Abduljabbar Khatri & Abdullah Khatri | SIDR Craft
A Team Of Hundreds Is Behind The Making Of Gorgeous Bandhani Creations
SIDR Craft is a social, artisan-based enterprise established in 1992 and led by Abdullah and Abduljabbar Khatri. They employ approximately 200 craftswomen from 8 villages in Kutch, Gujarat, India. The women are able to work from the comforts of home at their own convenience and the income is transformational. SIDR is known for their incredible Bandhini and clamp dye pieces.
Bandhini, derived from the Indian phrase meaning “tying up”, is done entirely by hand. It begins with the artisans drawing a design on stencil paper. The stencil is then transferred to the fabric through needle perforation and a tracing ink solution. Once the design is visible, artisans hand tie the fabric through pinching and hand knotting with thread. Depending on the complexity of the design, it can take up to a year to hand tie a piece. Once the knotting process is completed, the fabric is dyed and left in the sun to dry. Once dry the fabric is pulled diagonally, which releases all the tiny knots at once. Clamp dyeing uses the methods of Japanese Itajime, a shibori resist technique using wooden blocks and clamps. First the fabric is folded in geometric styles, then it is sandwiched between two wooden blocks and fastened with clamps before being placed in a dye bath. SIDR has made special efforts to revive natural dyeing practices, which were nearly lost in the 1950s as market demand prioritized low-cost productions, thus favoring cheap synthetic dyes.
A SIDR Craft piece is rich with meaning, for example a Chandrukhani shawl is identified by its black background and red dots, adorned with a center circle resembling the moon and a myriad of fine dots resembling the stars. SIDR shares “A tradition that is more than 300 years old, the Chandrukhani dupatta is presented to the newly wedded bride by her mother-in-law to welcome the bride to her home. The bride, in case of her son's wedding, then passes on this Chandrukhani dupatta to her daughter-in- law.” No two scarves, stoles, or shawls are exactly the same and each is part of a limited edition. Sidr Craft founders have been awarded the UNESCO Seal of Excellence for standard-setting craftsmanship.
