from stiff competition from the power loom industry as the production rate is faster in power looms.
Types of Nool Veshti:
• White/ off-white cotton with gold half-fine zari border.
• White with red border on one side and green border on the other side with extra-warp zari patterning and small mokku (triangle formed by the interlocking weft technique).
• White with plain red or green borders in gundanchi or paavanchi style.
Materials used are:
Pattu / Pasathu: Silk yarn
Nool : Cotton yarn
Paav / Thani : Warp
Adai : Weft
Kanji : Rice starch
Kondhu passai : Gum arabic
Padamaram : Cloth beam
Thiravattam : Used for winding yarn
Valathadi : Used to hold the opened up hank of yarn for winding
Taar Suthurai Rattai / Reto: Bobbin winder
Naada : Shuttle for passing the weft through the shed
Taar Kuchi/ Rithakando or Kando: Plastic weft winding pin to be used inside the shuttle
