Khadi - the fabric that spun a nation's march towards its independence.

Khadi is a hand-spun and hand-woven fabric from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan mainly made out of cotton. This is an artisanal heritage handloom textile, made entirely in hand crafted processes—from spinning the threads on a charkha (spinning wheel) to weaving on handloom. Mahatma Gandhi was a strong proponent of handicrafts, in particular the handloom Khadi. The technique and associated ideology was promoted by Gandhi to inspire self-reliance of the people, and support ancient skills and traditional crafts. He called for a boycott of British textiles to embrace the ancient craft traditions of our own country, the foremost being khadi. Technically, khadi can refer to any natural fabric that is hand-spun and handwoven, be it cotton, silk, jute or wool. While mill-made cloth is essential to satisfy the textile demands of the Indian market, khadi is a precious craft deeply intertwined with India’s story. More importantly, it is highly sustainable.

The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool. Khadi is sometimes treated with starch to give it a stiffer texture. 

The spinning of khadi uses no machines or energy and thus has a low carbon footprint. A metre of khadi fabric consumes three litres of water, while one metre of mill-produced fabric requires 55 litres of the precious resource. Plus, khadi clusters also generate direly needed income to rural Indian communities.

Historically, khadi played a role in helping India free itself from the rule of its colonisers. Today, it is part of the solution for the major environmental crisis the world is facing. With sustainable fashion now becoming part of mainstream conversations, consumers have become open to embracing clothing made out of eco-friendly raw materials. 

Bengal weavers have been practicing this craft of weaving very fine count Khadi yarn of hand-spun cotton and silk for centuries. And this is where we have tried to make a difference. Buying Khadi fabric directly from the manufacturers and getting local Bengal artisans to make our beautiful scalloped edging napkins to adorn your beautifully set tables.