LOTUS VEDA TEXTILES
“connecting to the roots while moving forward" Lotus Veda Textiles started in 2010, is all about printed & woven fabrics of India. The company focuses on textile development and believes in story-telling through colors and designs which is an amalgamation of traditional and modern sensibility. The textiles we develop at Lotus Veda is an expression of diverse Indian culture through colors, designs and craftsmanship. It is a great pleasure that we work with handlooms, powerlooms and all other kinds of woven and printed textiles which are made by local weavers and artisans of India. Handcrafted textiles, natural dyes & fine prints are what we love and covet. The process centers on working closely with master weavers and artisans. Every fabric we do is a showcase of Indian culture. Inspired by the craft, culture and community of India we introduce the world of beautiful textiles. The process of creation is as precious to us as giving you a beautiful product. The brand is in love with colors and drama and every fabric made has some reference from the beautiful people of India. We believe in looking back while moving forward and hence supporting traditional crafts and their maker’s lies at the heart of our brand’s philosophy. For us the process is as important as the product. The few techniques and textiles which constitute the main part of our brand are block print, natural dyeing and printing, khadi, organic kala cotton, jamdani, and south cotton. While making and designing beautiful textiles for Lotus Veda, we spent a lot of time with artisans and weavers from across regions, which is where we learned the techniques of the craft. The people we encountered in this process taught us to embrace their deep passion and love for their craftsmanship, respect, and pride for their history and attachment to their local heritage. We never felt so rooted and connected, the way we feel when we work with them.
TEXTILES WE WORK WITH
Block Printing
Handwoven
Natural dyeing and printing
Kala cotton/Organic cotton
Bandhini
Jamdani
South cotton
BLOCK PRINTING
Jaipur is the land of the art of wooden hand block printing and it was always an inspiration. This is where Lotus Veda started and is still doing a lot with this technique of printing and dyeing. The history and architecture of Jaipur, the Mughal motifs and the colors of the local culture is a big inspiration for the blocks we have been making and printing. We mostly work with wooden blocks. Wood has behavioural properties. As block, the wood is much softer and porous and hence picks the color in a better way. For outlines, it’s always sharper if we use metal blocks. We do all kinds of block prints in Jaipur be it azo free pigments / rapid printing or discharge prints. We are very committed to environmentally friendly techniques and work. We have always encouraged and educated our artisans for clean printing job and wastewater treatment.
HANDWOVEN
Hand-woven natural fifiber cloth originating from eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent. Khadi was also known as khaddar. It is usually referred to as a roughtextured fabric. Though now the handspun khadi muslins are made in very fine counts like 100/s 200/s and even 300/s which are beautiful. The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk or wool, which are all spun into yarn on a spinning wheel called a charkha. It is a versatile fabric, cool in summer and warm in winter. We have been making dobbies/yarn dyes and different patterns of checks and stripes in khadi which you see in our major collections.
NATURAL DYEING AND PRINTING
Lotus Veda has been working with the traditional process of hand block printing and dyeing with natural organic colors for around 10 years now. Indigos, henna, sappanwood, madder, pomegranate, turmeric, weld, logwood are few natural colors we have been working with. Indigo always needs a special mention as it’s our and everyone’s favourite. It’s the only color we completely take for granted, so when in doubt we always make it Indigo and it always looks most beautiful. We have been dying yarns/fabric and printing with this color since the day we have started. Lotus veda has been also involved in Ajrakh hand block printing. This is also printed with natural dyes with indigo being the main key. As Ajrakh printing is inspired and was founded by Sindh Culture the motifs used here are more geometrics. We have been trying to merge this technique with different fabrics textures we have been developing from other parts of the county.
KALA COTTON/ ORGANIC COTTON
Originating in Kutch, ‘Kala’ cotton is the original pure cotton, ‘old world’ cotton of India. The encouraging production of cotton and its initiative helps sustainable textile production, while also preserving agriculture and artisanal livelihoods in the region of Kutch. Organic cotton is generally defined as cotton that is grown organically in subtropical countries. Organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organizations ( GOTS ) verify that organic producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production. Organic cotton is grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. In addition, federal regulations prohibit the use of genetically engineered seeds for organic farming.
BANDHINI
Bandhini is an ancient art practiced mainly in Western India. The Rajasthani art of tying small dots on fabric with a continuous thread and dyeing it. The fabric is made by pinching very small portions of cloth and tying them by plucking the cloth with the fingernails into many tiny bindings that form a figurative design to form an intricate pattern of dots.
JAMDANI
Jamdani is a fifine muslin textile of Bengal, Jamdani was originally known as Dhakai namedafter the city of Dhaka, one of many ancient textile weaving centers in the Bengal region. Jamdani is a handloom woven fabric made of cotton, which was historically referred to as muslin. The Jamdani weaving tradition is of Bengali origin. It is one of the most time and labor-intensive forms of handloom weaving, and is considered one of the finest varieties of muslin and the most artistic textile of Bangladeshi weavers. Traditionally woven around Dhaka and now in West Bengal and created on the loom brocade, jamdani is rich in motifs. Whether figured or flowered, jamdani is a woven fabric in cotton. This is a supplementary weft technique of weaving, where the artistic motifs are produced by a non-structural weft, in addition to the standard weft that holds the warp threads together. The standard weft creates a fine, sheer fabric while the supplementary weft with thicker threads adds the intricate patterns to it. Each supplementary weft motif is added separately by hand by interlacing the weft threads into the warp with fine bamboo sticks using individual spools of thread. The result is a complex mix of different patterns that appear to float on a shimmering surface. The pattern is not sketched or outlined on the fabric, but is drawn on a graph paper and placed underneath the warp. Jamdani is a fine muslin cloth on which decorative motifs are woven on the loom.
SOUTH COTTON
Southern parts of India have been a pioneer in weaving cotton fabrics. Lotus Veda has an opportunity to work with a lot of master weavers from south India in handloom and also small power looms. South cottons are the most strong and durable cotton made. Dobbies / yarn dyes / twisted yarns / chambreys /mangalgiris are few fabrics we have been working since a long time. Ikkats from Hyderabad / Madras checks are something we really love and like working with. A lot of kora fabrics of different weight and textures are being made in the south on different kinds of looms. We have been using some of them made on smaller power looms or handlooms to do our hand block print or natural dyeing & printing.
SERVICES
We provide a design service facility where we do developments as per your need. We work with more than 100 artisans, weavers and mills across India. We design & develop prints and weaves as per your requirements and brief. We also work with smaller MOQS. These services are all at a cost and are available for our wholesale orders only.
TEXTILE STORE
ADDRESS- Lokhandwala Complex Market, 5/A, Greenfild Co.Soc, Andheri West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400053
*For any make to order and wholesale requirements for textiles please write to us at lotusvedajaipur@gmail.com
